Nakama
by Lalaith Quetzalli
Summary: They were more than classmates, more than comrades, more than friends…they were Nakama. Their trust in each other was great and it would take them far, to Heaven and beyond… Or, the one where Grand Fisher is early, Rukia is late and everything goes from there. (Ichiruki, Ulquihime, Hitsukarin, GinRan and many others) Epic Length! Weekly Updates.
1. Humans and Spirits

Disclaimer: I don't own, yadda, yadda, yadda... do I still even need to say this? It should be obvious by this point.

Warning: This fic is Epic Length. As in, what you'll see here is effectively a rewrite of everything I felt was important. The premise for this fic is simple. Years ago I was wondering how different Bleach might be if Ichigo and his friends had known more, had had more experience when they first got involved with Soul Society. What happened in that arc marked everything that came next, so it's important. I began playing with the idea in my head: what reasons could they have had to get involved with the spiritual dimension before ever meeting a shinigami? How would they have gotten their powers? How different would they be by the time they finally met Rukia? It went from there.

The first two thirds or so of this fic were actually written more than half a decade ago. I kind of lost interest when the last arc started getting a tad strange, and stopped writing. Recently I got into Bleach again and decided that this fic was way too long not to finish it, so here we are.

IMPORTANT: In this fic, things start two years after they did in canon, for the reasons mentioned before (though it will all be explained in the actual fic); also, the twins are two years older. Why? Because I wanted them involved, but this isn't Naruto and I wasn't going to get kids involved in a war!

IMPORTANT 2: This fic only takes canon as it was up to the Fullbringer arc. And even that one you'll see the characters but not the arc itself (the reasons will be in the fic itself). While I find some of the things Tite Kubo did in the last arc quite interesting, trying to use them would effectively destroy everything I'd written of this fic before that arc came out (which, like I said, was more than half of it). So in the end I decided to use none of it. Meaning (it's in the tags, but still, I'll say it again): Zangetsu-Ossan is a zanpakutou, no Quincy spirit or whatever; Hollow-Ichigo is precisely that, Ichigo's hollow half; Masaki wasn't a Quincy, though she did have some power (will be explored in the story); there have been other races of spiritually empowered humans, not just the Quincy; Yachiru is not a zanpakutou spirit but a person; and finally, there is an actual Spirit King, a person, rather than... well, I'm not quite clear on that one, but here there's a King!

Also important. While this fic is Ichiruki all the way, it's not because I don't like Orihime. Matter of fact, I love Orihime, or more like, my idea of her (the idea many of us have of her, I think). She had so much potential when everything started... but it never went anywhere. While at times it seemed like she might finally be maturing, it never lasted. And that frustrated me so much! My Orihime is what I think she should have been, at the core she's the same person, but one who's growing and maturing. Also, I allowed her powers to grow in ways I thought were logical.

I use the 'ou' phonetic written, because I have no way of writing some words the way they should. I also use japanese terms like 'taichou' and 'fukutaichou' pretty often, and some other words like curses, and some basic phrases when I feel its important. Same with Spanish once the Arrancar and Espada enter the picture.

Having said all that. Lets begin!

* * *

Nakama

_By: Lalaith Quetzalli _

Disclaimer: Everyone knows already my name isn't Kubo Tite, so there's no way I can own Bleach, everything after this is just my way to use my free time and inspiration.

_They were more than classmates, more than comrades, more than friends…they were Nakama. Their trust in each other was great and it would take them far, to Heaven and beyond…_

**Chapter 1. Humans and Spirits **

"Ichigo…" A strong voice whispered. "It's time for you to get up."

The orange-haired, brown-eyed seventeen-year-old, sprawled face-down on the blue bed grumbled lowly, refusing to move from his comfortable position.

*Come on, Aibou, if you don't get up oyaji is gonna hit you…again.*

That, at least, was more effective in getting the teenager up; and right in time, at the very moment he began moving his door swung open, allowing an older, black-haired and bearded man to leap inside, leg up to kick the teenager. The boy's instincts took over as he rolled, half stood and then kicked the man on the side, throwing him against a nearby closet door.

"Good morning my son!" The man cried out in a very loud voice.

"Oh…shut up oyaji." The boy half-growled. "It's far too early for your idiocies. Now get the hell out of my room so I can get dressed."

In the end the boy had to practically throw the man out of his room before he had the chance to change from the sweatpants and shirt he slept in and into his high-school uniform.

"Ichi-nii!" He heard a female voice coming from the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Ichigo!" Yet another female voice called to him, from the same direction. "If you don't hurry we're all gonna be late to school!"

Those were his sisters, the nearly fifteen-year-old twins: shoulder-length, wavy, chestnut-brown haired and chocolate eyed Yuzu, and mid-back length, straight, black-haired and gray-eyed Karin; they both had a slim built and were more on the petite side, they also had tanned skin, Karin more so than Yuzu.

Ichigo walked by the kitchen, lowly mumbling his thanks as he took the toast and glass of juice Yuzu offered him for breakfast, he practically inhaled it as he walked to the door, leaving the empty glass on a table next to it. Yuzu stepped outside behind him, and Karin was waiting outside for them already.

The dark-haired twin wasn't alone either, with her was Kojima Mizuiro, with his chin-length well-combed dark hair and eyes, dressed in the same high-school uniform as Ichigo, except he was also wearing the vest, fully buttoned. His appearance was that of a cute, handsome gentleman, though everyone who knew him knew of his taste for older women, and the fact that at any given time he'd more than one 'girlfriend'.

"Come on already people, or we're gonna be late!" Karin ordered. "And if I'm late for football training because of you I'll kick your asses so hard you won't be able to walk straight for a week! You hear me?!"

Neither boy reacted to her threats at all, they were too used to them already, it had been like that since Karin had begun walking with them to school, when she first entered junior-high, and it had only gotten worse in high-school. She was so much of a tomboy, and it showed, in the way she spoke, and acted; almost a complete opposite from her twin, whom so many saw as the 'perfect little lady'.

**xXx**

That night the three siblings were making their way home. They stopped by a corner where they knew a girl had died a few years before and Yuzu changed the flowers there, they did the same thing every few days. At least now it was because the flowers dried, and not because some punks would ruin them and break the bottles as they were skating, playing or whatever else. Ichigo used to get into fights with them all the time; Karin too, at times. But after all the years that had passed so many people knew about the Kurosaki siblings that most chose to stay as far away from them as they could.

The Kurosaki Family was known for a few things: their father owned a small clinic, small but still well-respected, and the children would help out there in weekends and vacations; the Kurosaki twins were two of the most beautiful girls in high-school, neither of them were currently dating, mostly because Ichigo hardly allowed anyone close enough to try; also, in a very particular circle, it was known that all three Kurosaki children had the ability to see spirits and communicate with them.

At times one, or all three would talk to the spirits of those who had died, trying to help them find enough peace to move on. And that wasn't everything, there was also the fact that Karin was empathic, her talent had been mostly blocked by herself more than half a decade before, but some emotions still managed to slip through her barriers.

The door opened and Ichigo, like always, was the first to step inside, he raised his arm right in time to block the first kick from his crazy father before he moved his arm enough to take a hold of the man's ankle and throw him against a wall. Once sure the old man wouldn't be getting up immediately Ichigo fully stepped inside, followed by his two sisters.

"What times are these for children to be getting home?!" Isshin demanded.

"Oh, shut up, oyaji!" Ichigo yelled louder than him. "We're all in high-school now, and seven o' clock is certainly not a healthy curfew for normal teenagers!"

"Ah, but you aren't normal, are you?" Isshin asked in return.

Ichigo just flipped him the finger before stepping away. Really, his father seemed to love to remind them that seeing ghosts wasn't normal, especially since he couldn't do it…or so he always claimed. Did he really think his children were stupid or something? While there was a lot Ichigo didn't know, and wasn't interested in knowing, he was quite sure Isshin wasn't as ignorant of the spirits as he pretended to be. That or the man was just a freak for the way he handled the fact that all three of his children were spiritually aware! Not even Tatsuki had reacted like that at first! And she'd been young enough back then to see it all as a game before the seriousness of the matter hit her!

With a shake of the head at her father's and big brother's antics Yuzu took the containers her sister handed her from the refrigerator and reheated the food. Since getting into high-school, Yuzu made sure to cook dinner either very early or a day earlier so they only had to reheat it when needed. They also bought take-out every so often, so the girl didn't have to cook every day. They knew she liked doing it, she seemed to like doing all the house-duties, but she was a teenager now, and she was supposed to be making her own life, not acting like a little housewife all the time, not anymore.

After dinner, as was usual, each of the teens went to their rooms to make their homework, while their father watched some tv and stayed on alert in case someone came calling to the clinic. It was rare, as everyone knew that it was a family clinic, with only one doctor, and only those who had known Isshin for many years still went to him instead of the big hospital, Karakura General, but still, emergencies happened.

Once done with his homework, Ichigo laid on his bed for a while, he was considering if he should change into his sleeping clothes already. It wasn't the time he usually went to bed yet, but it wasn't like he had anything to do…except…

Making up his mind he got more comfortable in bed, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then focused inwards.

"Ossan?" He asked out loud, without opening his eyes.

*Hello Ichigo.* A serene voice answered him inside his mind.

*Hey aibou!* A second voice, a bit distorted, called as well.

"Hey Shiro." Ichigo greeted the second voice as well.

*Aibou, I want to fight.* The second voice, Shiro, whined in a childish tone. *We haven't been in a good fight for months.*

"Not my fault all the thugs in town fear us so much they won't come anywhere close." Ichigo replied in a deadpan tone. "In any case, it's your own fault, it was you who decided how we dealt with the last two gangs that came at us."

*Hey!* Shiro complained. *We didn't kill anyone!*

"Of course we didn't kill anyone, idiot, if we had we would have gone to jail!" Ichigo hissed. *It's not my fault that they were all a bunch of pussies that…*

*You were calling, Ichigo.* The first voice interrupted the second's tirade.

"Yes ossan." Ichigo agreed. "There's something that's been worrying me."

*About all the spirits you've been seeing lately.* The old man's voice guessed.

"Exactly." Ichigo nodded. "So many more than I used to see in any given week in the past, less of all the same day. And then there are those monsters, I keep seeing them more and more lately. I'm not sure if that's normal."

*You only became aware of hollows two years ago Ichigo.* The old man reminded him. *But I assure you, their existence is fairly common. And since you're seeing different ones, and none more than once, we can suppose they're being dealt with.*

"I just hope it's not Ishida-shishou doing the dealing." Ichigo commented with a sigh. "As much as I respect the man, in any subject other than the way he used to treat Uryuu, I really don't like the way he deals with hollows."

*You cannot blame him for the ways he learnt from his ancestors, ways that were necessary a very long time ago.* The old-man reminded him.

"I know, I know." Ichigo nodded. "Things were awful all those years ago, they were only doing what was needed to protect their own families. I know all that. But couldn't they have found a different way of dealing with things since? I mean, it's been how many years now? And both Ishida-shishou and Uryuu are geniuses, everyone knows that; if others, like my friends and I, can find a way to deal with hollows without fully destroying them, why can't they? Isn't adapting part of human nature?"

*Sometimes humans are too set on their ways to adapt.* The old man said wisely. *It's the very same reason why your father hasn't spoken to you yet about the potential you have, and you haven't confronted him about the matter either. You're both too comfortable with your lives to risk ruining it all by opening that particular can of worms.*

"Well, in our case I don't think it affects us that much." Ichigo commented, though a bit unsure now. "I still have you, even if I know there's much you're not telling, Shiro the same thing. And I think, if he hasn't told me yet, there must be a reason. If I were to insist on it…it would be like when all those people used to insist that I talked about my mother's death, when all I wanted was to wallow in my own misery. True, it did help to talk about it, eventually, to someone I trusted, not the bunch of idiots that call themselves doctors and would have never understood what they were dealing with."

*They're used to dealing with humans in different conditions of stress, including the stress caused by a child who just lost his mother.*

"True, but I doubt very much they ever had a child who lost their mother in the very particular way I did. I thought I killed her Ossan! No matter what anyone else told me, what other explanation could there be for the two of us to be the only ones there, her to have screamed and then be dead on top of me? I blacked out, and I knew not what was going on. It wasn't until I began seeing those monsters that I realized what really happened that night."

*True, your case might have been different, but your pain was the same. And you needed someone to help you deal with it…*

"My friends helped me just fine. It might have taken me a long time, but I'm over it now."

*You know it's not over yet aibou.* Shiro interrupted the conversation. *It won't be until we find the bastard who did it and kill him for it.*

"We will, Shiro, we will, eventually." Ichigo reassured him in a strong tone. "But I'm not going to go hunting for him, I'm not going to leave my sisters, or my friends, vulnerable while I go hunting a monster I don't even remember the face of. When the time comes, we'll handle it, and that'll be it. Understood?"

*Fine, I don't exactly like it, but I see your point.* Shiro agreed. *Just make sure that when the time does come, you give me the chance to fight him as well.* his voice was very low as he added the last part. *She was my mother too…*

The truth was, Ichigo and Shiro had been together so long they considered each other as brothers, twins even; it was for that reason that Shiro had come to see Yuzu and Karin as his own sisters, and both Isshin and Masaki as his parents. What had happened to Masaki…it angered both boys, made them both want revenge, but not even the more bloodthirsty Shiro was willing to leave the twins alone and vulnerable to go hunting for the monster responsible.

*Ichigo…Shiro…*

The old man's voice calling both teenagers at the same time surprised them a lot.

*Change is coming.* The old man informed them. *You…we all have to be ready.*

Ichigo was about to demand a more in-depth explanation, even knowing it was unlikely he would get it, the old man liked being cryptic like that, when suddenly something else called his attention, a black butterfly that fluttered into his room…through the closed window.

Ichigo blinked a couple of times in contemplation, only to straighten up instantly the moment he saw the black clad figure that stepped into his room, through the same closed window, after the black butterfly that was still fluttering there.

"It is near…" The newcomer whispered.

"Hey!" Ichigo called. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

He had a pretty good idea that, whoever the girl was, she wasn't alive, considering she just walked through glass, and her clothes weren't very modern, but aside from that he had no idea; still that didn't change the fact that he really, really disliked being ignored. Which is why the orange-haired took a hold of her shoulder, forcefully spinning her around to face him.

"I asked who the hell you think you are?" Ichigo demanded hotly.

"You…you can see me?" The girl truly seemed shocked at that fact. "And you touched me?"

Her eyes were fixed on his hand on her shoulder until he removed it.

"Of course I can see you!" Ichigo snapped at her. "Newsflash girl, I can see spirits, and I'm not the only one either. Now, moving on, Who The Hell Are You?"

He was getting pissed off quite fast, spirits had stopped trying to invade his personal space years before, when they realized how angry he got over that, instead they went looking either for him or the girls in the lower floor, or in the hallway at most, never their rooms.

"I am a Shinigami." The girl stated in a very serious voice.

Ichigo just furrowed his brow, he'd never before seen a Shinigami, but then again, until two years before he'd never seen a hollow either, and even after he'd first met the Ishidas, he hadn't known about the whole Quincy-mess until much later. He'd known shinigami existed of course, but it was like knowing secret agencies existed; you heard about them, saw them in the movies, but you never saw them, so you might not really believe in them all the time. Though, as he heard the girl explain all about shinigami, their duties, pluses, hollows... a few things began making sense, in a way.

*Ossan? Shiro?* Ichigo called into his mind. *You hearing any of this?*

But there was no answer, it wasn't exactly as if they were gone, there was an instinct inside of Ichigo that told him they were still there, but it was as if something…some metaphysical veil-thing were blocking them from him.

"Ok, lets say I believe you." Ichigo declared as he sat back down on his bed. "What are you doing in my house, inside my room?"

The girl blinked, she seemed actually surprised that he'd believed her just like that.

"You, you actually believed all that?" She asked.

"I've seen hollows before." Ichigo explained simply. "Every once in a while, only in passing, and never the same one twice. Guess if you shinigami purify them, that's the reason. I had never before seen one like you, though, not sure if the others have…"

Of course he was not going to tell her the Ishidas most definitely had, and the attitude they both had in regards to the whole race. It's not like it mattered.

"Others?" The girl seemed even more surprised by that.

"My friends." Ichigo clarified. "Most of them can see spirits, just like I do, even if most don't see them as clearly. My sisters can see them and touch them as well."

"I had never known of humans to be able to do that, less of all so many of them." The girl declared in obvious awe.

"For us it's not that strange." Ichigo shrugged. "Some of us have been able to see them our whole lives, or at least most of them." He shook his head. "But you still haven't answered my original question, why are you here?"

"I'm on a mission." The girl answered honestly. "After a hollow I sensed earlier today?"

"A hollow?!" Ichigo jumped onto his feet immediately. "You mean one of those monsters is in the area right now? They why are you here and not out there hunting it?!"

"I've been having trouble sensing it since I entered the neighborhood…" The girl explained as she furrowed her brow. "It's like there's something in the air, something that dampens my senses, as well as my own power…"

"If that is true…Karin! Yuzu!" Ichigo cried out as he hurried to the door.

"Wait!" The girl turned after him. "You cannot get your human family involved in this matter. It's not like there's anything any of you will be able to do!"

Seeing that he was completely ignoring her, the girl raised an arm in his direction and called:

"Bakudou # 1, Sai!"

Before he even knew what was going on Ichigo found himself crashing against the ground, right before his door, his arms forcefully pulled against his back by some invisible force.

"What the hell is this?!" Ichigo cried out, frustrated. "Hey! Shinigami! Undo this, whatever it is! I have to go check up on my sisters!"

"Stop moving, there's nothing you can do anyway." She began telling him.

She was going to say something else when a female scream interrupted him.

"That was one of my sisters!" Ichigo cried out.

He began trying even more frantically to get free from his bonds, but physical strength didn't seem to be enough.

The shinigami girl opened Ichigo's door, right in time for them both to see the auburn-haired twin collapse just a couple of feet away from it, she was panting, and looked hurt, the sight made Ichigo begin moving even more frantically.

"I-Ichi…You ok?"

Ichigo could barely hear her voice, and still, it was so broken he felt his blood go cold.

"Good, it hasn't gotten here." Yuzu continued. "Ichi-nii…y-you gotta…you gotta help Karin-chan…th-there's one of those monsters down there…it hurt tou-san…Karin-chan…she's trying to stop it, but it's so big…Ichi-nii…Y-You gotta save Karin-chan!"

That was enough. In a second Ichigo threw caution to the kind, his reiatsu began climbing at a very fast rate, and before the shinigami girl actually had the chance to ask what was going on, the invisible binds holding him broke.

"Wha…"

The shinigami girl was sure she'd never before been as shocked as in that moment, but before she had the chance to ask how what she'd just witnessed was possible, the young man had rushed past her and down the stairs, and even with him no longer in the same hallway as her, the whole place was still coated in his reiatsu, a reiatsu so powerful she could hardly stay on her feet, and the shinigami had a feeling that even that was only possible thanks to the adrenaline that had been running through her veins since the very first shock the human boy had given her when he touched her shoulder.

"Ossan!"

Ichigo was calling for the old man out loud even as he rushed down the stairs, taking several at a time, it caused him to nearly fall down half the stairs but he didn't care, his family needed him, he cared about nothing but helping them.

As soon as he reached the floor he could see there was a huge hole in the side of the house, and from it he could see the hollow, two or three stories high, standing in two legs, and it was holding onto Karin, a bat broken nearby. It was obvious to Ichigo that his sister had tried to use the bat as a weapon and had failed.

"Karin!" Ichigo cried out as he rushed out through the hole.

The shinigami girl finally followed Ichigo, arriving downstairs in time to see him stand in front of the hollow, yelling at it to let go of his sister.

"Ossan, if you want to teach me some lesson, right now isn't really the best time!" Ichigo yelled to the being in his head. "Shiro! Someone! I need help! Karin is being hurt!"

Nothing, his head remained absolutely silent.

Frustrated that his partners weren't helping him Ichigo tried to focus as much as he could before kicking the hollow's leg with all his strength, it was really the only part of the creature in his reach, and he needed to hurt it somehow before it crushed Karin.

The hollow barely took notice of Ichigo's attack, he was losing control way too fast and wasn't focusing enough for his kicks and punches to be truly effective.

The shinigami girl jumped at the same time the hollow moved to finally attack the boy, she cut deep into its arm with a katana, enough that the creature's hand opened, finally letting go of the black-haired girl it had been holding.

Ichigo jumped just in time to catch Karin before she hit the ground.

Ichigo barely had enough thought to check his sister fast to make sure her soul was still where it belonged. Otherwise he was going to get beyond frantic, he was going to get homicidal.

He deposited his unconscious sister inside what was left of their home, in a spot where he believed she would be safe enough and then went back outside.

"Where are your allies when you need them?" Ichigo muttered.

But of course, that was his area, Karin and him were supposed to be enough, and really, in the two years they'd known about hollows they'd only had to fight them a handful of times, and most of the times the creatures had ran away as soon as they realized the humans could fight them directly. The only ones who had ever destroyed hollows were the Ishidas.

"Ossan…Shiro…" The boy called again. "I would really appreciate one of you giving me a hand right about now…before we all end up dead!"

His brief moment of distraction as he argued with himself, or tried arguing with those inside his mind, gave the hollow the chance to attack him directly. By the time Ichigo had realized this he no longer had a chance to move, all he could do was brace himself for the coming pain, he'd been hurt by a hollow before, though they'd mostly been minor wounds, he was sure it wasn't going to be good.

'I only hope that, even if I die, someone will be able to stop this monster.' Ichigo thought.

He didn't close his eyes, if death was coming he would face it right on.

Only it didn't come, because in the last moment the shinigami girl was standing right before him, she was holding her katana up, but that hadn't stop the hollows jaws from injuring her, badly. As soon as the monster let go the shinigami dropped to her knees, a huge injury across her torso, and she was bleeding a lot.

"Shinigami!" Ichigo cried out in shock.

He hadn't been expecting that at all, it was one thing to learn the girl was a warrior tasked with fighting those monsters, and another very different for her to take a direct wound from said monster to protect him.

"You idiot…" The shinigami growled at him as she collapsed. "How can you get distracted when you have a 15 feet tall monster standing in front of you?!"

"I'm sorry…" He whispered.

He really couldn't explain to her that he had been screaming at voices inside his own head, not without making her think he was insane…or was he? If so then he'd been very much insane for many years now.

"I would like to say, 'don't worry about it'." The shinigami mumbled as she struggled to sit up in the sidewalk, a lamppost at her back. "Unfortunately I am no longer able to fight the hollow. Now all of us can only wait until we become its food."

Inside his mind, Ichigo was cursing. Where were his friends? Shouldn't they find it suspicious that the hollow hadn't been purified yet? Shouldn't one of the Ishidas have sensed just how low his sisters' reiatsu was already? Why were they still the only ones fighting the monster?

"Do you want to save your family?"

That question, that absolutely unexpected question coming from mouth of the shinigami bleeding a foot or so away from him called him complete attention in an instant.

"Is there a way to help them?" he turned directly at her immediately. "Tell me!"

"There is a way…" The shinigami suddenly shook her head. "No, to be exact, there is Only One Way." with great effort she raised her katana at him. "You…must become a shinigami!"

"What…What are you saying?" He was in shock.

Until that moment Ichigo hadn't known it was possible for anyone to become a shinigami. He was alive for god's sake! Was the shinigami girl crazy?

"Pierce your heart with this zanpakutou." The girl told him, still holding her katana. "And I will lend you half of my shinigami power. That way you will get the power of a shinigami temporarily, and will be capable of fighting that hollow…" she made a pause before adding: "I don't know if it'll work out, I don't know if you'll even survive this. I hope that due to your particularly high reiatsu, you'll have a chance. In any case, either you'll become a shinigami or you will die, or we will all die actually. There is no other way."

"Ossan? Shiro?" Ichigo called once more under his breath.

He really wished they would answer him, he could have used their power in the last several minutes, and he would feel much better if he had their council for what he was about to do. Because he knew what needed to be done, the shinigami had said it after all, it was the only way to make sure they wouldn't all die…

"I really hope that this isn't a mistake…" Ichigo whispered to himself. "And if it is…Ossan, Shiro, I'm sorry…"

The orange-haired squared his shoulders at the same time he went to stand right in front of the bleeding shinigami, he extended his hand to touch her katana.

"Give me your sword, shinigami!" He declared strongly. "Lets give this plan of yours a try."

"It's not 'Shinigami'." The girl informed him with a small smirk. "It's Kuchiki Rukia."

"I see…I'm Kurosaki Ichigo." He returned the courtesy. "Lets pray this doesn't become the last greeting for both of us."

Sending a last silent prayer, that even if it didn't work his family would make it out of the mess, Ichigo helped the shinigami…Kuchiki Rukia, take better hold of her sword and without a word more ran it through his own chest.

He didn't even feel any pain, instead all he was conscious of was the explosion of power that seemed to be centered inside of him. An instant later he felt so light, as if he could jump 20 feet or more with no effort at all, or maybe even fly…

What happened the next few seconds was more instinctive than conscious, even as he raised the sword he was now carrying and used it to, piece by piece, bring the hollow down. He didn't seem to notice its size, or weight, or the fact that he was wearing an attire similar to the one the girl had been wearing before; the same girl who was now wearing a white yukata…

"Realize the mistake of messing with my family, fish-face!" Ichigo yelled at the creature once he regained some semblance of self.

He didn't wait anymore, rushing the monster, katana held high, and then brought it down with enough force to split it from the top of its mask to the very end of its body. The hollow didn't even get the chance to try and evade.

Ichigo was feeling a great high after the kill, as if with that new power he were capable of anything; a small part of him kept wondering how long that would last, and what kind of consequences there would be for him wielding that power, but the bigger part of him couldn't bring himself to care, not when he'd just managed to destroy the creature that had dared threaten him and his family.

The high didn't last too much, soon enough he felt the strength leaving his muscles way too fast, and in a matter of a few seconds his legs would no longer hold him, causing him to fall, first on his knees, and then face-down, in the middle of the street. A corner of his mind wondered if, after surviving that awful monster, he was going to be run over by a car. And it also wondered about something else, yet again, the consequences of what happened that night. Something told him that, one way or another, his life was going to change…drastically.

* * *

Fic will be updated weekly! (Also, chapters will get progressively longer)

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	2. Humans with Powers

Just so you know. In some ways things in this fic will go very fast; in others, not so much. There'll be some things I only mention in passing, either because they happen exactly the same as in canon, or they just aren't important.

Also, just to remind you that Ichigo and co. have had powers for over a year at this point, so a few of the things they go through in canon happened before Rukia ever entered the picture in this verse. That's mostly mentioned in the fic, but just thought it should be said anyway.

I'll try to keep my ANs short from now on; only really going into things if I think it's truly necessary.

Now on with the fic!

* * *

**Chapter 2. Humans with Powers **

Ichigo was still scowling when he got to the school's roof at lunch hour. His friends were already waiting there for him: Arisawa Tatsuki, Sado (Chad) Yasutora, Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryuu, Kojima Mizuiro, Asano Keigo, Honshou Chizuru, as well as his sisters: Yuzu and Karin. Behind Ichigo himself entered Kuchiki Rukia.

That morning had been insane his father seemed to believe that a truck…a truck of all things! Had crashed against their home the previous night and then ran away, Yuzu and Karin had followed his delusions until they exited the house, when they told him very clearly they still remembered the monster that had attacked and wanted to know what had happened with it. Then there was the fact that, once in school, he'd discovered the shinigami girl was a new transfer student! Why hadn't she gone back to Soul Society? And what had she done to his father last night? And to him? Ichigo didn't remember anything after blacking out seconds after destroying the hollow. And then there was what he wanted to ask his friends.

"Ichigo!" Rukia was calling to him even as they got to the roof. "We really should be having this conversation in private!"

"They're my friends, they deserve to know what's going on." Ichigo replied simply.

"They're human! This doesn't concern them!" Rukia insisted.

"You should be more careful of how you express your own opinions, shinigami…" A male voice hissed with disdain.

Rukia raised her head in shock, she hadn't expected someone to know what she was, she was quite sure Ichigo couldn't have told him, not yet.

"Uryuu…" Orihime whispered.

They had rarely ever seen the black-blue-haired blue-eyed boy act that coldly, especially in regards to someone they'd just met. All the friends knew of his thoughts about the shinigami, but they couldn't all be as bad as the monster he'd seen, could they?

"Why did you bring her here, Ichigo?" Uryuu demanded, obviously upset. "You know I have no patience for those like she!"

"Uryuu…" Ichigo shook his head tiredly. "Can't you push your damn prejudices aside? At least for a while? We all need to talk, all of us, of something important. We really don't have time for your anger issues right now."

Uryuu bristled, anger issues? Ichigo wouldn't be saying the same if he was in the Quincy's place? The spectacle-wearing boy actually doubted his orange-haired 'friend' would be as open to 'have a talk' with a hollow present!

"Ok, that was a bit colder than I planned, sorry." Ichigo admitted, truly sorry. "I don't intend to make your feelings less. But we've talked about this before Uryuu, you cannot judge a whole society on what one madman, or a group of madmen, whatever, did. It's not fair, not to them, and not to you."

Uryuu half nodded with a huff, they'd had the same conversation many times since they had become friends. Uryuu knew Ichigo actually empathized with what Uryuu felt in regards to the loss of his grandfather, because he felt the same thing, ever since his mother had died. Still, it was hard to just accept that and move on.

"Very well, I'll ignore this for the time being." Uryuu agreed. "But I really want to know why you would bring a shinigami to one of our meetings."

"And I want to know who you are and how you can know I'm a shinigami." Rukia demanded.

"Please, you may be weakened for some reason, and in a fake body, but there's no way you can disguise your essence." Uryuu sighed. "And I'm Ishida Uryuu."

He expected some kind of recognition at the name, after all, the Ishida Line had always been very powerful in the Quincy Lineage, and now it was the only one to remain; yet there was nothing, she had no idea.

Seeing that she was expected to answer to that introduction Rukia spoke.

"I'm Kuchiki Rukia, and, in effect, I'm a shinigami." Rukia nodded. "Though I still don't know who you are, your name doesn't tell me anything."

"Ishida, he's an Ishida." Ichigo pointed out.

"I'm sorry, but I had never heard that family name before." Rukia admitted.

"So they've gone that far, huh?" Ishida shrugged. "They've erased us from their history."

"I don't understand…" Rukia began.

"I'm a Quincy." Uryuu explained. "One of the last Quincy actually, the only other one being my father. Most of the Quincy were annihilated by you Shinigami, two hundred years ago, because it was believed our race threatened the balance, as our powers destroyed hollows instead of purifying them. Yet that's not actually the reason I hate shinigami. I actually see why such decisions might have needed to be taken all those years ago. No, the reason I hate shinigami comes from something much more recent. My grandfather and Master, Ishida Souken, he was willing to work with you Shinigami, he was the Master Quincy, and he believed if we joined forces we could achieve great things. He believed that, until the day he died, killed by hollows, when his so-called allies were too late to help him. Two hours too late! He fought for hours on his own, until he could no longer do it, and the shinigami didn't arrive until two hours after he'd already died!"

Rukia couldn't believe what he was hearing, he could see in the humans' expressions, even as they lowered their heads, that they had all heard that story before; she could even see the red-orange haired girl as she held onto the Quincy's arm softly, as if offering comfort.

"I'm sorry…" Rukia whispered honestly. "I truly…I didn't know any of that, I hadn't even heard of Quincy before today."

"That's the reason, why I hate shinigami." Uryuu continued. "Though, I guess it's not really hate, my friends have helped me move past that. Right now, it's simply that I don't trust you, any of you. If you fail a man you called an ally, what can be expected of us humans? That's why I've trained my whole life, so I'll be able to protect myself, my family, my friends, so I'll never depend on shinigami to fight the hollows that may come…"

"And talking about such things." Ichigo interrupted his speech suddenly. "Where the hell were you last night?"

"Eh?" Uryuu certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Last night." Ichigo repeated. "While a fifteen foot monster attacked my home and nearly killed my whole family. Where the hell were you?"

"A hollow attacked your home?" the question came from everyone.

It was then that Ichigo actually saw their looks of surprise. They didn't know, they hadn't known of the attack…

"How can this be?" Ichigo asked, confused. "How can you not know? That thing was so powerful…so strong…"

"My powers did nothing to it." Karin pointed out. "I pushed as much of it as I could into the bat, and it still broke as easily as if I had used any empty piece of wood."

"I could hardly even breathe." Yuzu admitted.

That confession actually scared them, even as young as they were, the twins were powerful, even more so than Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru, and Karin was even more powerful than Tatsuki, as raw as her power may be.

"You have powers?" Rukia hadn't been expecting that.

"We still haven't perfected them, but yes." Karin nodded. "I'm capable of infusing objects with my power, making them stronger, more resistant."

"I infuse myself with power, turning myself into a weapon." Tatsuki added.

"I don't have any active power, though I'm quite adept at healing and hiding." Yuzu admitted.

"We don't have any actual powers." Keigo informed her, signaling to himself, and the two by him. "Though we can still see spirits and more-or-less calculate how dangerous they may be."

"Chad has armor on his right arm and is very strong, with or without it." Orihime let her know. "And I can create shields to protect, heal and attack…though I'm not too good in the attacking department, and as you already know, Uryuu is a Quincy."

"How is this possible, so many humans with powers…" Rukia was in shock.

"That's actually my fault." Ichigo admitted. "You've felt my reiatsu, I didn't always have the control over it that I do know."

"He actually didn't have any control over it." Uryuu clarified. "It was a huge leak of power."

"Hey!" Ichigo complained. "In any case, Ishida-shishou trained me, that's Uryuu's dad. He taught me how to control my reiatsu, but by then I had already affected those closest to me. It was also around that time that I learnt about Uryuu. Then, about two years ago, when Orihime's and Chad's powers activated I came up with the idea of us having weekly meetings, we talk about our abilities, how we're training them, and the spirits we see. Eventually Tatsuki developed her own powers and joined us, same as my sisters, and then they thought to include Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru as well, even if they don't have powers, they'd already seen some things, and were beginning to suspect we were keeping secrets of some kind."

"Wait, you had abilities even before what happened last night?" Rukia was surprised about that. "Why didn't you use them then?"

"I tried." Ichigo admitted. "They weren't working for some reason. My ability consists on creating a sword out of my own reiatsu and using it to fight. I'm not as precise with it as Uryuu is with his arrows…"

"No one is as precise as a Quincy with their arrows…" Uryuu clarified.

"Yes, anyway, but it's enough to get the job done." Ichigo finished.

"At least the hollows don't get away from us anymore, like they did at first." Uryuu mumbled.

"Hey! We were amateurs, it was obvious we were going to make some mistakes at first." Ichigo snapped. "Besides, it was only one hollow, and it's not like it has come back, so someone else must have purified it."

Rukia just kept looking from one to the other in silence, they kept arguing, and yet she could sense it wasn't serious, it was more like playful banter, like that of very close friends, those two almost seemed more like family than just friends.

"Going back to last night." Uryuu turned serious. "I honestly didn't feel any hollows, least of all near your home; I doubt my father did either. You know that had we, we would have done something about it. Regardless of whatever we may say, or how we may act, we're friends."

In low voices the rest of the humans clarified that they hadn't sensed anything either, not even Orihime, who was, by far, the best at sensing reiatsu.

"I know." Ichigo nodded with the same seriousness. "That's why I was so surprised when no one appeared to help even after all the destruction that monster was causing."

"We have to investigate this." Uryuu pointed out. "If someone is messing with our senses we need to know, before things get even worse."

"They're already pretty bad." Ichigo admitted tiredly. "I haven't told you everything that happened last night. The hollow that attacked, it was powerful, too powerful. I couldn't call on my own ability, and it came so close to killing Karin…" He had trouble explaining it. "Uryuu, you pointed out that Rukia was weakened and in a fake body, there's a reason for that…"

"She gave you her powers." Uryuu finished for him.

Both Rukia and Ichigo gaped, they weren't expecting him to have noticed already.

"I could sense it." Uryuu explained. "There's a ribbon of power connecting the two of you, a red ribbon, though it's frazzled on Kuchiki's end. We've always known, for your powers, that it was likely that you had some connection to shinigami, but still, your reiraku had never been actually red until today."

Ichigo nodded, he should have known Uryuu would notice. Even though Orihime may be the best at sensing reiatsu, Uryuu was the best at actually analyzing it. It was also why he'd been so insistent to Rukia that they needed to tell his friends right away, it wasn't like they would be able to keep things from them anyway.

"So…you know that, all things considered, I am a Shinigami Daiko right now, yet you didn't react to that as violently as you did to Rukia's presence." Ichigo pointed out.

"I knew you before those powers, and I trusted you, still do." Uryuu admitted. "The same cannot be said about her."

Of course he trusted him, how could he not after everything they'd been through? They were close friends, almost like family, all of them were.

"I suppose we'll be taking over her duties until she gets her powers back." Uryuu assumed.

"That's the plan." Ichigo nodded.

"But," Rukia interrupted. "You said, you said Quincy destroyed hollows! And hollows are just human souls that were consumed! They need to be purified, not destroyed."

"We already know all that." Uryuu deadpanned. "And in regards to a Quincy's powers…well, two centuries is a very long time, things change."

"Two centuries may be a very long time, but you know things only changed because you wanted them to." Tatsuki interrupted him. "The purifying arrows are your creation, neither your father nor your grandfather did something like that, ever."

"I don't know, maybe my grandfather never thought of it, or just didn't have the power." Uryuu commented. "And my father…he isn't as tolerant of some things as I am…"

"Ishida-shishou…" Ichigo groaned at the reminder. "He's going to give me hell about this whole mess, isn't he?"

"Possibly." Uryuu shrugged. "I honestly don't know. There are things about your abilities neither of us know, even though we suspect my father, and possibly yours do."

"They'll tell us someday." Ichigo argued.

"I just hope they do before our situation complicates even further." Uryuu mumbled.

"What could be even more complicated than everything that's going on already?" Tatsuki questioned right then.

"Soul Society getting involved." Uryuu answered honestly. "You can all be sure they will at some point. Even if Kuchiki recovers her powers and leaves in time, even if she doesn't reports to her superiors about us…sooner or later the shinigami will realize there are humans with too much power in Karakura. Our powers are still growing, and eventually lessons in control and in concealment aren't going to be enough. Especially if strong hollows come and force us to fight back on the same level."

"Even if they come, we'll be together." Tatsuki declared strongly. "We're more powerful together than apart. We'll stand up to whatever is needed."

"Would you?" Uryuu asked her. "Even if by staying away you had the chance of remaining hidden and safe yourself?"

"I'm no coward!" Tatsuki snapped. "I don't run away. If someone needs me, I act, that's just how I am. And you, all of you, are my friends…more than my friends…"

"Like family." Orihime pointed out.

Chad nodded.

It was a very particular situation, all of them, they had special situations in regards to family, either they were orphans, like Chad, and Orihime; or had lost family members, like Uryuu, Ichigo and his sisters; or their families simply didn't care enough…

"No, it's different." Tatsuki shook his head. "We're not just mere classmates, or allies. We're more than just friends…not quite like family but…"

"Nakama." Rukia whispered.

"Yes, nakama, that's the kind of word I was looking for." Tatsuki nodded in agreement. "We're Nakama…"

**xXx**

As first days and then weeks passed, ever so slowly, Kuchiki Rukia got to know more and more of Ichigo's friends, his nakama. And ever so slowly, they were becoming her friends and nakama as well. At first she'd been so sure they would just be in danger themselves if they messed with the hollows, but they all turned out to be valuable assets in the fights. Even those who didn't have active powers. Mizuiro was one of the best strategists she'd ever seen, able to keep his mind during a crisis, and quite creative when needed; Keigo was particularly good at kendo, and his scandalous attitude served to distract the enemies more often than not, he was also particularly resilient; Chizuru didn't seem to mind playing bait, she was a great actress, and was very agile and fast, enough to attract a hollow and then get far enough before the attacks were fired at it. Yuzu and Karin, despite being younger than the rest were very good themselves, especially Karin, who was the more physical fighter. Rukia soon discovered that what Yuzu did was actually a rudimentary form of kidou and took it upon herself to instruct the girl in the art, she turned out to be very gifted.

As time passed Uryuu's attitude towards her changed, as he watched her helping Yuzu train and doing her best to help everyone fight the hollows even when she was weakened after lending her powers to Ichigo. The moment came when he chose to simply ignore the fact that she was a shinigami, and regarded her like he did the rest of the group, as a nakama.

Isshin still hadn't said a word to either of his children, and they still refused to confront him in the matter, though Karin came pretty close in several occasions. In the end they decided that knowing the truth wouldn't change them in any way, wouldn't change the powers they had, or the decisions they had made long ago to all be a team and protect those they cared for.

And then came the day when Ryuuken found out what was going on…

It was one of those situations that began bad and only got worse.

Hollows had been appearing more and more, in frequency and in numbers in the recent days, and then came the day when there were so many the nakama had to split to handle them all at the same time. They divided the city in four sectors and formed teams: one formed by Uryuu and Orihime, another Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro, the third Tatsuki, Karin, Yuzu and Chizuru, and the last Ichigo and Rukia. They had arranged the teams according to power and experience when dealing with hollows, as well as the zones where the more powerful ones appeared.

What none of them had considered, was the possibility of the first hollows, and the reiatsu released during their destruction, to attract even more of those creatures, more powerful than the first group. An hour after it began, the situation had gotten even worse than if one of the old Quincy lures had been used. Bad enough that an old exiled shinigami and his group joined, as well as Ryuuken himself, from the window of his office in Karakura General Hospital.

When seeing that his father had entered the action Uryuu began firing his own arrows even faster, he knew his father wasn't interested in purifying the hollows, he just destroyed them, and if too many were destroyed they risked calling Soul Society's attention, that would be a bad idea, seeing as Kuchiki Rukia still hadn't regained her powers…

The icing on the cake, came when a hole opened in the sky, and from it a huge hollow began stepping out, it was as huge as a skyscraper, and its presence was enough to send Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru to their knees panting, while Tatsuki and Yuzu were shaking and Karin was drenched in cold sweat; Chad, Uryuu and Orihime hurried to make sure they were safe, while Ichigo faced off the creature with Rukia as the only backup.

"Ichigo, I really think you should wait for Ishida, Orihime, or someone else to come help." Rukia commented with doubt.

"Why?" Ichigo asked. "You're here, I have backup."

"Please Ichigo, don't try to pretend, we both know my powers aren't getting any better." Rukia deadpanned. "If anything I would almost believe they're getting worse. That thing over there is a Menos Grande, it's what comes of a hollow consuming a thousand others. Which means it's as powerful, or even more so, than a thousand hollows, you cannot fight it on your own. Regardless of any prior abilities you may have had, of any hollows you may have fought in the past, you've only been a shinigami for two months! There's no way you can take on a Menos Grande on your own! You need help!"

"Rukia, if I don't do something to at least keep that thing at bay it'll fully get out of that hole and into Karakura." Ichigo pointed out very seriously. "We cannot allow that to happen."

"You could get killed!" Rukia insisted. "What would you do then?"

"Hope that one of my nakama finishes it before innocent people get killed." Was his reply.

Rukia was frozen in shock, from all the responses she could have gotten, that had never crossed her mind. The orange-haired standing by her was a human! A living human! And a young one too, barely a teenager! He shouldn't be so willing to die, even if it was while fighting to protect other people, his own town.

Without any further words Ichigo rushed to the corner of the rooftop they were standing on and readied his sword to attack.

"Ossan…Shiro…" He whispered to himself. "I think now would be a good time to come back." He sighed. "Look, if you're trying to teach me a lesson…maybe I'm just stupid, 'cause I really don't see what it might be…I might actually understand more if you actually talked to me! Why haven't you? Why haven't I heard from you, not even once, since that night?"

It was true, he hadn't heard either of his 'tenants' in all the weeks since he'd first met Rukia and gained the powers as a Shinigami Daiko.

"I really, really hope this works." Ichigo told himself.

If it didn't…well, he just hoped the others hurried and finished the job. It wasn't that he was suicidal, he really wasn't, he liked life a lot. But he also cared about his family and friends a lot; he wasn't a guy to show his emotions too much, so the way he expressed he cared was by putting himself in the front lines, taking the big risks so the others wouldn't have to.

"Here goes."

He focused all the reiatsu he could, gathering it from every inch of his body, through his arms and into the katana in his hands. Soon the sword was glowing a dark blue color, almost too much to be looked at directly; it also began vibrating almost violently. It wasn't until a crack appeared in the guard that he realized he was focusing too much power, he had to let it go before the katana exploded in his hands.

"Now!" Ichigo cried out as he swung.

It was a very basic arc, though he tried angling it as high as he possible could, the result was what looked like a dark blue crescent coming out of the katana and flying straight at the hollow right as it set one foot in Karakura.

Ichigo fell on his back hard as soon as the power was released.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out rushing to him. "What was that?"

"Whiplash, I think…" Ichigo answered.

Rukia shook her head, but then her shock overrode her worry, if just briefly, as the Menos actually recoiled at the attack, and after remaining immobile for a few very long seconds, it finally stepped back into the hole it had come out of, closing it after itself.

Rukia could hardly believe it, Kurosaki Ichigo, the seventeen-year-old teenager that had been taking over her duties, who was using her powers, who didn't understand them in the slightest, who hadn't even known about shinigami a little over two months before…he had just defeated a creature that more than half of the members of the Gotei 13 shivered at the mere idea of, and many had never actually seen.

'Just who are you Kurosaki Ichigo?' Rukia wondered, not for the first time.

Right then the orange-haired teen moved to straighten up and immediately groaned, his hands were burning; actually, he felt like his whole body was burning.

"What did you do to yourself?!" Rukia screeched.

"I think I focused too much power…" Ichigo admitted sheepishly.

Before Rukia could scold him some more or fuss over him Ichigo's instincts yelled at him of a new danger. He didn't stop to think about it, ignoring his wounds he forced his body into motion, jumping onto his feet and standing in between Rukia and the glowing blue arrow aimed at her, an arrow that didn't come from Ishida Uryuu's bow…

"Wha…" Rukia was in shock, again.

She hadn't sensed anyone coming, hadn't realized anything was going on until Ichigo moved to protect her. Then, when she heard the words spoken by the teen, she couldn't help but gulp:

"Ishida-shishou…"

"Kurosaki Ichigo…" Ryuuken spoke, coldly.

Ichigo couldn't help but flinch at the tone used, his master hadn't talked to him in that tone in over two years. He respected the man so much, almost like an uncle, which was in part why he and Uryuu were so close, and yet…he knew he'd disappointed the man, the way he was looking at his clothes, and Rukia as well, said that much.

"Shishou…" Ichigo began again.

"Quiet." Ryuuken ordered authoritatively. "Do not refer to me by such terms. No student of mine would ever be a shinigami…"

Ichigo considered correcting his address, but then his mind recoiled at the very thought, it wasn't his style to be so obedient, almost submissive, and while it was true the midnight-blue eyed man had always been able to command respect with his mere presence, and Ichigo felt that very keenly, he wasn't about to allow his choices to be ignored.

"Shishou." Ichigo insisted. "I may have become a shinigami out of necessity, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still human, and your student."

"Doesn't it?" Ryuuken insisted.

"I'm still Kurosaki Ichigo, my heart is still beating, and I still make use of what you've taught me." Ichigo explained.

"If you did, you would have never become a shinigami." Ryuuken pointed out derisively.

"It's not like I had much of a choice, actually." Ichigo explained. "About eight weeks ago or so, a hollow attacked my home, Karin's powers weren't enough, and my own weren't even working, I still don't know why. The Shinigami standing behind me, Kuchiki Rukia, she got badly hurt saving me. The hollow was too powerful…there's no way I'll ever let anyone or anything hurt my family."

"So you took her powers." Ryuuken finished for him.

"She offered, and I accepted. It was the only way." Ichigo didn't apologize for his decision. "I kept trying to call on my powers, kept hoping, you, or Uryuu or someone would come! But no one did. That thing was going to kill us. I needed to protect my family! I know you don't like it, Uryuu didn't either when he first found out, but since then he's understood the necessity of it. I'm sure you must have noticed that hollow activity has risen considerably in the last several weeks. This can't be normal…"

"It isn't." Ryuuken admitted. "A storm is coming. What happened here today only confirms that all the more."

Ichigo nodded seriously.

"That doesn't excuse your choices." Ryuuken insisted.

Rukia had noticed that through all the conversation Ichigo had kept a hold on his zanpakutou, but he'd never raised it, he was protecting her, and yet he refused to do anything that would imply he might even think about attacking the man before him. He really respected him a lot. It made her sad, to think that he was having to confront him because of her, and it made her make her own decision…

Before Ichigo realized what was going on Rukia stepped from behind him, allowing her full body, still in a gigai and in a simple dress, to be seen; then, once she was sure she had the older Quincy's full attention, and ignoring the glowing arrow before her, she bowed deeply at the waist, head down in deep respect.

Ichigo gaped, he had no idea what Rukia was planning, it was dangerous for anyone to be standing before a Quincy with their bow drawn, but especially for a shinigami.

"Rukia…" Ichigo mumbled.

Rukia directed him a quick hard look, without raising her head, wordlessly ordering him to stay quiet while she handled it.

"Unseated Shinigami of the 13th Division of the Gotei 13, Kuchiki Rukia." The girl introduced herself respectfully.

"Kuchiki?" Ishida asked with a furrowed brow. "I've heard that Clan name before."

The fact that he used the term Clan instead of Family, told Rukia that the man most definitely knew about the Kuchiki name.

"I wasn't born a Kuchiki, the Clan adopted me five decades ago." Rukia clarified. "Like I said before, I'm an unseated shinigami in the 13th Division, serving under Ukitake-taichou. I was sent to become the resident shinigami here in Karakura Town a little over two months ago. I quickly noticed that the number of hollows and the frequency was above average, but it wasn't until the night of the attack on the Kurosaki Family that I actually realized just how serious the situation actually was."

"Why didn't you call for reinforcements?" Ryuuken couldn't help but ask.

"At first I was confused." Rukia admitted. "As soon as I reached the area where the Kurosakis lived I lost track of the hollow, even though I had been tracking it for several hours. I began looking for it more closely, and ended up inside Ichigo's room, where he confronted me. He knew I was a spirit, but had never seen a shinigami, though he did tell me he'd seen hollows and even fought them before. We argued for a while, until we heard a scream. I hadn't even felt the slightest trace of the hollow before we opened his door, and then it suddenly was right there. Things got really bad, really fast; Ichigo was trying to do something, it wasn't working, and then the hollow attacked him, I got in the middle, and ended being badly wounded…" she shook her head. "I'll admit that when the fight began I didn't actually think about calling for help, and later on it would have been useless. After I was wounded, him becoming a shinigami was really the only way for us all to survive."

"You say you protected him when he was caught off-guard." Ryuuken commented suddenly. "Why? Why not allow him to be killed? It was, after all, his own idiocy that got him in that position? I have a feeling that if you had focused in fighting you would have been able to destroy the hollow while it was busy with his soul."

Ichigo couldn't help but flinch slightly at his master's comment, he knew the man was right, and that being harsh was normal for him, it didn't stop the comment from hurting, though.

"No!" Rukia cried out, horrified. "It wouldn't have been right!"

"You're a shinigami, your duty is to purify hollows, not look after humans that are too distracted to take care of themselves." Ryuuken insisted.

No one, not even Ishida Ryuuken, could have been expecting the silent transformation that Kuchiki Rukia seemed to undergo right then, as she straightened up rather suddenly and faced Ryuuken straight on, ignoring the fact that she was much shorter than him, her violet eyes shining like amethysts as her little reiatsu gave a certain glow to her form.

"I will fight to protect those that need protecting!" She cried out vehemently. "All Ichigo wanted was to protect his family. I wasn't about to let him become a victim of that creature!"

"What if your compassion had killed you?" Ryuuken challenged.

Rukia actually had to stop and think about it, in a way she hadn't that night, she hadn't stopped to think, not about the dangers, or the possible consequences, she'd just acted.

"I don't know." Rukia answered softly, honestly. "I don't think about such things when I'm out fighting hollows. I know…I was taught all I had to do was purify hollows, and konso the wandering souls. I was never told anything about the humans I might encounter, those spiritually aware, and especially those that might be trying themselves to help others. The people like Ichigo, like your son, and the rest of their friends…" she sighed. "When I first met them I thought they had to be insane, to do what they did, and yet in the weeks I've known them I've come to respect them, to admire them. They understand so much about fighting, about protecting, so much that shinigami more than ten times their age and with way more experience than them, or I, just don't know…" she shook her head. "I know you have no reason to trust shinigami, neither you, nor any of them do, I'm not asking you to do that. I'm asking you to give me, K…Rukia a chance. Give me a chance, form an opinion about me, not the Clan or the Organization I belong to, or the clothes I may wear."

Ichigo understood what she was doing right then, she was trying to show she was more than a shinigami, and trying to get Ishida Ryuuken to see her like that. It might work, at least, the man was much more open-minded than he'd been when Ichigo had first met him, he did, after all, tolerate him, and all their other friends…

"We'll see." Was all Ryuuken said. "Meanwhile, I think you should see to my students."

It was until then that Rukia became aware that Uryuu had arrived at some point during her speech, they were standing a few feet to her right. Uryuu was holding his hands separate from his body gingerly, and his fingers were bleeding, a consequence of firing too many arrows in an extremely short time, without giving his body time to recover.

"U…Ishida-san!" Rukia cried out. "What did you do to yourself?"

"What was necessary to get rid of those monsters." Uryuu answered simply.

Ryuuken just watched the scene in silence for a few seconds, while Rukia fussed over his son. It got worse when Ichigo finally was unable to remain standing and fell to his knees, letting out a groan of pain at upsetting his burns even more. Rukia cried out then and began fussing even more over both boys, trying and failing to heal them much with her weak kidou, to her further annoyance.

Ryuuken shook his head and went for the door to get back into the hospital, he was surprised the teens hadn't noticed that was where they were standing. Right as he began walking down the stairs he could see another of the teens coming his way.

"Ishida-sensei." Orihime bowed her head respectfully at the older man.

"I believe you may be needed out there." Ryuuken informed her stoically. "My student and son both decided to be idiots and push their bodies far more than they should have. They will need you to treat them."

"Of course!" Orihime nodded immediately.

The girl didn't say a thing about the man's comments, she, like everyone else in their group, knew that regardless of how aloof the man acted, of how emotionless he might seem, he truly cared for them all, and most especially for Uryuu and Ichigo; it was the whole reason why he'd taught Ichigo control when his reiatsu grew too much, and Uryuu when he began experimenting with some dangerous Quincy techniques. He might not like the fact that all the teens were so willing to get involved in spiritual affairs, regardless of their own safety, but that didn't stop him from caring.

Orihime stepped onto the hospital's roof to see things were certainly serious, in particular with Ichigo, he had burns in his arms and part of his torso, they were especially bad in his hands. Uryuu's hands were red and raw too for using his bow too much, far more than he should have without a special glove.

"Ichigo! Uryuu!" Orihime cried out as she hurried to them.

She didn't even need to ask what had happened, seeing them, and after what Dr. Ishida had told her, she knew enough.

The sunset haired girl immediately got Rukia to help her get both boys laying down on the floor, ignoring all the protests, so she could activate her powers.

"Orihime, you've been fighting hollows for hours." Uryuu told her worriedly. "You risk being drained if you insist on healing us right now."

"I'll be fine." Orihime interrupted him. "Souten Kisshun! I reject!"

Neither of the boys could say anything else afterwards, and had to stay in place as they waited for their wounds to finish healing.

"Well Kuchiki…I think you definitely made an impression with my father." Uryuu couldn't help but comment.

Really, he hadn't seen his father being that accepting of anything, especially of a shinigami, ever before. Actually, it had been shocking enough when, two years before, he'd ended up accepting Ichigo, Orihime and the others.

Rukia didn't say anything, she was still in shock at everything she'd said. Since she'd been adopted by the Kuchiki Clan she hadn't dared speak out, especially not to those that so obviously held an authority far above her own. And yet…what she'd done right then…it shocked her so much…and yet it felt so right…She just hoped she hadn't made things even more complicated for her friends…friends, what a novel concept for her, she hadn't had actual friends in over fifty years…

Kuchiki Rukia felt she was fortunate, so fortunate…if only she'd known her luck wasn't meant to last much longer…


	3. Memories of Rain, Tears and Blood

How do you handle 'Memories in the Rain', when the fight with Grand Fisher already happened? That was que question, this chapter is my answer. Remember that the characters are all older and in some ways more mature than in canon.

Someone told me there was a bit of a discrepancy in the chapters, with Ichigo first claiming to know nothing about shinigami, and then knowing about them. It's been fixed (thanks for pointing it out J!).

Also, I've been told that 'shishou' isn't a common term, and some might want me to explain it better. From what I understand, it's a more formal/ceremonial/archaic way of saying sensei; it can also be interpreted as 'master'. For the most part it's Ichigo who calls him that, for Ryuuken was the one to train him. Others refer to him as sensei, both because he helped train them and because he's a doctor (that suffix is used for doctors too).

Finally, no J, the veil's not Ossan's doing. I will remind you all of what I said before. Where this fic is concerned Zangetsu is Zangetsu, and he's a zanpakutou, no Quincy powers involved. Masaki wasn't a Quincy either (though she had power, and that will be addressed in the story).

Having said that. On with this week's chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 3. Memories of Rain, Tears and Blood **

Even with everything she'd witnessed and lived in the last nine weeks or so, nothing could have prepared Rukia for what she witnessed that particular day.

It had all begun the day before, when during her last study-period, a student approached her with a folder and handed it to her, telling her that was the work she would need to hand in two days later to make up for her not assisting the following day. Seeing her confused expression, Orihime had elaborated, they were all going to miss school the next day, and since she was always with them, the teacher had assumed Rukia was part of it as well. And even when Rukia didn't truly understand what was going on, she wanted to, and decided to take them up on the unspoken offer and go as well.

The day had begun early, and Yuzu had enlisted Rukia's help in packing a good number of bentos, which were then picked up by the rest of the boys when they met them out.

Still, the shinigami didn't truly understand what was going on until she saw the archway of the place they were entering, it read: Karakura Cemetery

"All this just to visit a grave?" Rukia asked under her breath.

"It's not just any grave." Orihime whispered in a very low tone.

And that much the shinigami realized when they finally reached the right spot. It read 'Kurosaki Grave' and the last name thus far in the list was: Kurosaki Masaki. Rukia gasped, as it suddenly dawned on her: the poster of the woman in the dinning room, the way in which Isshin talked to it, how Yuzu handled all the house-chores, the fact that there didn't seem to be a Mrs. Kurosaki at home…she was dead…

Rukia was greatly shocked when, after the Kurosakis had said their initial prayers, she watched the rest of the teens, the nakama, take a two row formation in front of the grave and bow deeply; at a signal from Orihime, Rukia joined the group in this act. They all whispered short prayers and added their own sticks of incense and flowers (Rukia's provided by the other girls) to the offerings already provided by the Kurosakis.

After that was done, the Kurosakis took turns to 'talk to Masaki', while the nakama stood guard while keeping out of their way, Isshin never making any comment at the fact that they were all there, he seemed to be used to it already.

Tatsuki and Orihime pulled Rukia with them to the end of the cemetery hill, nearby, the spot looked almost like a small cliff. Tatsuki and Rukia sat in the very end of it, while Orihime chose to sit against a tree a couple of feet away from the edge.

"Have you been doing this for very long?" Rukia inquired, interested.

"We come several times a year." Tatsuki informed her. "And we've been doing it for two years now, so the teachers have gotten used to all of us missing at the same time. Right now was for Ichigo's mom; in mid-August we'll come again, for Chad's abuelo; then, one of the last days of December again, for Uryuu's Jii-san and master; and in March…"

"For my brother." Orihime finished for her.

"Wow…" Rukia found the whole ritual baffling.

"Those aren't all the family members we've lost, but they're those that were so dear to us we see fit to honor them this way." Orihime added. "Some, like Chad's abuelo, well, we never met him, none of us, but Chad is our friend, our nakama, and so we all come to honor his memory. It's the same for those who never met Sora-nii-san, or Ichigo's kaa-san. It doesn't matter if we knew those that died, but that we know those who wish to honor them."

"And you say you've been doing this for two years?" Rukia inquired.

"This is the third time we've come to Masaki-san's grave." Orihime qualified.

"To understand why this ritual is so important, you need to understand something else about Ichigo's kaa-san first." Tatsuki added in a somber tone. "It happened eight years ago…"

There was reluctance in Tatsuki when she spoke, but Rukia felt she needed to know, that it was very important, and somehow the other two girls felt the same thing; it was the only reason they were even speaking of such things without asking Ichigo or his sisters first.

"What happened?" Rukia pressed.

"Masaki-san died." Tatsuki answered. "Or more precisely…she was murdered."

Rukia gasped.

"It happened when Ichigo was nine, the twins seven." Tatsuki explained. "I've known Ichigo for over a decade. We studied martial arts together. Back then he was a crybaby, mama's boy. I could defeat him easily, and every time I hit him he would cry. I thought it was ridiculous. Every evening, once the class was over, his mom would arrive to pick him up, and Ichigo's whole demeanor would change, it was like the pain was erased with her mere presence, or maybe he just stopped caring. Back then I thought it was pathetic, for a boy to smile as brightly as he did, even though he'd lost. If I had known I would ever stop seeing such smiles…I probably wouldn't have been so quick to judge, but then again, I was but a child."

Rukia found hard the idea of Ichigo smiling, truly smiling, when she was so used to him scowling; but this was Tatsuki, she wouldn't lie.

"One day, it was raining outside." Tatsuki continued. "As usual I had hit Ichigo, he'd cried, for quite a while, but then stopped as soon as his mom arrived. Some times we would walk home together, our moms and us, but that particular day I had to stay longer, a tournament was coming and I was taking extra training to be ready for it, so the two of them went alone. Along the way they had to walk by the riverside, the one not too far from here…I'm not quite sure what happened, none of us is. Ichigo has told us he saw a little girl standing by the side of the river, it was dark, it was raining hard, the river was about to flood…and Ichigo couldn't yet distinguish between the living and the dead…" she shook her head as a lone tear fell.

"Ichigo went after her, the little girl I mean." Orihime took over the story. "I'm not sure if he's ever told you, what his name means. His mom chose it, it doesn't mean strawberry, regardless of what some people may say at times to provoke him, it's meant to mean 'Number One Guardian', or 'To Protect One Thing', either way, Ichigo really wanted to live up to that name, even though back then he wasn't a very good fighter…"

Rukia found that even harder to believe than him being a crybaby; he'd seen some of the thugs in the streets when she was walking by with Ichigo; they all seemed to fear the orange-haired boy, and by extension anyone who associated with him. It was the only reason why she'd never been harassed by anyone despite the fact she was new, and that sometimes she acted a bit different from what was normal.

"Ichigo has told us he rushed to the girl, he wanted to help her, to be a guardian." Orihime added. "At some point he heard his mom scream his name, and he blacked out. When he woke up he was on the grass, and…his mom was laying over him…blood all over. She was dead."

Orihime sobbed softly. That story, it just brought too many memories of the one she herself had lost, also in a rainy day.

"What happened to her?" Rukia asked, shocked.

"For years Ichigo thought he'd somehow killed his mom." Tatsuki took over. "He was told it had been an accident, that his mom had slipped and fallen down the stairs that went from the sidewalk to the riverside; but Ichigo knew that couldn't be true. And since he'd been the only one there, the girl had disappeared, he blamed himself. That went on for five years. There was nothing anyone could do, he didn't allow anyone to help him in any way, not even his own family." She shook her head with a sigh. "Then, things changed three years ago. I don't know what happened, but Ichigo was in some kind of accident, on the anniversary of his mother's death; he was supposed to have been with his family, here in the cemetery, but he disappeared. He was found later that night, by the riverside where his mom died, unconscious and bleeding. Some people even said he tried to kill himself, I never believed that. In any case he was sent to a therapist…not that it did much good. Like it hadn't when they first tried it years before. He was sent to therapy for months with no result whatsoever. And then he met the Ishidas…I'm not sure of everything that happened, only that it was talking to them that finally helped him overcome the tragedy of Masaki-san's death. He also learnt something else, the injuries that he'd sustained the day of the anniversary, they had been made by a hollow. While even today he doesn't remember what happened that day, that much we know for sure, a hollow attacked him, we think it's possible he ran from the cemetery to keep his family safe. He somehow survived, even though he didn't have any powers yet. And something else was revealed to him, by Ishida Ryuuken as well, the injuries that had killed Masaki-san…they too had been made by a hollow, the very same hollow that nearly killed Ichigo three years ago…"

Rukia gasped. The same hollow? It had come back? The shinigami hadn't purified it? Why? In any case, his mom had been killed by a hollow, he'd found out, and had been training his own powers since. Was that the reason? His mom's death? Was that why he had such resolve?

"His powers developed after that." Orihime continued. "Uryuu and his dad helped him control them. Chad and I joined them the following spring, when our own powers manifested. Ishida-sama didn't like it much, he said that it was bad enough that Ichigo and Uryuu insisted on getting involved with a world not meant for the living; then Chad and I went and did the same thing. But at the same time, he respected our right to choose; just like he preferred saving people with his ability as a doctor instead of the one he has as a Quincy, he respects that we've all chosen to use the powers we were gifted with to protect people ourselves in any way we can. That summer, the day before the anniversary, Uryuu, Chad and I noticed how tense Ichigo was, and we confronted him about it. Uryuu knew already some of it, but not all; Chad and I had no idea. So the next day, when the Kurosaki family got ready to do their yearly visit to the cemetery, we joined them. It's become a tradition since, and Tatsuki and the others joined us. Isshin-san never questioned us on it, the same way he doesn't question the fact that his own children join us in our own visits to the cemetery. Like I said, it's become tradition."

"And, you say you do it several times a year." Rukia commented.

She tried to sound nonchalant, but she was curious, those human teens had become so close to her in the weeks she'd known them, she wanted to know them more, and better, and she knew this was an important part of them, of the reason why they were the kind of people they were.

"Yes." Tatsuki nodded. "You've already heard about Uryuu's Jii-san and master."

"He was killed by hollows, because a group of shinigami who should have backed him up didn't arrive in time." Rukia confirmed.

"Chad's case is different." Tatsuki explained. "He lost his parents when he was still a very young child, and he was sent to his grandfather, his mom's dad, in Mexico. From what Chad has told us he used to be a problem-child back then, getting in fights and hurting others; until his 'abuelo', that's grandfather in Spanish and the word we all use to refer to him, in respect; his abuelo taught Chad that he should only use his strength to protect others. You've heard already the story of how Ichigo and Chad became friends, haven't you?"

"Yes, they told me a few weeks ago." Rukia nodded. "A gang was hitting Chad, they had taken something important to him, the necklace he wears…Ichigo found them, he got the necklace, a coin I think, back, and beat the thugs."

"And after that they made a promise." Orihime added. "Chad wouldn't use his strength to fight for himself, but he would fight for Ichigo; and Ichigo in turn promised to always have Chad's back, so Chad wouldn't have to fight for himself."

Rukia nodded, she had found the whole thing awe-inspiring. Two humans, and so young, promising to fight for each other's goals…if only the shinigami all had that kind of loyalty to each other and to their own divisions…

"And then there is my brother." Orihime continued. "His name was Sora, he was fifteen years older than I, and he's the only family I've ever known. He took me from our parents' house when I was three years old, and he eighteen. From what I know our parents weren't good people, and he took me away to protect me. He was the one who raised me, did everything he could for me. I loved him so much…" she closed her eyes briefly in sadness. "When I was younger I was often harassed for my hair-color, one time a group of kids took some scissors and cut my hair because they said they didn't like it. I never told Sora-nii-san that, I told him I had just felt like a change. That was also when Tatsuki and I became friends, she takes care of me, and I let my hair grow to show my trust in her…"

Rukia watched the two girls smile at each other, she'd already noticed that Orihime's hair was very long, past her hips already, and it looked beautiful, it always had; Rukia had always wondered why Orihime never talked about cutting it, now she knew.

"Shortly after that, my brother gave me my hairpins." Orihime continued. "The ones the Shun Shun Rikka come from, they were normal blue hairpins back then. It was the only gift he'd ever been able to give me. He worked so much to provide for the two of us, that was the first time he had enough money left from his paycheck to buy me something. And I refused it." She shook her head with a bitter smile. "I was so young, young and stupid. I told him I wasn't a little girl anymore, that I wouldn't wear such childish hairpins. I was being childish, and more than that, I was being an idiot. I refused to say goodbye to him the following morning, when he went to work. The next time I saw him he was on the side of the street, covered in blood, a car had just hit him. The driver ran, and didn't help him at all. I did what I could to hold Sora-nii-san up and took him to the Kurosaki clinic. Isshin-san, everyone, they were so shocked. I think they panicked when they saw me, covered in blood, even though it wasn't mine. My brother's wounds were so bad, they didn't have what was needed to treat him, so Isshin-san phoned Ishida-sensei and arranged for Sora-nii-san to be transferred to Karakura General Hospital. I was so afraid, we had no medical insurance, and very little money; but Isshin-san promised me he would take care of everything. And yet…it was useless, Sora-nii-san died before the ambulance from Karakura General arrived." She began crying softly. "It hurt so much, I cried and screamed, I wanted my brother back. And I got him back, two years ago…"

Rukia, who had been about to try and offer what comfort she could to Orihime, was suddenly distracted by the last thing the girl said.

"You…got him back…" Rukia couldn't process the idea.

"He didn't leave me." Orihime explained. "I think it was because of the way I screamed for him to stay with me, to not leave me alone. He did stay, he looked over me for years, until a force beyond him overpowered him…" she closed her eyes as she added: "Sora-nii-san was the first hollow I ever saw."

Rukia was gaping then.

"I hadn't actually developed my powers yet, back then." Orihime admitted, melancholic. "It happened about a month after Sora-nii-san's death anniversary. Uryuu and Ichigo were close already, and they were trying to keep Tatsuki and I away, Chad was just waiting for them to open up. I was having dinner with Tatsuki that night, when suddenly I could feel it, something wrong in the air, I saw my favorite teddy bear fall to the floor, ripped, and when I went to see what had happened, I suddenly saw blood. I didn't even feel any pain, I only suddenly saw my body laying on the ground, as I stood above it, and there was a chain connecting the two, it hurt and I had trouble breathing." She shook her head. "I saw the hollow then, it was bigger than a human, with a lizard-like tail instead of feet and it slithered in my direction, it kept calling my name…I was so confused, and being out of my body while still alive made me dizzy. Tatsuki was rendered unconscious when she tried to carry my body and the hollow hit her. Then I saw Uryuu and Ichigo arrive, carrying weapons that seemed to be made out of pure energy. They fought the hollow, until Ichigo accidentally half broke its mask, enough for me to see who was beneath it…Sora-nii-san…"

"That's why hollows must be killed with the first hit, and preferably from behind." Rukia mumbled in a low voice.

"We know that." Tatsuki nodded. "But those two didn't back then, it was one of their first hollow hunts, maybe even the first one they went on without Ishida-sensei."

"What happened then?" Rukia inquired.

"I don't remember much." Orihime admitted. "Like I said, I had trouble breathing and felt very dizzy. I know Uryuu and Ichigo fought the hollow, at some point I interfered. Sora-nii-san said he wanted me with him, and I didn't want anyone to die because of me. And…I think that I too wanted to be with Sora-nii-san…"

The last admittance made Rukia gasp loudly; what Orihime had just said, it was almost as good as admitting having suicidal intentions; even if it hadn't been exactly her idea, she had still considered just dying. But then again…hadn't Ichigo himself been willing to die that night to protect his family from the hollow that attacked his home? And yet again a week or so before when that Menos had appeared?

"I was badly hurt and began losing consciousness right then." Orihime admitted. "I vaguely remember hearing him as he told me goodbye, I wished him a good day, the same way I should have the last time I saw him alive, and blacked out. When I woke up it was all very fuzzy, I actually wasn't sure what was real and what was a dream; and the mere idea of my dead brother appearing as some spiritual monster seemed to be more in the realm of fantasy than reality. It took several weeks, but ever so slowly I began seeing spirits more clearly, and when I saw my second hollow I realized that what I had seen that night hadn't been a dream. Then, during another attack, my Shun Shun Rikka manifested for the very first time. I confronted Uryuu and Ichigo after that, told them everything I could see and remember. I also wanted to know what had happened that night after I blacked out. All they told me was that Sora-nii-san was gone…I never asked again."

She hadn't had to, that had been enough. Uryuu had assured her that, regardless of how a Quincy's arrows usually worked, that he and Ichigo acted differently, they didn't destroy hollows, only purified them. That had given Orihime the peace of mind she needed to, finally, accept the fact that her beloved older brother was gone, and move on. One way or another, she wasn't alone, she'd had Tatsuki, her best friend, for years, and from that day on she would also have Uryuu, Ichigo and Chad. They were her closest friends, her nakama…

"It would seem like bad things have a tendency of happening when it's raining, huh?" Rukia commented with a sad sigh.

This immediately called Tatsuki's and Orihime's attention, though they didn't ask anything, choosing to wait, giving time for Rukia to pull herself together.

Rukia had decided that, after all the personal stuff they'd shared with her, it was only right she shared something; this thing in particular, it was her 'darkest secret' so to speak, and maybe, just maybe, sharing it with them would finally help her move on, just like sharing their experiences with each other seemed to have helped the nakama.

"It's ok…" A male voice whispered from behind. "You don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to, Rukia."

Rukia almost jumped at the voice, she hadn't realized Ichigo was approaching until he was already there, and with him the rest of the nakama, soon they were all sitting or standing around the small cliff, in silence; they were waiting for Rukia to make up her mind, not knowing she had already, regardless of how hard it may be, she wanted to do this.

"No, I want to." Rukia assured them, then, with a deep breath, she began. "As I said before, I wasn't born a Kuchiki, I arrived to Rukongai like many other souls, when I was just a baby, a woman helped raised me, until about forty or so years later; by then my need for food was growing, and nana could no longer provide for me, so I left. I lived in the streets, fishing and recollecting fruits when I could, stealing from vendors when needed. Many things happened during those five decades I lived in the streets, I made several friends, lost most of them, and eventually decided to become a shinigami, it seemed to me like living in Seireitei would allow for a better life than being a street-kid in Rukongai." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "A year after I entered the Academy I was approached by a group of men, they were members of the Kuchiki Clan."

"Kuchiki…" Tatsuki mumbled.

"Yes, I didn't tell you this before." Rukia admitted. "There is a reason the Kuchiki is known as a Clan and not as a Family. It's because Kuchiki are considered Nobles…"

There were several gasps, and even those who didn't gasp were left gaping in shock, that one they hadn't been expecting.

"I don't consider myself a noble." Rukia hurried to assure them. "I was offered to become one of them back then, I wasn't sure if I should, but eventually I accepted. I wanted a family so much…and yet…"

"You didn't actually get what you wanted, did you?" Uryuu guessed.

"No, I didn't." Rukia admitted. "While I may legally be a Kuchiki, most of the members of the Clan still see me as a commoner, it's likely they always will, My Onii-sama, he never truly speaks to me, except to ask about my performance as a shinigami…I don't think he finds it acceptable. All I want is to make him proud…I doubt I'll ever be able to. Especially with our current situation…when he finds out that I gave my powers to a human…I'll be considered a disgrace, both as a shinigami and as a Kuchiki…"

"It'll work out, Rukia." Ichigo tried to reassure her. "I'll find a way to give you your power back, before Soul Society finds out."

Rukia shook her head, it had been over two months already, she found it hard to believe that if they hadn't found a solution in all those weeks, they would soon enough for Soul Society not to realize something was wrong…if they hadn't already.

"Anyway." Rukia went back to her tale. "After I was adopted by the Kuchiki Clan I was pulled from the Academy, nobles are to be trained personally by tutors, instead of going through the six years there. I was talented in kidou, and decent enough in hakuda and hohou to join Division 13, where some officer would finish training me. There I met Shiba Kaien-dono, he was my fukutaichou, and a man I greatly admired. He taught me so much in the little time he knew me…and then he was gone. His wife, 3rd Seat Shiba Miyako-dono had been on patrol with a team of unseated shinigami when they were attacked, she was the only survivor, but in a terrible condition. Or that's the way things seemed at first. Soon enough we realized the real tragedy, the hollow had somehow possessed Miyako-dono and when she was brought into the barracks, many more shinigami died. The creature finally ran away when more powerful officers went after it. Kaien-dono insisted on going after the hollow, to avenge his dead wife and all the shinigami whose lives had also been lost that night. Ukitake-taichou and I accompanied him, though we remained at a distance. The fight…" she shuddered sharply in remembrance of how bad it had been. "It was awful. I tried to help, but Ukitake-taichou wouldn't allow me, he said Kaien-dono was fighting for his pride, as well as his wife's and men's; I wasn't to interfere in a fight for pride…" she shook her head bitterly. "Maybe if I had, things would have been different. The hollow was too powerful even for Kaien-dono, it broke his zanpakutou, and then possessed him. Ukitake-taichou told me to run and moved to fight the creature wearing the body of Kaien-dono. I did as I was told, and ran, but then I stopped, when I realized I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I acted like a coward. So I went back. Things had gone from bad to worse, Ukitake-taichou was having an episode…you see, he has a permanent sickness, mostly it's not too bad, but sometimes he gets an episode and begins coughing and panting, it's awful…I unsheathed my zanpakutou, knowing if I didn't at least try to do something many more people would die…"

Rukia's voice broke as she reached that part, she began heaving, unsure if she would be able to finish the story, until she suddenly felt the hand on her shoulder tighten briefly; she'd totally forgotten Ichigo was there, and yet now she knew he was there, and he was offering his support, and soon enough he wasn't the only one, Tatsuki had a hand on her arm, and kneeling behind her, Orihime extended her own arm to touch her as well, Chizuru didn't actually touch her, but standing behind the two other girls she simply nodded; the twins hurried to her side, Yuzu embracing her around the waist, while Karin laid her hand on Rukia's back, Uryuu, Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro offering their own silent support from behind them. They were all there, for her…and she felt so grateful…their support gave her the strength to, for the first time, retell the whole experience out-loud.

"The hollow turned to me as soon as I raised my zanpakutou." Rukia continued with a never-before-known strength. "It rushed at me, and I was so panicked, all I could do was raise my weapon and hope…it was actually enough. Kaien-dono…I think a part of him took control if only briefly, changing his motions just enough so that instead of him taking my arm in a swing, he ended up spearing himself on my sword." A tear fell down her eye, but her voice didn't break again. "I killed him. Or…I guess, in a way he killed himself with my sword. Right before leaving he actually thanked me, said my actions had freed him. He didn't want to be a hollow, he didn't want to cause even more deaths, he was happy to die at my hands. And for the longest time I didn't understand. For so many years I've believed the whole situation to have been my fault." She shook her head sadly. "And yet, somehow, now I can see things differently. He chose to fight, and he lost, he could have allowed the hollow to win, to use him to destroy us all, but instead he fought, just enough to give me the chance to take him out. He went the way he wanted, like a warrior, and to his last breath he acted in behalf of every shinigami under his command, myself included. I…I did the only thing that could be done, and having done anything differently would have been a dishonor to him."

Ichigo nodded as he tightened his hold in Rukia's shoulder briefly again. He'd recognized the tone in her voice, the stiffness in her body; they were so familiar to him. She'd been blaming herself about the whole thing, just like he once had, with regards of his own mother's death.

And now, recalling the tragic event for the first time, in the company of a group of human teenagers…in the company of her friends…she could finally see the truth: the whole thing had been an awful tragedy, and certainly not her fault…

"Thank you…" Rukia whispered in a very low voice.

And then, finally, she allowed herself to cry.

**xXx**

It had been another of those days, or rather nights, when things began bad and they only got worse. Some of their classmates had questioned Rukia on how tight she was with Ichigo, or any of the other boys who hung out with him, since they knew she'd joined them in one of their usual group-trips. Of course no one outside of the group actually knew where they all went, and none had found the need to explain it.

Rukia had blushed a very dark shade of red, still remembering that day, how she had finally been able to recount the worst day of her life out-loud, and had begun to realize that the tragedy of that day hadn't been her fault at all. She'd cried for a long time, until, at some point she'd thought it might be too much, then suddenly Ichigo was behind her, holding her shoulders tightly, whispering for her to let it all out. She had sobbed and screamed at the sky for tragedies and injustices, and then she had just cried hard into Ichigo's shirt. He hadn't minded, he just held her through it all. And afterwards…

She still hadn't been able to face Ichigo with regards to that, even though it had already been a week. She'd been so emotionally and mentally tired when they got back to his home, and then in the morning she'd overslept and nearly didn't make it to school on time.

And then her classmates had to go and ask her questions like that!

Ichigo had known all about the situation because Tatsuki had been harassing Rukia about it when they finally joined the rest for lunch; still he'd chosen to ignore it. The shinigami had been evading him since their return from the cemetery, refusing to talk about what had happened after she stopped crying, and he didn't want to press her, he wanted so much to understand what was going through her mind in that moment, but he didn't want to do or say something stupid in the process and end up possibly ruining the whole thing. It was the very same reason why he still hadn't confronted his father yet…

Eventually classes had ended and they had all gone to their respective homes, they had just finished a two-week intensive training with Ishida-shishou the day before; he'd insisted after seeing how they all ended up after the hard fight where Ichigo was badly burnt and Uryuu's fingers were badly cut. He'd decided that if they refused to listen to him about staying out of the fights, then he at least was going to make sure they wouldn't get killed too easily. Something they were all thankful for, even if the training itself had left them half-dead.

That night things got even stranger when Rukia didn't join them for dinner. It wasn't like they didn't all know about her, even if they had only told Isshin that she was a friend that needed somewhere to stay for a while, the old-man hadn't made any questions, didn't even know that Rukia actually slept in a spare futon in Ichigo's closet rather than the one in the twins' room, the girls knew but said nothing about it.

"Rukia," Ichigo called when he entered his room with her dinner. "You missed dinner, so I brought it to you, you must be starving…"

No answer, and an exhaustive search only revealed to Ichigo that her backpack was gone, as well as most of the things she'd collected in the months since she'd arrived to Karakura. Eventually he also found a small note on the corner of his desk. It was a goodbye and thank you note, and in the P.S. there were instructions not to follow her…of course, Ichigo wasn't exactly known for being the most obedient person…

"Yuzu! Karin!" Ichigo called loudly.

Thankfully their father was busy watching one of his favorite shows downstairs, the twins hurried into their brother's room as soon as they heard him call.

"Something wrong Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked, confused.

"Why the hell are you yelling Ichigo?" Karin demanded at the same time.

For all answer Ichigo practically shoved the note into Karin's hands and then began pacing from one side to the other of the room, reminiscent of a caged tiger.

"Not to follow her…" Karin mumbled. "All the more reason to do exactly that…Ichigo! What are you doing still here? You gotta go after her!"

"I know that!" Ichigo replied hotly. "It's not that easy. You…We all knew this could happen one day remember? We talked about it. About the consequences of Soul Society finding out that Rukia had lent me her powers if she didn't manage to recover them in time. We also talked about how it's not a good idea for Soul Society to know there are so many spiritually aware humans in Karakura."

Karin began shaking her head, she knew what was coming and she really didn't like it.

"I am going." Ichigo informed them. "It's what's expected of me, one way or another. You must stay here."

"No." Karin refused right away.

"Karin!" Ichigo groaned.

"No Ichigo." Karin insisted. "What if something happens to you?"

"What if something happens to you?" Ichigo asked in return. "Karin, you're empathic, I know you've tried to block that power, but we all saw what happened with Chad's parakeet, despite all your blocks, you still sensed the boy's spirit…damn! You even had flashes of his life and death! We don't know what kind of reaction you would have if confronted with the power of those Soul Society may send after Rukia…Besides, if worse comes to worst, someone needs to be able to still fight, and you know you're one of the best fighters we have."

"You don't need to sing me false praise." Karin interrupted. "I get it. Now go."

She didn't like it, definitely not, but she had to accept he was right.

Two years before, Chad had gotten a parakeet, he was told the bird was cursed or something like that, all its previous owners had died. Ichigo and Uryuu, of course, had known better as soon as they had seen it. The problem had been when Karin had accidentally crossed paths with them, all the blocks she'd put on her empathy when she was seven had come crashing down and she had collapsed as her mind was bombarded by the huge fear and grief the spirit-boy was feeling, as well as the darkness that pursued him.

Since then Karin had been trying to deal with her empathy, like she'd refused to years before. It wasn't easy, to suddenly be able to feel everyone's emotions, and the higher their reiatsu, the more keenly she felt those emotions. With time and effort she had grown used to the rest of their nakama's emotions, but they still had no idea how she might react to those of a shinigami (Rukia was weakened and in a gigai, while Ichigo was a Daiko, and her brother).

"Very well." Ichigo nodded. "Yuzu, I need you to phone the others, make sure that, no matter what they sense they stay put. If Rukia's leaving is really because of Soul Society the others must not be found. It's very important."

"I will tell them, Ichi-nii." Yuzu assured him.

It wasn't until his sisters had left the room and he turned to Kon that Ichigo actually realized that, without Rukia's help, he didn't have a way to get the mod-soul out of the lion-plushy.

"Great…just great…" Ichigo muttered to himself.

He was about to snap when suddenly he heard a voice coming from his open window.

"You need any help?"

There, in the window was sitting a shaggy-blonde haired, gray-eyed man with his bucket hat and geta-sandals. Geta-boushi, as Ichigo had dubbed him since he couldn't actually remember his name. He knew the man to be a former-shinigami, or something along those lines, he was a business man Rukia had contact with. Ichigo hardly ever saw him.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo questioned with a furrowed brow.

"Just helping out a good customer." The man said in a too-cheerful tone.

"I have never done any deals with you." Ichigo replied.

"Of course." The man nodded immediately. "But it was my impression that you may want to help Kuchiki Rukia, who is a good costumer of mine."

"And what makes you believe Rukia is in need of any help, from you or me?" Ichigo inquired.

He really didn't like the situation, the man seemed to know things, more than he should, more than he was saying; in Ichigo's book that was never good.

"Does it matter?" The man refused to answer the question. "Kuchiki Rukia needs your help now, will you let her down?"

"I won't." Ichigo declared straightening up. "I will help her. And you will give me answers when I'm done."

The blonde man didn't give him a chance to say anything else, as he used the base of his cane to hit Ichigo's forehead, hard enough for his soul to be expelled. Ichigo barely took the time to carry his now-empty body to the bed before rushing out. He trusted the man to get Kon into his body, so that his father wouldn't find anything strange.

Ichigo still remembered how he'd met both Kon and the blonde man. Rukia had gotten the mod-soul for him without knowing it was a modified one (an illegal one). It had tried to do mayhem and run away with Ichigo's body, but the nakama had realized what was going on right away and stopped him before things could get out of control.

By the time the Geta-boushi got there, they had the situation under control, and the nakama had left. In the end Ichigo had decided to keep Kon, the mod-soul might have been a tad crazy, but its modification made him a good backup in case of an emergency.

In his soul form Ichigo ran as fast as he could down the street, it was like some instinct was guiding him in Rukia's direction, maybe her own power in him.

It took him a few minutes to get there, and right as Uryuu was cut in the side by some redhead in shinigami robes.

"If Uryuu gets killed…Ishida-shishou is gonna be beyond furious…" Ichigo muttered to himself as he tried moving even faster.

Uryuu dropped to one knee as his bow vanished, his side hurt, he was bleeding and needed to use both arms to hold himself up, which caused his blue reishi bow to dissipate.

"Ishida!" Rukia cried out in panic.

It was until then that Ichigo saw the full scene, with Uryuu half-kneeling on the sidewalk, the redhead in the black shihakusho and holding a sword less than three feet in front of him; and Rukia, holding herself against a wall, one of her dress sleeves slashed, bruises on her skin and a cut in her cheek.

Ichigo could see the fear that kept Rukia frozen; he knew it could only mean the situation was truly bad, not even the Menos they'd faced two weeks before had been able to freeze the violet-eyed so completely. Seeing that brought forth his protective side, Rukia shouldn't have to be so afraid, he needed to protect her…

"Abarai Renji!" The redhead claimed in a cocky tone. "This is the name of the man that will kill you! Remember it well!"

Ichigo didn't even think about it, the moment the mostly-unknown shinigami raised his katana in Uryuu's direction, he acted. The young Quincy was one of his best friends, and one of his nakama…something needed to be done. He briefly considered trying for an energy attack, like he'd done before; but Uryuu and Rukia were both too close to the enemy, they could end up being harmed, so Ichigo knew he would have to be more direct.

The echo of the two blades clashing together enveloped the block.

Uryuu let out a breath in relief when he saw his shinigami best-friend (and that sounded pretty strange even to his own ears) standing right by his side, zanpakutou held with both hands, blocking the redhead's own sword.

"Who…" The redhead was obviously shocked. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Kurosaki Ichigo!" The orange-haired claimed as he straightened up. "The man who will defeat you! Remember it well!"

He was really pissed off at the redhead, for hurting one of his nakama. Uryuu was powerful, but it was obvious he hadn't acted with the desire to kill his opponent, otherwise his enemy wouldn't have seen him coming, he would have just died.

"You're going soft Uryuu…" Ichigo couldn't help but comment to his fallen friend. "Had one like him faced you last year he would have died before you were even seen."

"Shut up Ichigo…" Uryuu mumbled, though there was some pride in his voice. "I didn't think Kuchiki Rukia would appreciate me killing someone she knew."

"Please, one of you? kill me?" The redhead mocked. "Don't make me laugh."

"Laugh?" Ichigo asked with a brow raised. "Do you actually think we were being funny?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia finally dared speak. "Fool! What the hell are you doing here?! I told you not to come! You should have stayed home!"

"If you actually thought that a note telling me such things would convince me, then you don't know me very well." Ichigo told her offhandedly. "I don't leave my nakama alone."

Rukia opened her mouth to speak, and then did a double-take, he'd called her a nakama. While she'd heard him, and the others, referring to each other with that term, they had never used it to refer to her, she guessed they didn't know her well enough. Until now…And why did Ichigo have to choose precisely that day to refer to her as nakama?

The fight began then, it was as much a match of words as it was one of swords. The redhead, Abarai Renji, spoke of how he was going to kill Ichigo, thereby returning Rukia's powers; though that still wouldn't stop him and his superior: Kuchiki Byakuya, from taking Rukia back to Soul Society to be judged and condemned. That was something Ichigo wasn't about to allow. Renji also, mocked Ichigo for having a big yet empty blade, for not knowing it had a name. The whole thing actually made Ichigo wonder about the voices in his head, the voices he hadn't heard in months.

The battle went on for a long while, at some point Renji managed to injure Ichigo, badly; but instead of taking him down, the hit seemed to make Ichigo snap as his reiatsu skyrocketed and he began overpowering Renji.

Rukia and Uryuu could just watch the whole thing in shock, the first shocked that the orange-haired actually had that kind of power, the Quincy awed by the display, and wondering what exactly had made his friend lose control that much.

And yet, regardless of all his raw strength, of all his potential, it just wasn't enough. Even when Ichigo managed to, with some effort, injure Renji badly, there was nothing he could do against Kuchiki Byakuya's attack…he didn't even see it coming. One moment he was standing there, sword in hand, the next his zanpakutou was in two pieces, he was falling and it hurt…he wasn't actually sure where the pain was coming from: the front, the back, both?

"Ichigo!"

In that instant, the orange-haired was almost sure he'd heard four voices calling his name instead of just two…


	4. Secrets, Souls and Swords

New week, new chapter. This one will give you some explanations on things you might be wondering right now (J! Here's the explanation as to what that 'veil' was about). You might also end up with more questions, but we'll see how it goes.

If you ever have questions, ask them, I'll either answer them, or tell you that they will be answered in the fic. Please don't forget to leave reviews/comments, I live for those!

* * *

**Chapter 4. Secrets, Souls and Swords **

When Ichigo woke up he got a feeling eerily similar to the time his mom's murderer had presumably come back and attacked him. That idea wasn't good. And it only got worse when he actually remembered his fight against the two agents of Soul Society that had arrived to take Kuchiki Rukia back, he'd managed to hold his ground against the redhead when he released his full power, something he hadn't had to do since first learning to control it; but even if there was a chance he might have been able to take the first shinigami down, the second proved to be too much for him…He remembered the awful pain he'd felt in both his chest and his back at the same time…He vaguely remembered trying to move despite that pain, the enemy threatening to destroy him completely…he hadn't cared about any threats, all he wanted was to save his nakama…and then Rukia had kicked him, she had spouted some stupid speech and then left with them, of her own free will…

"Stupid midget…" Ichigo grumbled in frustration. "If she really thinks that ridiculous speech of hers is gonna keep me away she defiantly doesn't know me at all!"

Though, as he remembered the awful scene, of her in that ripped blue dress as she crossed the shouji-doors that had opened from thin air, her expression so sad, so defeated…and meanwhile the rain falling down on his broken body…

"Rukia was right…" He mumbled with a sigh. "Bad things tend to happen when it rains."

For a moment he couldn't help but remember something…someone else: a young woman with long reddish-black tresses, laying immobile in the cold street, in a pool of rain, blood and tears, an image that carried unimaginable pain…then something else entered his mind:

"Uryuu!" Ichigo cried out in sudden panic.

The teen straightened up, ignoring his own groan of pain coming from the tender spots in both his chest and his back, where apparently his enemy's sword had penetrated at some point; he'd never seen the attack, never even felt it, but the consequences couldn't be ignored.

"I'm fine, glad to see you care." A low voice told him from a side.

Ichigo turned to see Uryuu standing at the door of the room he was in; and it wasn't until that very moment that the orange-haired teen realized the room wasn't his own, he was in some unknown room, and his wounds had been bandaged.

"I see you've been healed." Ichigo declared calmly.

He was trying not to move too much, so as not to upset his own wounds further.

"Orihime came as soon as she was sure the other shinigami were gone." Uryuu informed him. "She treated my wounds first, as I seemed to be bleeding more than you. Then she treated you, the physical wounds were easy enough, but according to her, they did something to you, to your soul, something she didn't have the power to undo."

Ichigo touched his chest with one hand, remembering vividly the moment he'd realized his enemy was already behind him and he was falling…he also realized something else then, the power he'd sensed filling him since piercing his heart with Rukia's zanpakutou, it was gone…

"Rukia's power." Ichigo mumbled, realizing what had happened. "That last attack from the shinigami…he took Rukia's power from me."

"Does that mean you're not a shinigami anymore?" Uryuu questioned, puzzled. "I can still feel reiatsu coming from you, and see your reiraku, though it has gone back to the way it felt and looked before the night you met Kuchiki…somewhat…"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo was puzzled at his friend's words.

"It's like…" Uryuu seemed to be having trouble finding the right words to explain himself. "The base of the power has gone back to what it was before, but the power itself has changed, it's like it's grown…not exactly in power itself but…maybe in level. It's like you're back to having your own reiryoku, and it's now evolved…"

"Mmm…" Ichigo was thoughtful about that. "There's a lot I don't understand right now. But there's one thing that's been bothering me since I was battling the redhead, something I want to try." He shook his head. "Is everyone here?"

"In the next room." Uryuu answered honestly. "None of us trust that shopkeeper, Urahara Kisuke. He didn't seem surprised at all when Orihime arrived to heal us, even when Chad joined us; though I have to admit he did seem somewhat startled when Kon arrived with the rest the following afternoon…"

"Following afternoon?" Ichigo interrupted. "I guess since you used those words instead of 'today', that I've been unconscious for longer than that.

"Three days actually." Uryuu informed him. "I was only unconscious for one night and in bed for a day, but then again, my worst injury was a bad slash on my side, which was initially treated by one of Urahara's workers here in the shop and then fully healed by Orihime later on. You…well your condition was much different."

Ichigo nodded calmly, the difference in recovery time was to be expected, even if he still had to fully investigate the consequences.

"Has Ishida-shishou been informed of what happened?" Ichigo inquired.

"He knows, yes." Uryuu nodded. "Orihime went to see him and informed him of everything right after she healed me."

"Very well." Ichigo nodded. "Lets go see everyone else, I want to know what's been going on these three days; then I want to try and prove a theory."

"A theory?" That made Uryuu curious.

"You'll see." Ichigo assured him.

Like Uryuu had said, in the next room all their friends were sitting, the twins included, Urahara, another man, and a black cat stood at another door, watching the interaction, waiting for something. The moment the two teenagers crossed the door into that room, they got a very good idea of what that 'something' was.

"Kurosaki-san!" Urahara called loudly. "It's good to see you're awake! I hope you have recovered nicely. The wounds you had when you came in where rather bad…"

"I'm fine." Ichigo interrupted. "I've been told it was the two of you who helped us. You have my honest gratitude."

"It was a pleasure to help Kurosaki-san, both you and Ishida-san!" Urahara declared.

"I know this may seem rude, but I would appreciate it if you were to allow my friends and I some privacy while we talk." Ichigo declared authoritatively.

"Of course, of course." Urahara declared immediately. "I understand you may wish to discuss the situation with your comrades. Tessai-san and I would be very glad to help in any way we can once you're done here…"

"Why?" Ichigo questioned with a brow raised in either curiosity of doubt. "Why so willing to help? First when I needed to get out of my body that night, you brought Uryuu and I here after the battle, and now this… This cannot just be because Rukia is a 'good costumer' of yours, there's more going on, I know there is."

"And what do you think is going on, Kurosaki-san?" Urahara questioned.

The change in the man was subtle but still noticeable by everyone present, the paper fan he'd been waving around and continually using to hide his too-bright smile as he laughed lightly was closed almost abruptly, and he was looking straight at Ichigo, no expression at all in his face, and even when his blonde bangs shadowed his eyes, there was no doubt they were fixed straight at the orange-haired teen, he could feel the scrutiny, as if the man were silently looking for something in him.

"I don't know! That's why I'm asking." Ichigo answered almost forcefully. "I don't trust you, Urahara, it's true you've gone out of your way to help both myself and Uryuu; and that's precisely what makes me suspect there's more going on here." His brows furrowed dangerously. "You were at my home, exactly when I needed help to become a shinigami…How could you have known I would need help? And specifically then? Did you know that Rukia was leaving? That other shinigami were coming for her? That they would be that strong? And if the answer to any of that is yes, then why didn't you do something about it? Rukia told me you were once a shinigami, and it's obvious you're a powerful one, I can feel the way you contain your own power, I'm sure one of my friends has a better understanding of just how much power…but that's not important right now. You could have done something to help Rukia yourself, yet you didn't. You claim to help us as a way to help her, but you stayed back. That night, I was badly hurt, I could have died, yet I'm here alive, and Orihime didn't treat me until hours later; which means you had to have been close enough to treat me in time, which also means you must have seen or at least sensed what was happening."

No expression showed in either men at the opposite door, yet those with good-enough spiritual senses could feel how tense they both were at the words Ichigo was saying; and even if the orange-haired was somewhat lacking on that front, Uryuu wasn't. It appeared that the brown-eyed teen had hit something right in the head, something they didn't want to reveal.

"Maybe we should be having this discussion elsewhere, then." Uryuu suggested.

"It's not necessary." Ichigo declared. "Maybe, while we talk, they will do the same, and decide it's about time to be honest with all of us."

"And will you be honest with us, Kurosaki-san?" Urahara wanted to know.

"That depends on what you want to know." Ichigo answered honestly. "Already you seem to know things about me. Uryuu has told me how you seemed to be expecting Orihime and Chad, and yet you didn't expect everyone else. That tells me you know about us, knew even before this, possibly even before Rukia came. And if that's true…I don't like the implications."

None of them did, several had even gotten on guard as soon as they began realizing how true some of Ichigo's arguments were. It was one thing to think the blonde-man was half-crazy and had a knack for being in places where he could help without being called; but with everything Ichigo had just implied…

"Of course, Kurosaki-san." Urahara nodded soberly. "We'll leave you alone then."

The two men moved to leave, and even began closing the doors behind them.

"I think the cat should leave as well." Uryuu commented seriously.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, he knew Uryuu was not being paranoid, if he'd said that then it meant there was something off about that cat…

The animal in that moment turned to look at Uryuu, an expression on its face that didn't fit a normal pet. It just stared at Uryuu for a couple of seconds before slipping out of the room through the slip that was still open.

The door finally closed, and still Uryuu and Ichigo waited for several seconds before joining their friends around a table.

"You sensed something in the cat?" Chad guessed.

"Reiatsu, too high for an animal, any animal." Uryuu answered honestly. "It was very well contained, almost as good as Urahara's; but still, a cat, even a spirit one, shouldn't have that kind of reiatsu."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Do you really think they've left?" Tatsuki inquired.

"I wouldn't put it past them for them to be spying on us right now." Karin muttered.

"Orihime, can you ensure some privacy for us?" Uryuu suggested suddenly.

"Of course." Orihime brought her hands to her hairpins and called: "Souten Kisshun."

It was one of the more unorthodox uses she had for that particular technique; the other being as a prison, as one of the characteristics of that shield, even when not using it to 'reject past events', was that nothing that was inside could get out, including noise…the nakama were practically in an isolated bubble in that moment. Which allowed them to talk about everything they needed to, confident they wouldn't be spied on.

**xXx**

Urahara Kisuke and Tsukabishi Tessai were having some tea when the group of teenagers finally stepped out of the other room. Like Karin had guessed, they had tried to eavesdrop on the teens' conversation at the beginning, until coming to the realization that somehow the group had manage to isolate themselves; they had no idea who had done it exactly or how, but finally they had to accept that, if they wanted to learn more about the teens, they would have to ask them the needed questions directly.

Something both former shinigami realized as soon as the teens were standing before them, was their formation: Ichigo was standing at the front of the group, with Ishida Uryuu a step behind him and to his right; the other two teens they'd been expecting to develop powers (Orihime and Chad) along with a girl they hadn't been expecting just yet (Tatsuki) followed along with a younger girl Urahara knew to be one of Ichigo's twin sisters; the second twin and the last three teens stood behind the others.

"We've talked." Ichigo announced calmly. "We all agree we don't trust you, and we won't unless you tell us, honestly, who you are and why you've done the things you've done."

"I could tell you many things, Kurosaki-san." Urahara replied calmly. "But what is the chance of you truly believing me?"

"We won't know until you tell us." Ichigo answered honestly.

It wasn't like any of them was clairvoyant, or a mind-reader; they couldn't be 100% sure that what was being said was the truth; but they trusted that with their various talents (at sensing reiatsu, interpreting it, and doing the same with non-verbal language) they would manage to at least get a general idea of when the blonde shopkeeper was being truthful, and when he was just trying to play them for fools.

"I understand why you would want to know the truth." Urahara nodded. "But you must understand first, Kurosaki-san, that there are some secrets that aren't mine to share."

"You mean like what oyaji is doing in the next room?" Karin deadpanned.

None of the adults were expecting that at all; out of all the surprises they had gotten since most of the teens had first entered the shop, two days ago, that had to be the biggest one.

Silence reigned until, after a very long minute, Kurosaki Isshin finally entered the room from the door behind Urahara and Tessai. He was dressed in the shinigami shihakusho, a torn white haori tied over one shoulder and a zanpakutou by his side. To the adults' further surprise, none of the teens reacted at all at his arrival, or his attire, besides some brows rising.

"I guess our suspicions were right." Uryuu commented turning to look at Ichigo.

"On both accounts." Ichigo replied easily. "What do you want to bet shishou knew?"

"But of course he knew." Uryuu replied with a 'duh' tone and a little pride. "It's just like Urahara said, it wasn't really his secret to tell. Though, that still didn't stop him from 'suggesting' the possibility to us."

"This only adds to my own theory." Ichigo added. "I really want to take a shot at it."

"Once we're finished with this matter, I suppose." Uryuu guessed. "It might not be a bad idea to actually have other shinigami help you."

Ichigo nodded, admitting he was right.

"You don't look surprised." Isshin commented, suspiciously.

"We aren't." Karin replied calmly. "Not completely in any case."

"Shishou?" Urahara inquired with a furrowed brow.

The blonde former shinigami was fast realizing that things were far from what he'd expected them to be. First more teens were spiritually aware, or even had active powers, even Ichigo's sisters were involved; then they were able to see how suspicious some of his own actions were; they sensed Isshin's presence in the shop despite how careful they had been to conceal the man's presence, and now they didn't even seem that surprised that he appeared before them as a shinigami! And they were talking about a master…

Ichigo opened his mouth to give an excuse not to reveal his master's name, when someone else spoke ahead of him.

"He means me."

The adults already in the room face-faulted as they watched Dr. Ishida Ryuuken enter the room by the same door Isshin had used. They all noticed how he turned to look at the teens, particularly Ichigo and Uryuu, giving them a quick once over and then a silent nod. The teens for their part all bowed respectfully at the man, something that shocked the adults even more, they all seemed to know the older Ishida!

"What an unexpected surprise, Ishida-san!" Urahara called in a false-cheerful tone.

"Long time no seen, Ryuuken." Isshin added. "Like Kisuke said, this is truly a surprise, I would really like to know how it is you know my son, and why he calls you shishou."

However, Ryuuken chose to ignore the two shinigami (or former shinigami) and instead move to the teens, silently analyzing Ichigo's reiatsu, trying to make out how the sudden loss of the borrowed power might have affected him.

"I wasn't expecting you here, otou-san." Uryuu commented calmly.

"I knew Ichigo was expected to awaken soon and decided I better come here before 'someone' gave them ideas that are likely to get them killed." Ryuuken declared sardonically.

"Shishou…" Ichigo took a deep breath before speaking. "I know you don't like it, but you know already that, regardless of what any of them, my father included, may say, one decision has been made already: we're going to rescue Rukia."

"Why?" Ryuuken's question was expected.

There could have been so many answers for such a simple question: because he owed her for having given him power; because she saved his family; because she's helped them all; because she's a friend. Yet there was one that comprised them all, and at the same time reached beyond the limits of debt, ally, friend…

"Because she's nakama."

Ryuuken wasn't really that surprised when all the other teens, even his own son, nodded at this. Ever since he'd realized they had all been hanging out with the shinigami, he'd known that regardless of Uryuu's old grudges, he would eventually come to accept the shinigami girl, just like he'd known he would accept Ichigo, regardless of his parentage or true power…the other teens, they seemed to have a tendency to follow where Ichigo and Uryuu led…Still, that didn't mean the older Quincy wasn't going to do his damned best to ensure they would survive their self-imposed mission, even if it meant getting involved with the spiritually aware, and maybe even working with some shinigami (he would never admit it, but the shinigami girl had managed to earn his respect, something very few could boast of).

"Maybe, first we should handle introductions." Urahara suggested. "Since I must admit not to know all of those present. I'll begin saying my name is Urahara Kisuke, I'm the former 12th Division taichou of the Gotei 13; I was exiled a little over a century ago, blamed by a crime I didn't commit. However, with help of two dear friends I managed to escape and come to earth, helping on the way several others in the same situation."

"My name is Tsukabishi Tessai." The man behind Urahara added. "I was once captain of the Kidou Corps. A special group, additional to the Gotei 13, it also means I'm a kidou expert. I'm one of the people who helped Kisuke escape that night, decades ago."

"I am Shihouin Yoruichi." The 'cat' spoke. "And like some of you deduced already I am no cat, I'm just comfortable in this form. It's good when you want to go unnoticed. I was also once a Shinigami, 2nd Squad Taichou, and one of those who helped Urahara and the others escape when they were condemned for something not their fault."

The teens all nodded, some like Keigo and Chizuru had jumped slightly when the cat had begun talking, but only because the voice surprised them; like Yoruichi had said, they had all already known the cat wasn't normal.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, though I think everyone here already knew that." Ichigo decided to handle the teens' introductions himself. "For the last ten or eleven weeks I held the powers of a shinigami, borrowed from Kuchiki Rukia, they were taken from me three days ago. Even before that I already had power, though I have yet to be able to call on them again. My nakama are: Ishida Uryuu, heir of the Quincy line; Inoue Orihime, with the power of rejection; Sado Yasutora, with his armored arm; Arisawa Tatsuki, expert martial artist, she can improve her own power with reiatsu; Asano Keigo, Kojima Mizuiro and Honshou Chizuru don't have any active powers, though they are spiritually aware; last but certainly not least, my sisters, Yuzu and Karin, Yuzu is an expert at kidou, Rukia trained her for a couple of months; Karin can infuse things with her reiatsu and may possibly be a shinigami herself…"

Karin's eyes flashed, showing there was something more to that 'possibility' than anyone was willing to say…

"I'm Kurosaki Isshin, doctor." The man revealed himself next. "Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu are my children. However, things were different thirty-five years ago, back then I was the Head of a noble family: the Nagaken Clan; it's technically one of the Great Clans, but since at that point I was the one of only a handful left, we weren't seen as too important anymore. Back then I was also the 10th Division taichou. I left that life behind when I was forced to sacrifice all my powers; I had a chance to go back at one point, but then I met my Masaki…"

"And that cost her her life." Ichigo muttered with a tired sigh. "I imagine that the gigai you've been using is somewhat like the one Rukia had, it blocked your power. Either that or you just didn't care enough when mom and I were attacked by that hollow eight years ago!" he ruffled his hair briefly. "I know you loved her, so that can't be it. And since you had the opportunity to go back, that means you had recovered your powers, and then gave them up."

"Ichigo…" Isshin seemed to be having trouble finding the right words. "You, how do you know what really happened that night?"

"I'm not an idiot." Ichigo deadpanned, then with a sigh he elaborated. "At first I actually thought I killed her, somehow, either I did something when I blacked out, or simply because she chose to come after me she'd had an accident. Until three years ago, when the hollow returned…"

"It came back?!" Isshin practically snapped.

"You didn't know?!" Karin cried out.

"No, I didn't." Isshin admitted. "The gigai I was in all those years, it didn't only block my own reiatsu from leaving my body, it also made it harder for me to sense others'; this was meant to conceal me completely. When Ichigo was found by the riverside…I immediately knew that those idiots that said he'd tried to kill himself were only that, idiots. Though by then he'd already been taken to Karakura General, I didn't get to see him before he was treated and…" suddenly he realized something and turned to Ryuuken. "You! It was you! You were there in his room when I arrived! I never understood why, being the Hospital's Director, you had chosen to see over my son personally…now I get it. You knew what had attacked him, and you healed him…"

"Someone had to, otherwise the hollow might have used the remnants of its energy in Ichigo to track him down again." Ryuuken explained. "He was vulnerable for some time after that attack, unable to fight back."

"So you taught him how to." Isshin guessed.

"It was his idea, not mine." Ryuuken shrugged. "I've always been against the living getting involved with matters of the dead; but it seems both your son and mine share the same stubbornness when it comes to doing exactly the opposite. Unable to do anything to stop them, the next best thing I could do was make sure they wouldn't get killed immediately; unlike you, I at least had the sense to teach these boys not to die."

That was a direct blow, and they all knew it; Isshin had wanted so much to keep his secrets, not even his own children knew the truth. But not knowing didn't stop their own powers from manifesting, didn't stop their own reiatsu from attracting enemies; in the end it didn't stop them from being in the very same danger their father had been trying to keep them from.

"I didn't know what had happened when I woke up after that day." Ichigo explained. "There's much I still don't know about that day…but after I lost my patience with that stupid therapist I met Ishida-shishou. He forced me to face the truth of what I could see, and then revealed to me the true nature of the wounds I had been found with that night…and the ones that killed kaa-san. That was all I needed to know…I promised myself it would never happen again, I would fight to make sure of it, a hollow wouldn't destroy a family ever again. Still, I didn't actually have to fight hollows more than a handful of times in the two and a half years after that, not until that night when we all were almost killed…when Rukia had to give me her powers so that monster wouldn't eat us all."

"That shouldn't have happened." Isshin lamented. "The kekkai I created around our home…it should have been enough for such a thing to never happen…"

"Kekkai?" Ichigo questioned. "There's a kekkai around our home?"

"Around the whole neighborhood actually, though it's reinforced in the actual house." Isshin qualified right away.

He didn't seem to realize how this revelation was affecting his son; though the rest of the teens did, they could all feel how Ichigo's reiatsu was becoming denser each passing second, it was vibrating, as his physical body began trembling slightly as well, showing how hard it was for him to keep his control.

"Ichigo!" Ryuuken snapped at the teen. "Control yourself!"

With great effort Ichigo managed to get a hold on his reiatsu, it was still vibrating violently, but it wasn't expanding anymore, only Uryuu was actually being touched by it, and he was so used to it, that the aura didn't affect him at all.

"It was because of that kekkai that all this disaster happened in the first place!" Ichigo cried out finally. "Because of it Rukia lost track on the hollow that night, and didn't realize where it was until Yuzu screamed! Karin had to fight it and was badly hurt! And then…and then I couldn't call on my own powers! Rukia had to give me her powers or we were all screwed! We would all have died anyway if it hadn't worked! And then…and then she wouldn't get her powers back because of something he did!" he pointed at Urahara.

That, Urahara wasn't expecting.

"I don't know what exactly you did." Ichigo went on. "But it was your doing! While it's true I ended up absorbing more of Rukia's power than we had first expected, everything we know points to her regaining them in time, as her spirit healed from the awful injury the hollow caused her that night. And yet she didn't regain that power! Even after more than two months! They only seemed to get worse! We didn't do anything to her, and the only other person she was in contact with here in Karakura was you, so that part seems pretty obvious. The question is, what did you do to her? And why?"

Urahara lowered his head, he'd known things weren't exactly under his control anymore, but he'd never expected Ichigo to be able to make out that much with what he knew; either he was even more knowledgeable than he had implied thus far, or he was very good at guessing…the former shinigami dare admit the first was more likely.

"That Kurosaki-san, is a very long story." Urahara admitted.

"We have time." Uryuu stated. "Something tells me that, despite our willingness to rescue Kuchiki Rukia, we won't be doing it right away. And if whatever is going on is bigger than her and us, like some of us suspect, we better be prepared."

With those last words Urahara knew that, whatever control he may have had over the situation at some point, it was now completely gone; all he could do now was be completely honest and hope that the teenagers wouldn't kill him, and would be willing to work with him…all the worlds depended on it.

Urahara Kisuke was completely honest, perhaps for the first time in his life. Several of those who heard him wanted to pummel him before he was over, Ichigo and Karin mainly. They had all come to appreciate Rukia greatly, and learning that the man was responsible for the great danger she was in…and he wasn't even going to tell them!

Thankfully, those more rational than them managed to convince them to calm down, they wouldn't change anything by beating Urahara up; and despite how idiotic and cruel the man might be, he was still the best hope they had to get into Soul Society and get Rukia back.

"When we have saved Rukia, you better beg her forgiveness." Ichigo hissed.

Urahara could only gulp as the full weight of Ichigo's reiatsu fell upon him as he said those words; it was the biggest proof yet that he didn't know as much of the teen as he believed he did, not at all.

"I have another peace offering." Urahara announced right then. "I have a method that will allow you to recover your shinigami powers."

"No thank you." Ichigo replied easily.

Yet again, all the adults, except Ryuuken, were caught off guard.

"I have a theory." Ichigo elaborated. "If I'm right, I don't need any help for this. What we need is an empty room…"

"Maybe the training grounds would work well." Isshin suggested.

He was really curious about what Ichigo was going to do, wanted to be there to see it.

"Fine." Ichigo agreed. "I guess you'll want to be there. Just stay back."

They all followed Tessai to the trapdoor and then down into the training grounds; the teens were impressed by the place, it was even bigger than Ryuuken's own training room beneath the hospital and the condo-building.

"Urahara-san, I need your assistance." Ichigo told the shopkeeper suddenly. "I need you to help me get my soul separated from my body, like you did three days ago."

"But Kurosaki-san, the result won't be the same." Urahara replied, doubtful. "Back then you were a shinigami, right now you aren't."

"I know." Ichigo nodded. "I still need you to do this."

Still unsure if it was the right thing Urahara raised his cane and tapped it against Ichigo's head. The result wasn't quite what was expected. While it was true that Ichigo's soul didn't look like a shinigami, he wasn't a replica of his body with a chain connecting both either (as the adults were expecting); instead body and soul were fully separate, and Ichigo was left standing in a pristine white yukata.

"Wha…" Even Isshin didn't understand what was going on.

Ignoring the adults, Ichigo joined his nakama. Together, they found a spot of flat land and the orange-haired teen sat with his legs crossed, hands laying on his knees, a pose the shinigami found reminiscent of Jinzen. The rest of the teens, the twins included sat in similar positions, forming a circle of good size around Ichigo. Their main intention was to offer support to Ichigo, while at the same time making sure that, whatever it was the orange-haired would be doing to test his theory, he wouldn't be interrupted.

"Ossan…Shiro…" Ichigo called out-loud, eyes closed. "Can you hear me?"

For a while, nothing happened.

"Ichigo, expand your reiatsu." Uryuu instructed suddenly.

Fully focused on what he was doing, the orange-haired teen barely even heard his friend's words; however, his implicit trust made it so he didn't even think of questioning them, or him, simply doing as he was told. Soon enough his reiatsu had expanded enough to cover all the space surrounded by the teens.

The adults tensed, worried about the other teens being affected by the dense reiatsu, and yet, either the reiatsu didn't touch them, or they were all so familiar with it that it didn't affect any of them at all. However, it did have another effect, as the powers of those who had them activated on their own. Suddenly, Orihime had six small fairies-flowers flying around her head, Chad's right arm was covered in armor, Uryuu's bow was fully formed in his hand, Tatsuki's limbs were covered in an off-white aura; Karin was holding what looked like a naginata of pure reishi; Yuzu had in her hands a sphere of yellow energy, kidou in its purest form; Keigo's, Mizuiro's and Chizuru's own aura's came alight, even if they had no active powers. Unexpectedly, the auras began mixing, forming a translucent mix of an impossible color that soon filled the circle formed by the teens.

The adults could only watch in a shocked stupor, wondering what exactly was going on. They could feel so much power in that moment, all humming in perfect harmony. Why hadn't they known about any of this before? Even Ryuuken, who had known of the teens and their power, hadn't quite been expecting what he was seeing in that moment.

Times passed, almost unnoticed, until a figure began materializing in front of Ichigo, it took a while for it to fully form, and even when it did, it was still half-transparent and insubstantial. The form was that of a tall, middle-aged man with unkempt facial hair, black ragged hair that reached his shoulders and eyes of melted gold, he wore a long frayed black coat, and black boots as well as dark glasses.

"Ossan…" Ichigo whispered opening his eyes.

"Hello, Ichigo." The man whispered back with the barest smile. "It's been a long time."

"It has." Ichigo agreed. "I've been calling to you for months, and you didn't answer."

"The powers you borrowed from your nakama, Kuchiki Rukia, blocked mine." The old-man explained. "Made it impossible for you to hear my voice."

"What about before?" Ichigo wanted to know. "That night, when the hollow arrived, I called to you repeatedly, and you didn't answer. I didn't know what to do, it's why I eventually chose to take the risk and accept Rukia's offer."

"There was nothing I could do, Ichigo." The old-man informed him sadly. "You weren't ready yet. I'm not sure you are, even now, but we have little time left…"

"Ready…" Something suddenly occurred to Ichigo. "That night, three years ago…the hollow attack…what I can't remember…You were there! You know what happened!"

"I do." The old-man didn't bother trying to deny it.

"Why don't I remember?" Ichigo demanded.

"I told you before…"

"I wasn't ready."

"That hollow attacked the cemetery, it sensed who you are and went after you. You ran to keep your family safe, and somehow ended up by the river…you needed power, to protect yourself, to fight back…you needed my power, so I gave it to you. But you weren't ready, you were still so young…your body wasn't able to handle my power, it went into shock, you barely managed to injure the hollow badly enough that it chose to run, but by then you were so badly hurt and your reiatsu was so low…you would have died if you hadn't been found right then, and if the Quincy Master hadn't treated you…we owe our continued existence to him."

The spirit of the old man then turned to Ryuuken with a respectful bow. Ichigo himself, from his position still on the ground, turned to the white-haired man and nodded in respect.

While Ryuuken hadn't been expecting the show of respect he simply nodded in response and said nothing at all.

Isshin for his part couldn't help the fear that took hold of him at the news that his son had come that close to death…and he hadn't been there to help.

"What really happened that night, Ossan?" Ichigo questioned.

"I told you my name Ichigo." The old-man answered honestly. "I told you my name and offered you my power. But you weren't yet strong enough, that hollow…it's name is Grand Fisher, it has been able to kill even experienced shinigami, and has evaded the more powerful ones sent after him for over fifty years; it was too much to expect that you would be able to defeat him, especially when you'd never before fought a hollow. Your resolve helped you injure the monster badly enough it chose to run, though you were very badly hurt…I did what I could to keep you from bleeding out, but it was still a close call."

"Thank you Ossan." Ichigo smiled very slightly. "It seems I owe you more than I knew."

"We're partners, Ichigo." The old-man reminded him. "My power is yours to wield. Like you've been doing since the Master Quincy taught you how."

"What about the night of the attack?" Ichigo wanted to know. "We were talking, you warned me, us, that change was coming…and that was the last time I heard you."

"You weren't yet ready for my power Ichigo." The old-man told him. "And I still hoped that, despite the complications, the shinigami would stop the hollow in time. Once you actually faced the hollow…there was something in its aura, it blocked me from reaching you, from giving you my power. There was nothing we could do but wait, watch as if through a thick veil as you fought, and nearly died…"

"That hollow wasn't exactly normal was it?" Ichigo asked rhetorically. "Think that its presence near my home might have been more than just coincidence? I mean, I suppose you heard Urahara, and his explanations…"

"You think that this man, Aizen Sousuke, created the situation?" The old-man questioned.

"I don't know, it's a possibility, right?" Ichigo pondered. "I mean, if all hollows had the ability to block or mess with their opponents' powers then wouldn't they have dominated the worlds centuries ago?"

"True." The old-man nodded. "But does it matter?"

"What do you mean?"

"That hollow appeared, blocked me from you, you got Kuchiki Rukia's powers, now you've lost them, you need power to save her. How does that hollow being a coincidence or sent purposefully change any of that?"

"It doesn't."

"Then you can worry about that another time. What brings us here is something very specific: power: mine, yours…and what we can achieve together."

"Am I ready now?"

"To be honest, I don't know. But I don't think we have time to debate that anymore. You want to save Kuchiki Rukia, and to do that you need my power. I can tell you already it won't be easy, there will be pain, sweat and…"

"I don't care." Ichigo interrupted him calmly. "Whatever price I need to pay, I will pay it. You've said it before, nothing will change the fact that I need to save Rukia, and to do that I need your power. Will you give it to me?"

"Will you work with me Ichigo? You already heard that shinigami, Abarai, talking about zanpakutou spirits."

"I know, it was when it occurred to me that you might be just that. It's also why I wasn't that surprised when I saw oyaji as a shinigami. Considering I've been able to hear you since I was nine, something like that was to be expected."

"Stand up Ichigo." The old man ordered.

Ichigo did as he was ordered immediately.

"Now listen:" The old-man declared strongly. "Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate."

As the zanpakutou spirit spoke those words the mixed aura in the circle became progressively denser, and it seemed to actually be acquiring a specific color, though no one could tell what color that might be.

"Call my name Ichigo." The spirit instructed. "You know it already. Call to me now…"

Ichigo extended a hand high up and then lowered it violently in a slashing motion, at the same time he called one word, for perhaps the second time in his life; and yet it felt as familiar as if he'd always known it…and maybe in the back of his mind he had…

"Zangetsu!"

The mixed aura seemed to explode right then, creating a tornado of dust all around the teens, and letting out an echo of power strong enough to make all the adults falter.

"Karin! Yuzu!" Isshin cried out in a panic.

Ryuuken didn't call for his son, but if one had been watching him close enough, they would have noticed how his posture tensed minutely in worry…

The dust took a few very long seconds to clear, and when it did, great was the adults' surprise when discovering the teens were now all standing, their powers still active, though aside from the change in posture they seemed entirely unaffected by the reiatsu explosion.

In the very center of the circle, stood Ichigo, no longer in the white yukata, but once again in the traditional shinigami shihakusho, he was holding both hands before him, parallel to the ground, and in them he held a katana, it was at least as long as he was tall, and even wider than the one he'd been using before (which was twice the width of a normal sword), with no hilt or guard, and a long white piece of cloth trailing from the spot where it could be held.

There he was, Kurosaki Ichigo, once again a Shinigami.


	5. Conversations and Preparations

If I say that tomorrow's my birthday will I get more reviews? Actually, that's not a joke, tomorrow (February 1st) is my birthday, and I'd love it if, as many of my readers as possible, would leave me review. Tell me what you like best thus far of the fic, what you don't, what you'd like to see in the future...

The fic is fully written. I've still got to do some serious editing in the latter half (the part I wrote over the past couple of months), but for the most part, it's finished. Final count: 50 chapters, and more than 600k words. Yeah, it's insane. Going as we are now, with weekly updates, I imagine we'll be done shortly before Christmas... Also keep in mind that while the chapters aren't exactly short now, they'll get longer.

Most of the japanese terms used right now are words you probably know already, used for describing weapons, clothing. The only ones you might not know and decided to point out here are: Kitsune, it means fox; and Karasu, which means raven. You'll see the purpose of those two.

This chapter is moving a little forward with a few flashbacks that will serve to set up one of the subplots for the rest of the story, and also to explain how Ryuuken came to be the Nakama's shishou...

That's that for now. Here goes the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 5. Conversations and Preparations **

_A girl with straight raven black hair that barely reached her shoulders, dressed in a black hakama and sleeveless kosode over a white long sleeved shitagi was inside an office, going through all the papers she could get her hands on as fast as she could; she seemed to be frantically looking for something she just couldn't find. _

_Right as she was about to begin searching in a nearby drawer the door opened, prompting an instantaneous reaction from her as she spun around, lowering herself into a defensive crouch at the same time she brought out a kodachi from the small of her back, holding the hilt in one hand and the sheathe in the other. _

_A second later the tension passed as the person to have entered the office was revealed to be a tall man with short silver hair and eyes that seemed practically permanently closed. He didn't move to attack her, or anything really, just watched her. _

"_Spirits! You gave me a scare, Kitsune." The girl commented with a relieved sigh. _

"_You should be scared, Karasu." The man told her in a reproving tone. "Only you would think going through taichou's papers in the middle of the day is a good idea." _

"_Well, from experience I can tell you it's a far better idea than trying to go through them in the middle of the night; at least right now I can actually see what the papers say, and I know he's out of Seireitei for some business or another." The girl told him easily as she went back to looking through papers. _

"_You really must be insane." The man declared with a shake of his head. "Do you honestly think He would go somewhere and leave any 'important papers' unattended." _

"_No, I don't, I may be crazy but I'm certainly not stupid." The girl deadpanned, not pausing for even a second. "I made sure 'the other' was busy." _

"_You may think you know much, but you don't." The man told her, holding her hands to stop her. "There are a lot more people involved in this than you might think. Some don't even know themselves that they're involved…" _

"_Sleeper cells?" The girl guessed. _

"_There are more than you can imagine, possible more than even I know of." The man insisted. _

"_Is sempai one of those?" _

"_Possibly. I honestly don't know what the thing is with that girl, taichou has never told me, and I dare not ask unnecessary questions; it could make him suspicious. And if you think he's not suspicious of you already…" _

"_I don't care, I…" _

"_You should care! He is already thinking about getting rid of you, he doesn't like the influence you have over Hitsugaya, a kind of influence he wants only Hinamori to have…" _

"_So he's planning to assassinate me? Does he honestly think no one would notice? I'm not any girl, Kitsune, much as I loathe to admit, and regardless of what may have happened to Nii-sama, I'm still a noble." _

"_I know, that's possibly the only reason you're still alive now, but a time may come when he'll consider you too much of a risk to his plans. Now please, do me a favor and be more careful. You're my friend, Karasu, one of very few I have, I don't want to lose you…" _

"_I know Kitsune…but you know I gotta do this. For Toushirou-kun, and Rangiku-san, and sempai, and for you as well…" _

"_Don't do that. Don't use me as an excuse for your suicidal tendencies." _

"_My suicidal tendencies? What about yours? Do you honestly that you'll live through your 'self-imposed mission'?" _

_The silence that followed was deafening. _

"_I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." She mumbled, apologetic. _

"_I know the chance of me surviving the whole thing is very low." The man declared in an emotionless voice. "I'm practically a dead-man walking. I know that, I've known it for a very long time. However, that doesn't mean you should go and get yourself killed as well. Me…we both know I'm disposable, but you…" _

"_I'm not more important than you are!" _

"_Yes you are! Get it through your head girl! You are more important! You said it yourself, you are a noble, and with Nagaken-taichou gone you are the Clan's Heiress, you cannot die, not right now. There's so much you could achieve through your position, once taichou and the others have been dealt with. We both know Kuchiki-taichou's grief blinds him to the actions of many of his councilmen and there are no Shihouin or Shiba to do anything at all. You are, realistically speaking, Seireitei's only hope…" _

"_I don't like that." She mumbled with a tired sigh. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. I fought so hard to be allowed to become what I wanted, a shinigami; and now I might have to give it all up because of a Clan I never liked belonging to…" _

"_Why would you give it up?" _

"_You know as well as I no noble will want a shinigami wife, especially not one who was considered as captain-candidate barely a decade after graduating the Academy." _

"_You are a prodigy, that has never been doubted." _

"_Not any more than Toushirou-kun, the only reason he hasn't been given the haori already is because he's yet to achieve bankai." _

"_Yeah, well, he's young, his body may not be yet ready to deal with the strain caused by his bankai. Though that still doesn't explain why you haven't told Yamamoto-soutaichou that you have achieved bankai?" _

"_How…No, don't answer. You always seem to know things, even when you shouldn't. I don't know why I'm even surprised anymore. In any case, I don't actually want to be a captain; I think it's too much office work and too little action. Besides, Toushirou-kun is far better at dealing with the finer points of shinigami life…me, I just like fighting, either to defeat hollows or to protect other souls. That's my calling." _

"_Well, your calling runs the risk of being cut short if you don't leave right now. Taichou will be back at any moment. Now go." _

_The girl looked around her in half-panic, at the papers that laid in complete disarray. It was all her doing, and if her friend was to be believed (and she had no reason not to) she didn't have time to order everything again. _

"_Go, I'll take care of this mess." The man insisted to her._

"_Thank you." She was truly thankful, and it showed in her rare, soft smile. _

"_Go now." The man pressed her. "And please try not to get in a mess like this again. I won't always be there to have your back." _

"_I know." She admitted in a bittersweet tone. "And you know I cannot promise you that." _

_The man only nodded, he had known, of course he had, after knowing that girl for decades, he knew how stubborn she was, just like he knew it would get her killed some day. He didn't like it, she was his friend; but like he'd told her, he couldn't be looking out for her all the time, or else he might lose his life himself, before he was able to go through with his self-imposed suicide-mission, and that just couldn't be allowed to happen. He only hoped that whatever happened, to him or her, things would be alright in the end. _

"_Goodbye Kitsune…" The girl whispered as she left the office quickly. _

_She didn't turn back, only saying the goodbye over her shoulders, had she, she might have noticed the worried look he'd sent her way, even as he began more-or-less reordering the 5th Squad's Captain's papers, at least enough for him not to notice what had happened just yet. The silver-haired man had just had a very bad feeling, and while he wasn't exactly superstitious, he couldn't help but feel, and fear, it might just be right this time. _

"_Goodbye…Karasu…" He whispered in a very low tone. _

_There was actual fear in his voice, though no one was there to notice it, just like his friend hadn't actually heard his goodbye; one that, he was almost sure, would be their last… _

Elsewhere, a petite young woman woke, covered in cold sweat and with shivers running down her spine, as the scene ran through her now conscious mind and the implications sank in.

"I'm sorry, Kitsune…" She whispered to the empty night. "I'm so sorry…"

**xXx**

The following ten days went by in a flurry of movement, as the teens still had to attend a few last classes in the mornings, taking almost the whole afternoons to train. At some point Tatsuki had even commented that, in their situation, it might not be too bad that most of their parents didn't give a damn about them…

It was something they all knew: Tatsuki's parents were divorced, her father lived with his new wife and son, while her mother traveled a lot due to her job, leaving Tatsuki alone at home; so unless Tatsuki went looking for one of them for some reason or another, it was almost like she didn't even exist to them. Chad and Orihime had long ago lost any family they had. Mizuiro's family had moved to China, and since he had wanted to stay in Japan he'd ended up living on his own, like the other two. Chizuru's father was a womanizer, and everyone knew it, her mother hid behind the alcohol, and none cared at all about their daughter; even when she had screamed at them about her sexual preferences, they didn't care at all. Keigo's parents worked in Kyoto, so he lived with his older sister in an apartment their parents paid for. For Ichigo, Karin, Yuzu and Uryuu, their parents were directly involved in everything that was going on.

One way or another, the teens did as they wished as they prepared for what they knew already would be a hard and dangerous confrontation with some of the best of Soul Society.

The only reason they had even waited that long, was because Urahara had needed that time to arrange for a special senkaimon, something necessary since none of them except Ichigo, and his sisters, could actually separate from their bodies.

Also, not all of them would be going. Chizuru, Keigo and Mizuiro didn't have any active powers, they knew that despite how courageous and resourceful they might be, against the best of Soul Society they would only be a liability. Ichigo himself didn't want to involve his sisters, either, but Karin only had to remind him of certain 'business' she had to take care of in Soul Society, and of course Yuzu wasn't letting her twin go alone.

In the end Tatsuki had also been asked to stay behind, just in case there was an attack while the rest of them were in Soul Society; after all, while Isshin may have been a shinigami taichou at some point, the gigai he'd been using for the last two decades had drained him of most of his power, and they didn't really trust Urahara and his workers with Karakura's welfare. While Tatsuki wasn't as powerful as Ichigo, Uryuu, or even Karin, she was pretty strong anyway, and could deal with hollows if necessary.

Finally, after the two weeks had passed, the day came for the group to depart for Soul Society. In the end Ichigo, Uryuu, Orihime, Chad, Karin and Yuzu would be going, along with the cat Yoruichi, as Urahara had insisted they might need some help once there. Ichigo was in soul-form, as a shinigami; Uryuu in his quincy outfit, and his father had allowed him to take several high-level tools like the Seele Schneider, and gintou; Orihime and Chad had chosen to wear jeans, comfortable shirts and jackets; Karin and Yuzu too were in soul-form, though their appearance had been as unexpected to the adults as Ichigo's when first leaving his body after losing Rukia's borrowed powers.

Yuzu was in black, except that instead of a shihakusho, she wore a yukata, her kidou had also improved dramatically in that form. Karin for her part was a bit…different; she wore black hakama, only different in the sense that it was taped to her ankles, allowing for more range of movement in her legs; on the top half, her left sleeve was missing, though she had a white armguard, her right sleeve was white, missing the top black layer; she had no zanpakutou with her, but still, Karin knew that, when the time came, she would be able to call for it, no problem. All in all, in her opinion, the changes her attire had in regards to the traditional shinigami attire would only help her.

"Are you sure you want to do this on your own?" Isshin asked the teens.

Everything was ready, they had already been told what to expect and were just waiting for Urahara to open the Senkaimon before they rushed through it.

"I'm sure if you gave me a few more days Kisuke and I would be able to contact some of our friends, get some help." Isshin explained.

"Rukia is nakama, saving her is our right and our duty." Ichigo answered for them all.

"Oyaji, accept it already." Karin added in a no-nonsense tone. "We're doing this."

Isshin could only watch Karin in silence, there was so much he wanted to discuss with her, so much he suspected but didn't know for sure…so much he wondered if she had any idea of. He'd noticed the expression on her face when that comment about her possibly being a shinigami had been made, and then the clothes she appeared in, they seemed like a mix of a shinigami shihakusho, and something else…

"Nakama, everything's ready!" Urahara announced from the trapdoor.

Nakama, that's what everyone had taken to calling the group of teenagers, after hearing them using that term to refer to each other.

Teens and adults all gathered in Urahara's training grounds. They all made sure they were ready for the mission, and handling last-minute preparations. Karin had secured a boken to the sash of her modified shihakusho and Yuzu was carrying what looked like a messenger's bag, filled with the healing supplies Urahara and Tessai had gotten for her, since she didn't actually know how to heal purely with kidou, it hadn't been high on the list of priorities while Rukia was training her, and later on there had been no time to focus on that; Orihime was an awesome healer already, and being able to actively fight or at least protect others from hollows, just had seemed more important at the time. In that moment, Orihime was still there, but if anything happened to her, they would need someone else to take over the healing.

They had just finished checking and rechecking everything when Ryuuken entered the place. He was still in his white coat, showing he'd just stepped out of the hospital to see them off before going back to work.

"Shishou…" All the teens received him with a polite bow.

"I know already there's no way I'll be able to dissuade you from this crazy plan of yours." Ryuuken declared sternly as he approached them. "So I guess all I can tell you is to be careful, don't underestimate your enemies, or overestimate yourselves; you may all be very powerful, but you're no gods. If an enemy is more powerful than you, never hesitate to work together to bring it down, your teamwork is one of the better assets you have. Go, and make yourselves, your lineages and everyone else proud."

The teens bowed yet again in thanks. They all knew that was the closest Ryuuken would ever come to giving them a compliment, and wishing them luck. Actually, Ryuuken wasn't one to believe in luck, he said that was nothing more than an excuse for unprepared idiots, whether they won or lost, they always saw it as luck. The Nakama may not be as prepared as they wanted to be, they may be stubborn, and may refuse to follow orders at times, but they certainly weren't idiots; therefore, they didn't need luck.

In that very moment, Ichigo could very clearly remember a time when Ryuuken had been so very different; knowing the man, the orange haired didn't doubt he'd always cared deeply for his only son, but there had been a time when anyone who didn't know him very well would have never thought such a thing possible.

"_Why is it that you can train a total stranger like Kurosaki Ichigo, and yet you refuse to train me, your own son?!" A young male voice demanded hotly. "Where is your Quincy pride?" _

"_I told you a very long time ago, Uryuu, that I had no interest in the Quincy." An older male voice answered coldly. "We of the living should handle the business of the living, let the dead deal with their own troubles. Two worlds so different aren't meant to mix." _

"_If so then why is it that some of us can see spirits?" The younger male demanded. "If we weren't meant to mix, shouldn't we be blind to them and their doings?" _

"_It might make things easier, though we can always ignore them." The older male replied in the same emotionless tone. "In any case, involving ourselves with the business of the dead brings nothing but trouble, and it certainly leaves us no gain…" _

"_Is that truly all you can think about? Really? Money?! And what about our pride?! The pride of our race! Of the…" _

"_What race? There is no race Uryuu, open your eyes, one man doesn't make a race." _

"_There's two of us." _

"_Like I said, I have no interest. You should better leave." _

"_That still doesn't explain why you're training Kurosaki." _

"_What I do, or do not do with my time, is no business of yours." _

"_You really thought I would notice? Please, until a couple of weeks ago Kurosaki's reiatsu was like a broken tap, always shooting off everywhere; then, suddenly, he disappears from class for several days, and when he comes back he's at half of that, and now it's even less. And it's not a mere block, though I'm guessing that was involved as well, a good deal of his reiatsu seems to be flowing in circles inside his own body. That's what you do to conceal your own reiatsu. That's how I knew you were involved!" _

"_Like I said before, what I do with my time, doesn't concern you." _

"_I want to know why! Why would you train him and not me! Answer me Ryuuken!" _

_The door had opened in that very moment and both males had turned instantly to see the very topic of their argument standing in the doorway. _

_Silence lasted for almost a full minute, but finally the older male was the first to speak. _

"_Leave now Uryuu." He ordered to the one before him. "I have business to deal with, business that doesn't concern you." _

_The younger male, of Ichigo's same age, didn't answer him, simply glaring at the older man for all he was worth before walking out of the room, and as he passed by Ichigo's side, the orange-haired could actually feel the chilling reiatsu as it touched him; the contact had been brief, and yet enough to cause shivers to appear on his flesh. _

Ichigo hadn't actually remembered much of that conversation until later on, during one of his meditation exercises, they were meant to help him focus, but they were also very good to recall memories with crystal clarity.

The one thing that Ichigo had known even before the recalling was that he knew those voices, one of course had been that of his master, regardless of how short a time the man had been training him, he was doing something no one else could have (as far as the teen knew) and that was more than enough reason to respect him. The other voice, Ichigo had been sure he knew, but hadn't been sure how he did, not until a few days later, when he'd recognized the dark-blue haired cerulean eyed teen sitting in the other side of the classroom: he was Ishida Uryuu, one of his classmates, and also shishou's only son…

It had been that discovery that had prompted a very particular discussion-fight between him and the older man:

_Ichigo and Ryuuken were on the older man's private elevator on their way back to the Hospital itself, having just finished that day's training. The orange-haired teen couldn't help but keep thinking about one particular thing he had been wanting to talk with the man all week but didn't dare to. _

"_What is it Kurosaki?" Ryuuken asked suddenly. _

_Ichigo blinked at Ryuuken, almost shocked and wondering how exactly the man knew there was something he wanted to say. _

"_Your reiatsu is fluctuating." Ryuuken answered the obvious question. "You've already gotten past that point, so the only reason for such a phenomenon is for your emotions to affect your control enough to make it falter." _

"_Yes, there is something I've been meaning to talk to you about." Ichigo nodded, he ruffled his hair slightly, trying to gather courage. "Ishida-shishou, you've been training me for a month now, and I will never be able to fully express my gratitude for everything you've done. Thanks to you I'm now able to better understand my own gifts, and I'm better prepared to protect my family if need be." _

"_Does this speech have a point?" Ryuuken interrupted Ichigo in a bored tone. _

"_I know this is really none of my business but, why is it that you're so willing to help me, and yet you refuse to do the same with your own son?" Ichigo finally blurted out. _

_Ryuuken's expression remained impassive, but his reiatsu flared for half a second; the change was barely there, but Ichigo was in close enough proximity to them, and had gotten so used to his reiatsu in the previous month, that he was able to notice the fluctuation. _

"_You're right." Ryuuken spoke still emotionlessly. "It's none of your business." _

_The elevator door opened right then, but before Ryuuken could make a move Ichigo hit a button to close the doors yet again. He knew his master was getting really upset at him, but Ichigo felt very strongly about this matter, and decided it was worth taking the chance, the Ishidas had helped him so much, whether they knew it or not, they deserved it…_

"_His name is Ishida Uryuu, right?" Ichigo said, though it wasn't actually a question, so he didn't stop. "I know him, we're in the same class. Though, to be honest, I didn't know it was him until last week; after I heard part of that argument the two of you had the other day, I then heard his voice in class, and suddenly I knew." Ichigo ruffled his hair again. "I honestly don't know what is wrong with your family, and I don't think there's any need for me to know. I just want to tell you one thing, regardless of what you or I may say, or not say, we both know this power I have, it's no coincidence, and no accident; the power I have, it's likely I inherited it from one of my parents, and for some reason I think it may be my father…I don't know, he's always taken all three of his children seeing or sensing spirits a bit too easily. But in any case, whether it is him, or it was my mom, the fact is: I have this power, and oyaji has never said a word. He must know, even if it was kaa-san, she would have told him, and yet he's never said anything to me, or to the twins. I don't like the feelings this situation causes in me. The fact that oyaji is keeping such secrets from me, from all of us, it hurts, more than I like to admit. And then there's the fact that this knowledge, and the lack of it, has proven to be dangerous already, what with what happened a few months ago, and even before that, back when I was nine; and who knows if there were other times I wasn't actually aware of?! I don't need you to tell me anything shishou, I don't care if you know or don't know anything, that isn't what really matters. What matters right now is your son… He's trying to connect with you, trying so hard…you know I actually stopped trying that with oyaji years ago. But you, shishou, you still have a chance with your son, you shouldn't give it up. Much as I may be loathe to admit, you will regret it if you lose this chance. Me…at least I still have Karin and Yuzu…if you lose your son you'll be alone; and maybe right now you don't care, but one day you will." He took a deep breath and added. "Like I said, I know this isn't really any of my business, but I just believe you and your son deserve a chance." He bowed deeply at the man, head down. "I'm sorry if my words have angered you, shishou, I just wanted to help. Sayonara…" _

_Ichigo hit the button to open the elevator's doors and then exited swiftly and silently, before the man got the chance to say or do anything. _

Ichigo hadn't actually expected to see the doctor and Quincy again after that day, at least not without having to fear for his own life. And yet he'd seen him again, and the next time, he wasn't alone, Uryuu was with him, training…

It had been good, Ichigo knew, to see those two reconnect, in a way Uryuu said they hadn't since he was very young…it had been even better when the orange-haired had the chance to have the same kind of conversation with his own father.

"_Ichigo…" _

_The orange-haired young man had just been dueling against Zangetsu to practice (who better to teach him about his zanpakutou than the very zanpakutou), Shiro helped too sometimes, when they were alone, since Ichigo didn't have to answer the questions that would come if all three of them were seen together. _

_For a few seconds Ichigo didn't answer his father's call, he'd barely even spoken to the man in the two weeks since they had all revealed their respective 'truths', or most of them at least. There were still things that were being held back, secrets that hadn't been revealed just yet, but there would be time for that later. In any case, Ichigo seemed far more focused on trying to break the standstill he had with Zangetsu. _

"_Go," Zangetsu ordered as he jumped back. _

"_Ossan…" Ichigo whispered with a tired sigh. _

_Ichigo would never admit it, but he'd more or less been avoiding his father, using training for Rukia's rescue as an excuse. _

"_You need to do this, Ichigo." Zangetsu told him sternly but warmly, eyes fixed straight on his young wielder. "Both Shiro and I know this. If you keep avoiding your father your inner world will begin to reflect your turmoil. You two need to sit down and talk, settle your differences, try and understand each other. You know already he doesn't blame you, he now needs to know that you don't blame him either." _

"_What would I blame him for?" Ichigo was confused about that. _

"_Giving up his powers, not being there to protect your mother, not even knowing when Grand Fisher came back and tried to kill you." Zangetsu enlisted. _

"_But none of that was his fault!" Ichigo cried out vehemently. "He gave up his powers because he loved kaa-san!" _

_Ichigo was left in shock when Zangetsu vanished all of a sudden, though the reason became clear as he realized who was right behind him. _

"_Is that what you really think?" _

_Ichigo sighed, he'd even forgotten his father was there… _

_*Ossan…* Ichigo hissed into his inner world. _

_*You need to talk to your father, Ichigo.* Zangetsu practically ordered his shinigami. _

_Ichigo sighed lowly, raking his hand through his hair, he knew this wasn't going to be good. And really, Zangetsu had to be the only zanpakutou spirit in history to get away with ordering their shinigami around like that! _

"_Ichi…" Isshin began yet again. _

"_I never say anything I don't feel, so yeah." Ichigo interrupted him. _

_Knowing that there was no way he would be able to get away from this Ichigo raised his zanpakutou and moved it to his back, the long white cloth automatically covering it and then connecting with the red sash across his torso, holding it in place. _

"_You've been so different this last couple of weeks." Isshin commented. "And not just you, Karin-chan, and Yuzu-chan as well. I just don't know what to think anymore…" _

"_It's not just these last weeks oyaji." Ichigo replied with a sigh. "This…" he moved his hands to encompass everything and everyone. "This is what we are, what we have been for years, you just didn't see us like this before. With your denials of knowing anything about spirits…" _

"_And yet you knew I was lying." Isshin commented with his own sigh. _

"_Of course I knew! We all did!" Ichigo replied easily. "Once Ryuuken-shishou decided he'd taught me enough control, and he helped me actually develop my power…it was too much like a shinigami's not to see the connection there. We did consider the possibility of kaa-san being the one to have had power, but somehow it didn't seem fitting…also you knew shishou before, and that too gave us a clue. There had to be something that connected the two of you, and it was not just that you were doctors, the spirits know our clinic is far too small for someone like Ishida Ryuuken to take interest on us just because of that." _

_Isshin could only listen to his son's analysis in silence, he had never expected his son, or any of the other teens, to be able to deduce that much considering how little information they had. And yet…that was exactly how they had been able to extract the truth from Kisuke… _

"_I still cannot believe Ryuuken trained you…" Isshin commented. "I mean, he used to be against his son being trained, refused to talk to Souken because of that. And now to learn he trained, not only his son, but you as well." He half-smiled. "He told me it was you who made him see how wrong he was about the way he treated Uryuu. And helped me realize how stupid I myself had been trying to keep all this from you, from all of you." He shook his head with a sigh. "Would you believe me if I told you I was only trying to protect you?" _

"_Yes." Ichigo couldn't help but half-smile. "I tried the very same thing when I first developed my powers. I pushed all my friends away, even tried doing the same with Karin and Yuzu. It didn't work, during the following spring Orihime and Chad developed their own powers, Karin's gifts began awakening around that time too, and by summer she was able to fight as well; then Yuzu could see spirits too and Tatsuki's reiatsu rose exponentially, before the next school year began even Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru could see everything spiritual. Like shishou said, he didn't like it, but still he helped us, in the end he decided that at least that way there was less of a chance of us getting killed…" he chuckled lightly. "I wonder if he would still have helped us develop our powers if he'd known back then what we would be using them for one day…" _

"_I think he would have, if he'd known who you would be doing all this for." Isshin declared after a short silence. "He respects your friend, you know? Kuchiki Rukia, I believe her name is." He shook his head with a smile. "Rukia, your nakama…Byakuya-bo's little sister, who would have thought it?" _

"_You know the bastard who came for her?!" Ichigo hissed. _

"_So he was the one who came." Isshin nodded, more to himself than anyone else. "Yes, I knew him, I told you already, back in Seireitei I was a noble, just like Byakuya, we were the heirs of our respective clans. Also, Kuchiki and Nagaken are the most powerful noble clans in Soul Society, despite the fact that there are so few Nagaken left…especially since the Shiba fell in disgrace and the Shihouin heiress abandoned her post and duties." _

"_The Shihouin heiress?" Ichigo questioned. "Yoruichi?" _

_In the time they had been there Ichigo had gotten the chance to know Yoruichi better, and that included her real form. The orange-haired teenager would admit to having been shocked, while they had all been expecting a human to be the cat's real form, nothing could have prepared them for how she actually looked, or the fact that she was totally naked… _

"_Rukia talked about the Kuchiki once, how they weren't the family she'd been hoping to gain when they adopted her…" Ichigo commented with a bittersweet expression. _

"_No, they wouldn't have been." Isshin shook his head. "The Kuchiki may be a considerably big Clan, but they're also very cold, almost cruel. I imagine that, for most of them, Rukia-san never stopped being a mere commoner…Byakuya-bo, he was different before, in another time he probably would have received someone like Rukia-san with open arms. But now…well, I guess he's just not the same man, not since his wife died…" _

_Ichigo shook his head, making an effort to push away the last piece of information, he knew how much it hurt to lose someone loved…he could only imagine how much it hurt men like his father, or Byakuya, to lose their wives…but that still was no excuse for what that bastard had done, for the way he'd treated Rukia…_

"_Why must blood matter so much?" Ichigo asked bitterly. _

"_Because blood is essential." Isshin answered honestly. "It's what gives us life. Even a spirit can bleed to death…except that after that the spirit would vanish, allowing the soul to go back into the eternal cycle of rebirth. It's also the blood that gives us power…you said it yourself Ichigo, how you already expected me to be a shinigami, because your powers were so much like the ones of the shinigami, and you instinctively knew you had to have inherited such an ability. It is true that in Soul Society there are many shinigami who weren't born as such, they are souls of people who died here on the Material World, and happened to have enough reiatsu to become shinigami; but there's a limit to how much they can grow, and it's commonly accepted that only the most exceptional ones of them will go as far as those who are born from shinigami themselves. Those souls, the ones who are born not just with potential but with actual powers, they're called shinketsu, pureblood; that's what you are, because you're my son. And you're also a noble; heir of the Nagaken Clan…" _

"_Heir of the Nagaken Clan…" Ichigo repeats with a furrowed brow. "What does that mean? I thought you said there were very few of us remaining…" _

"_The four of us are the last actual Nagaken to remain, the only ones of the direct line." Isshin told him. "Though there may still be a few very distant cousins in Soul Society, as well as the servants that are meant to keep the estate and a few smaller homes. And about what it means, if you choose to acknowledge your lineage, it will grant you certain benefits in Soul Society, you will be a Noble, which means that you'll have both the duties and the privileges of one." _

"_I will have to deal with Kuchiki Byakuya and other bastards like him." Ichigo guessed with distaste. "No way…just, no way." _

"_I know you dislike that idea." Isshin nodded in his most serious tone yet. "But just stop for a second and consider the other side of the coin: you'll have certain privileges, your opinion will matter. The Gotei won't be able to simply dismiss you as a mere ryoka, because you won't be, you'll be a shinigami, and a noble…" _

_Ichigo sighed, burying his face in his hands; he was tired, very much so, but he could see the importance of his father's words. As a Kurosaki he was just a shinigami daiko, as a Nagaken, he was a shinketsu, a noble, one of them…almost. _

"_Very well." Ichigo declared seriously after a while. "Let's do it then. I will be a Nagaken." _

_Isshin nodded in satisfaction, he knew why his son had made such a choice, it wasn't because he really cared about changing his name, or the nobility; he was just seeing the benefits having such a position would give him, for him, Rukia and the rest of the nakama; the black-haired man couldn't fault his son's reasoning. And it's not like he'd ever cared about being a noble himself, it was why he'd never cared about giving it all up more than three decades before… _

_Finally, Isshin nodded again and moved to leave the basement, leaving his con to get back to his training; he was very satisfied about the way the conversation had gone. Never before had he had such a rewarding conversation with his teenaged son, not since he was little…he liked that feeling of satisfaction, of a job well done, and it was only amplified by the last words he heard from his son before he fully left the place… _

"_Thank you…tou-san…" _

The Senkaimon opened with a flash of light, returning Ichigo to the current time and place. It was time to go, they had a mission to fulfill and little time left to do it. They would save Rukia, and Soul Society would learn why it had been a bad idea to mess with the Nakama…

**xXx**

It was noon in Soul Society, and in the very center of Seireitei, in the Headquarters of the 1st Division, a joint meeting of captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13 was taking place. The latest topic of discussion: the fact that right after the meeting was over the first class criminal: Kuchiki Rukia, would be moved from the cell in the 6th Division to the Senzaikyuu, known by some as the 'White Tower' or the 'Cell of Repentance', it was the place where all criminals on 'death row', so to speak, spent their last days before being executed.

There were actually more than a few people that still found it hard to believe that Kuchiki Rukia was to be executed, especially with the use of a weapon usually reserved only for taichou-class shinigami, and even then only for the most terrible of criminals, the Soukyoku. And yet none dare say a single word, those had been the orders given by Central 46, and they had to obey them, nothing could be done…or so they believed.

Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, the over-two-millennia old 1st Division captain and overall Commander of the Gotei 13 was about to declare their meeting concluded, when something rather unexpected happened. The shinigami had a fraction of a second to realize there was a kidou at work, when suddenly they could all hear several voices in the back.

"There, it's ready." That one sounded young, sweet, and female.

"The kidou is working, Ichigo, start talking." The second voice was smooth, calm, with an underline of strength and definitely male.

"Very well, here goes." The third voice was strong, powerful and male as well. "Greetings, captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13…oh and Rukia, you too! If this works the way it should, you are the only ones listening to this message, if not…well I don't actually care how many people learn of this. My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, I'm the human that, for two and a half months, held the powers of Kuchiki Rukia, the same powers Kuchiki Byakuya stripped me of two weeks ago. Right now I'm a shinigami once again, the how isn't important, what's important is this: I'm here, inside Seireitei, and I'm not alone. We have only one mission, to get one of our own back: Rukia. She's Nakama, and since we've learnt that you don't seem to appreciate her enough, we'll be making sure she's with those who actually care about her, us. So, these are your options: you either let Rukia go right now, we get her, and then leave Soul Society today; you do that and you won't have to deal with us, at least not unless you happen to threaten one of our own again; your second choice, if you choose to continue with your plans for Rukia's execution…well, let it be known it won't be happening, we won't let it, but if you insist, on exactly seven days we will meet you all at Soukyoku Hill, and you'll see how far we're willing to go for a Nakama…"

There was a pause, mumbling in the back, before the same voice spoke again.

"We have no ill will towards any of you, not really." He reassured them. "Like I said before, all we want is to get our nakama back. However, that doesn't mean we won't fight anyone we need to in order to get her back. That goes especially for you two: Abarai Renji, Kuchiki Byakuya, I remember you, and we have a score to settle; you'll find many things can happen in two weeks, people can change, powers can grow…I'm not the same boy you met before and left bleeding under the rain…I'm also not alone. You see, Karakura isn't exactly a normal town…that should be obvious considering how many hollows appear every so often…in any case, I guess if you refuse to go with option number one, you'll get to find out…"

Another pause, at the same time they heard what sounded like a smack, a small yell, soft cursing and arguing, before the voice came back yet again.

"Guess we've said all we needed to." He continued. "We'll wait for Rukia until the sun sets, and if she doesn't meet us…we'll take that as your answer and go with number two. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. And Rukia! If you really thought threatening me with not forgiving me if I came after you was enough to actually get me to stay put…you were seriously underestimating me, all of us. Get this through your thick head, midget, you're Nakama, you're one of us; we came for you, and we're not leaving without you!"

The kidou vanished an instant later, breaking the echo of the last phrase, said with the deepest vehemence and passion most of those present had ever heard, caused. Silence didn't last too long, though, because just one second more later, the whole room erupted into chaos.

It really seemed like craziness…beyond craziness, insanity! A boy with borrowed shinigami powers, who hadn't even been using them for more than three months, had just announced that he and however many of his allies had somehow managed to infiltrate Seireitei unnoticed and were there to get the first class criminal: Kuchiki Rukia back! While none of those present could doubt the presence of the ryoka in Seireitei, otherwise the kidou wouldn't have reached them, and for the voices they heard it was obvious there were at least three of them; many questions remained unanswered: how had the ryoka managed to get inside Seireitei unnoticed? And if they had managed to achieve such a feat why then announce themselves, and especially to the strongest shinigami in the Gotei? Did they really think they had a chance against the whole Gotei? And if so, what gave them that confidence? So many questions, no answer; though one thing was obvious to everyone, Kuchiki Rukia was a convicted criminal, they weren't releasing her; which meant that, in seven days, they would all get a chance to learn who this Kurosaki Ichigo and his nakama were exactly…

**xXx**

Meanwhile, in a very particular cell in the 6th Squad's barracks, that same certain convicted criminal couldn't find it in her to stop the tears falling down her cheeks as she kept her eyes fixed on the one window of her cell. Ichigo's words had, indeed, reached her, deeper than anyone could imagine possible; standing next to her, the 7th seat from the 4th Division: Yamada Hanatarou, could only watch, not knowing what was going on, or how to help.

"Stupid strawberry…" Rukia mumbled with a trembling smile. "I told you I would never forgive you if you came…yet here you are…all of you…Nakama…Thank you…I'm waiting for you…"

* * *

So, am I nuts? Probably, I've long since accepted that fact.

Hope you liked the chapter and see you next week as the Nakama and the Gotei 13 finally clash!

Happy Birthday to me!


	6. How Far Are You Willing To Go?

I'm sorry! I had a migraine last night and completely forgot to update! I'll try to be more mindful of things from now on.

Now, the people who've read my fics before know I approach my stories in one of two ways. Either we go with canon until something happens and we take a sharp turn left to where none of you ever expected it... or we do the 'all roads lead to Rome'... or in this case, Soukyoku Hill. This is the latter (at least at this point). Because I decided that even if they do all need to end up in Soukyoku Hill, that doesn't mean they have to get there exactly as they did in canon.

Also, something I hadn't mentioned before, concerning Yachiru. I frankly don't understand what Kubo Tite did with her exactly. I mean, one chapter she's finally showing her zanpakutou, and then later on, she's a zanpakutou?! Did I get that right? I haven't read the whole last arc of the manga closely, there are some things I really don't understand, and the mess that Yachiru became is one of them. In any case, none of that applies here. As I've mentioned before, a lot of this fic was written almost a decade ago, long before Kubo threw all those curve-balls at us. So this Yachiru is quite different (many of the secondary characters, and even the main ones in some ways, are different, due to that). I hope you'll like what I've done.

On we go with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 6. How far are you willing to go? **

The plan, at least the first part of it, worked beautifully, as Yoruichi and the Nakama went straight to one of the Nagaken houses in West Rukongai as soon as they got into Soul Society, there they collected a set of special talismans, they had been created a very long time before, when the Nagaken would gift them to individuals in Rukongai who had certain dealings with them, so they would be allowed to cross the gates into Seireitei as they pleased. The gates would register their presence as that of guests.

All in all it was pretty convenient for the Nakama, who decided they might as well keep the talismans even after the mission was over, they didn't know when they might need to slip inside again; especially if things didn't work out favorably and they ended up being considered as enemies by the shinigami…

They slipped into Seireitei unnoticed, and from there took refuge in one of the many empty warehouses in the limits of the place.

"Very well." Ichigo declared. "Time to begin the first part of the plan."

"Are you sure this is a good idea Ichigo?" Karin asked with a brow raised. "I mean, really, announcing ourselves to the strongest shinigami in the Gotei 13? Why not take advantage of the fact that we haven't been noticed thus far, find Rukia, get her out, and leave?"

"Because we're not here to invade." Ichigo answered calmly. "We're not Soul Society's enemies, and they need to know that. If they find out about us as we fight their officers, that will only give cause for misunderstandings."

"You really think it's going to make a difference?" Karin questioned incredulous. "Really, honestly, believe they're just going to let her go because we tell them to?"

"No." Ichigo shook his head. "I'm young, not stupid. I know that even if we give them the choice, they won't let Rukia go, but that doesn't change the fact that this is the right way to do things. Like I said, we're not their enemies…whether they know it or not, their enemies are closer than anyone could imagine, closer than even us."

The others all nodded soberly. They knew perfectly well the kind of individuals that stood among the most powerful of the shinigami, and the kind of plans they were trying to put into practice. Considering what Kisuke had done, the object he'd hidden in Rukia…it was likely that the teens' would end up forcibly clashing against them at some point, after all, they doubted very much the traitors would allow the 'hidden treasure' to slip out of their hands so easily. So they were expecting harsh battles to come, and, maybe when they happened, Soul Society would truly understand their intentions. They could hope.

"Well Yuzu, it's your show." Ichigo told his sister.

Really, without Rukia, she was the only one of them who knew any kidou at all, even if the Quincy had something that compared to it, somewhat, it just wasn't the same. This particular kidou was one that hadn't been taught to her by Rukia, but by Tessai, it had been his idea for them to do what they were about to, to give the Gotei 13 notice of their arrival so as to try and prove that they weren't really an enemy…like Karin had said, they didn't really have that much hope of it working, not that way at least, but they were still going to do it.

Working silently and swiftly, with an efficiency that proved great practice in such a technique, Yuzu brought out of her yukata sleeve a small jar with black ink-dust, using it to draw symbols in her hands and arms before positioning herself and beginning the kidou:

"Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly through the heavens." She chanted softly, focusing all her power for what they were about to do. "Bakudo 77, Tenteikuura!" She let out a breath at the great effort and called over her shoulder. "There, it's ready."

It had taken her a great effort to use the kidou to contact so many high-ranked shinigami, even when they had made sure to use it at a time when most of them (all except Rukia, really) were in the same place.

"The kidou is working, Ichigo, start talking." Uryuu instructed his nakama.

"Very well, here goes…" Ichigo declared.

He began talking, about the options they were giving the Gotei 13 and what they planned on doing according to what the shinigami did first. None of them said a word, they knew that the shinigami most likely had heard Yuzu and Uryuu speak at first, but it didn't matter; in any case that would prove to the Gotei that Ichigo wasn't alone, even if they had no idea just how many of them they were. Then again, even if they knew, it's likely that, for them, six teens and a cat wouldn't seem like much; they had no idea the kind of power the teens wielded.

Also, at some point, Karin had to smack Ichigo, he was getting off-track, the thought of Rukia making him forget the real objective of them communicating with the shinigami in the first place. And while it was true that Yuzu had made sure Rukia too would be receiving the message, they still had to finish it quickly and move. They weren't actually sure if the origins of such kidou could be tracked, but in any case they weren't about to stay and find out.

Eventually Yuzu cut the kidou, right after Ichigo had sent Rukia a direct message, not caring that so many others had heard it as well.

"Well, well, well, Ichigo." Uryuu commented anyone. "If I didn't know you better I would actually say you're in love with Rukia…"

The comment was so unexpected it left several people gaping in shock, and Ichigo choking on air at the mere thought of such a thing.

"Uryuu!" Ichigo practically yelled. "Are you nuts?!"

'Am I, really?' Uryuu raised a brow, in contemplation.

Karin's brow furrowed as her eyes fixed directly on her brother, she'd been sensing something very particular from him for a while now, but hadn't dared comment on it. Was what Uryuu said true? Was her brother in love with Rukia? Shouldn't she have noticed if he was? But what if it wasn't being 'in love'? Maybe it was something different…possibly something bigger…

**xXx**

That evening, the teens watched from hidden spots how Rukia was led, bound and veiled, from the 6th Division cell, to the Senzaikyuu. Neither of them had done anything to break her out, just watching her in silence. If they had been fast enough, and used enough power, it was likely they would have been able to just take her and run, but they knew the Gotei 13 was already in high alert, and such actions would have prompted a huge battle they weren't ready for. No, they would wait seven days, and then act. After all, they already had a plan.

Which was why the next day they did their best to slip unnoticed through several patrols, and they looked for yet another empty warehouse; however, before they could do so they were approached by a quite unexpected group.

All the nakama were on their guard as soon as they sensed the reiatsu of the individuals, even more so when they realized one of them was wearing a white haori, a piece of clothing only the highest level shinigami, the captains, wore.

"I somehow doubt we'll be able to get away from this one without fighting…" Karin declared as she shifted her stance a little.

They had been doing their best to avoid any and all shinigami for the last two days; not because they didn't think they could defeat them, but because they didn't want to provoke them; it was easier to just ignore and be ignored, at least until they couldn't help it. Also, if they were to engage any shinigami they saw in combat, it would be the same as leaving a trail for others to follow; and they would rather not have to fight every single day of the remaining five days before the pseudo-execution.

"So you dare come here…"

That voice, two of the teens recognized it, and it was enough to make them both draw their weapons and prepare to attack and/or be attacked at any second.

"Wow…" Karin couldn't but mumble.

She was really surprised at the near-instantaneous reaction from the two men, while it was normal for her brother to be ready to fight at any moment, since he was so used to getting into all kinds of fights…seeing Uryuu react the same way was definitely a surprise.

"Who is that?" Orihime questioned.

She realized that such a reaction could only be caused by very specific individuals, especially since not even the man wearing the tattered haori had caused such a response…

"Abarai…Renji…" The two teens practically growled in unison.

The rest of the teens blinked, they knew who Abarai Renji was, Ichigo and Uryuu had told in detail what had happened that rainy night, when Rukia was taken; in part so they would all have the same information, and mostly in case any of them was forced to fight either him or Byakuya…though, at the same time, they all knew that, if possible, the same two men would fight them and 'settle the score'.

Karin in particular furrowed her brow, as if trying to recall something that was just out of her mind's reach at the moment.

"Quit your games." A stern voice commanded.

They all turned their eyes to the man in the tattered haori, with spiky black hair adorned by small bells, he was extremely tall and broad shouldered, and carried a zanpakutou that seemed both old and worn out.

"I didn't come here looking for a staring contest, but a fight." The man declared strongly. "Whoever is the strongest of you gets to fight me!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Karin demanded hotly.

She could feel the man's reiatsu, and his extreme bloodlust, it was making her hazy, even with the kekkai Yuzu had placed around her earlier, to help her filter the emotions around her.

"11th Squad's taichou, Zaraki Kenpachi." The man introduced himself with a predatory grin. "Who are you, little lady?"

The introduction prompted yet another reaction for the teens, as they all took different battle stances, Karin drawing her boken to stand next to the already-armed Ichigo and Uryuu.

"Kurosaki Karin." The girl replied, taking a fighting stance. "Can't say it's exactly a pleasure to meet you, something tells me you will only let us go if we fight all of you."

"I only have interest in fighting the strongest one of you." Kenpachi informed her.

Karin tensed briefly, she didn't like the insinuation, and yet she wasn't stupid either; in a different time, she might have been able to take on one such as that monster of a captain, but not right then, not when she could barely hold herself together.

"I am the strongest one." Ichigo declared stepping forward. "Kurosaki Ichigo, shinigami."

"I thought as much." Kenpachi nodded. "That sword is really impressive."

"Yes." Ichigo nodded. "I don't think you would let the rest of my nakama move ahead while the two of us fight."

"I honestly don't care that much what the rest does." Kenpachi admitted with no shame. "But I'm not the only one who came here for a fight."

"You're not getting further from this point." Renji declared hotly.

"We'll see about that." Uryuu declared calmly. "Ichigo, I'll take on Abarai, I have a lesson to teach him about what Quincy are truly capable of when they truly wish to fight. On my pride, as both Quincy and Nakama, I swear I will defeat him."

When the rest of the nakama saw Uryuu vanish his reishi bow, only to draw one of his seele schneider, the longest one, they knew he was being very serious.

"Very well Uryuu, he's all yours." Ichigo nodded in agreement.

They all knew how seriously Uryuu took matters concerning his pride, and that of his race.

"Ichigo…" Chad grumbled in a low tone.

He was used to having Ichigo's back, and yet he also knew this particular fight was meant to be one-on-one; and regardless of anything else, those two shinigami weren't the only ones standing before them in that moment.

"Chad, you decide who fights the others." Ichigo instructed. "We'll have to be fast if we want to avoid being found by anyone else."

"Fast?" Kenpachi demanded. "Do you honestly think you can end a fight with someone like me fast, brat?!"

"I guess we're going to find out." Ichigo replied nonchalantly.

In an instant their zanpakutou clashed, and Ichigo exercised enough strength in the first several strikes to move the two of them a considerable distance away from the rest, so as not to smother them with the reiatsu that began rising steadily.

Just a moment later Uryuu raised his arrow-like dagger to parry Renji's blow, before the two of them moved in a different direction, looking for the right grounds for their own fight.

For a few minutes none of those remaining in the alley said anything, until an explosion of reiatsu from the direction Ichigo and Kenpachi had taken, called everyone's attention.

"I can't believe it…" They heard one of the shinigami say in shock. "He's already taken off his eye-patch…and it's not been even five minutes yet!"

"Ichigo!" Orihime cried out.

She moved to follow after the two fighters when the two shinigami unexpectedly stood on her way, zanpakutou raised. Used by then to fights, especially after the day so many hollows had appeared in Karakura, Orihime's reaction was more instinctual than rationalized.

"Santen Kesshun!" She called as she extended both hands.

There were no actual impacts, since the shinigami were surprised enough by her words to move back themselves, avoiding a collision with the three pointed orange-tinted shield.

"Fight! Fight!" A girly voice called out of the blue. "Yachiru wants to fight too!"

"Fukutaichou!" The other two shinigami called in surprise.

The remaining teens couldn't help but gape at the image before them, the short pink-haired, garnet eyed girl didn't look older than maybe six or seven, yet she was clad in a shihakusho and the band around her arm showed that she was, indeed, a lieutenant.

"I don't believe it…" Orihime mumbled.

"Kusajishi-fukutaichou!" The bald shinigami eventually called loudly. "I thought you were going to watch Zaraki-taichou fight the ryoka!"

"But I want to fight too!" The girl insisted in a shrill tone. "I want to fight her!"

Orihime was even more surprised when realizing the girl-lieutenant was actually pointing at her. Why would she want to fight her?

"Orihime," Karin called suddenly. "You think you can take her on?"

The sunset-haired girl took a shaky breath; she really hated fighting, she was a pacifist! But past events, like the day so many hollows appeared on Karakura, had shown her that there were times when shielding wasn't enough to truly protect those she cared about, sometimes she had to fight. She'd gone there to help her nakama save one of their own, and she wouldn't be able to do it if those shinigami managed to stop them…so then, she would fight.

"I can do it." Was all she said out loud.

Karin didn't ask her what had gone through her mind, with the gigantic captain gone she was able to better feel the emotions of those remaining, and knew a lot of things must have gone through her friend's minds before she finally steeled her resolve and got ready to fight.

"Very well." Karin nodded. "I guess that leaves the two of us to deal with the other shinigami, eh Chad?" she turned to her sister then. "Yuzu, stay back, if anyone else comes try and knock them out with kidou, we really don't need any other shinigami interrupting us."

Chad simply nodded as he allowed his right arm to transform.

Yuzu nodded with a worried smile; she didn't like it when her siblings had to fight, though she knew it was necessary; besides, they were trusting her to help where she could, she wouldn't let worry distract her from her task, she wouldn't let them down.

"Ok." Karin declared as she raised her boken. "Lets begin!"

And in an instant, three more fights had begun.

**xXx**

Zabimaru's shikai clashed against the reishi blade formed with aid of the seele schneider; while the shinigami seemed to have more physical strength with the way he managed to wield the huge zanpakutou, he still couldn't push the quincy back more than a few steps, and right when it seemed the black-blue haired boy might be cornered, he would almost disappear from the spot and begin attacking the shinigami from a different angle.

"What the hell is this?!" Renji demanded.

Uryuu, who neither understood what the shinigami was cursing about, nor cared, simply continued parrying blow after blow.

"I looked up the Quincy when I came back from that mission." Renji pointed out as he continued fighting. "There was very little in the archives, it had information on your bows, and on the fact that you were almost extinct…but nothing about this blade of yours!"

"There's a lot about us Quincy that you shinigami either don't know, or don't remember…" Uryuu replied calmly. "Or maybe it's your superiors that don't want you to know."

"What would anyone gain from hiding things about you Quincy from the shinigami?" Renji wanted to know. "Shouldn't we know everything to be prepared in case you happen to become our enemies at some point?"

"They don't tell you, because shinigami don't like to remember their own crimes." Uryuu spat. "Like the fact that, two centuries ago, they massacred almost the entirety of the Quincy race! That's the reason we're almost extinct now!"

"That's not true!" Renji refused to believe it.

"I don't care if you believe me or not." Uryuu replied. "I'm not here in regards to that."

"That's right, you say you're here for Kuchiki Rukia." Renji nodded. "Why would you care about her? She's a shinigami!"

"Ku…Rukia is Rukia." Uryuu stated. "And more than that, she's also nakama. She's one of our own, and we're getting her back. Regardless of whoever gets in our way." Uryuu shifted his hold on the seele schneider in one hand, while drawing another one. "Now, Abarai Renji, you're about to find out what a Quincy, what I, Ishida Uryuu, am truly capable of…Oh, and you would do well in remembering my name, the name of the man that will defeat you!"

Renji didn't get the chance to say a single word, as Uryuu had suddenly changed tactics, he was no longer just defending and blocking Zabimaru's attacks; he was actively attacking Renji, and moving faster than even most shunpo the shinigami had seen, certainly faster than Renji himself could follow comfortably.

"Just who the hell are you?!" Renji demanded hotly.

There was no answer, his opponent had already decided that duel would provide enough of one; that is…if the shinigami was still capable of reasonable thought after the Quincy was over with him…after all, their pride was at stake.

**xXx**

In another part Ichigo was really trying to understand what it was he was feeling every time his zanpakutou clashed against his enemy's; it was just too different from what he could remember feeling when he trained against Karin, Geta-Boushi, or his father, it was almost…

*Like there's something missing…*

So focused he was on trying to understand that Ichigo didn't even realize he'd spoken into his own inner world, until he heard an answer.

*His katana is empty, Ichigo.* The smooth, strong voice of his own zanpakutou answered.

*Ossan?* Ichigo inquired.

Even though he'd learnt his zanpakutou's name already, he couldn't help but call him 'old-man' still; he probably had gotten too used to it after doing it for so many years…

*His zanpakutou is in shikai, a permanent release, just like yours would be if Ishida Ryuuken hadn't pounded control into you for so many months.* Zangetsu continued. *But unlike you, he didn't reach that level by commuting with the spirit of his zanpakutou, he forced it, having so much reiatsu and no control at all…* the spirit sighed lowly and shook his head. *His zanpakutou has probably lost his voice by now, after so many years going unheard…*

*That's…that's awful!* Ichigo hissed mentally. *And cruel! How can he ignore another being, human or not, like that?*

*By believing he's enough by himself.* Shiro interfered in the discussion. *Good thing you know better, eh Aibou?*

Ichigo did know better; maybe it was because he'd been talking to both Zangetsu and Shiro for years, even before he understood about shinigami; but one way or another he knew about them and he absolutely trusted both beings, not only with his life, but also with that of his nakama, which was really the highest level of trust he could offer anyone. Zaraki Kenpachi, he didn't have something like that, and probably never would.

"Then maybe we should show him how wrong he is, huh?" Ichigo said out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Kenpachi demanded roughly. "Are you nuts, kid?"

"Maybe, though I don't think that's really important." Ichigo shrugged nonchalantly. "In any case I wasn't talking to myself, but to my aibou; I knew there was something wrong with your katana, and now I know what. It's empty. I don't know how you could have done it, but you ignored the spirit of your zanpakutou so much it's either lost its voice or been lost completely. It's a shame, really…"

"What bullshit are you talking about?" Kenpachi insisted. "Aibou? Zanpakutou spirit? I don't believe none of that. A zanpakutou is a tool, and that's that!"

Inside Ichigo's mind both Zangetsu and Shiro hissed in fury at that.

"You're wrong." Ichigo declared confidently as he shifted his stance. "A shinigami is next to nothing without their zanpakutou. You may be very strong yourself, yes, but that's nothing compared with what you can be with their help. Fighting with your zanpakutou…"

"Is nothing but a stupid excuse for those who cannot be strong for themselves!" Kenpachi interrupted him. "Now stop spouting idiocies and fight me! I've never heard any voices, I don't believe in them, I'm strong as I am for myself, I don't need no one!"

"Very well, if that's what you think." Ichigo steeled himself for the fight to come. "I will teach you how wrong you are!" suddenly he smirked, raising his zanpakutou high. "Or maybe, I will let my zanpakutou do the teaching." His reiatsu skyrocketed as he called out in a loud voice: "Pierce the skies to reach True Heaven, Zangetsu!"

In an explosion of reiatsu Ichigo's zanpakutou changed from the more normal, if still almost twice as wide as usual, katana, into the cleaver-like blade with no hilt and no guard. It had taken him a while, but he'd managed to seal Zangetsu's shikai during his training; in normal circumstances he wouldn't have cared, but Kisuke and Yoruichi had convinced him to do it so as not to call too much attention on himself, it was bad enough that his zanpakutou was so big, in both sealed and released form, having one in constant shikai…might have been too much.

"There!" Kenpachi cried out with an insane laugh. "This is the kind of fight I like! With something like this I can probably go all out!"

And then, to Ichigo's surprise and confusion, he ripped off his eye-patch.

**xXx**

Orihime panted slightly as she held herself in a half-crouch, Santen Kesshun floating at her side, she'd given up calling on it and dispelling it after a few minutes. The pink-haired girl, whom another shinigami had called a lieutenant, was too fast for the sunset-haired human not to be on-guard at all times. It was a complicated fight, while Orihime was very good at martial arts, it wasn't the same when the opponent was so much smaller, and she didn't want to accidentally hurt someone who, to her, still looked like a child.

"Fight me!" The child-like shinigami demanded in a shrill voice. "Really fight me! Ken-chan's having a lot of fun fighting, I want to have fun too!"

"I don't want to hurt you." Orihime replied.

Angry at being treated that way, the pink-haired shinigami began attacking Orihime more directly with the small sword she carried; prompting the human to either dodge or use her orange-tinted triangular shield to block; but she refused to attack.

"I want to fight!" The girl insisted. "Why are you here if you don't want to fight?!"

"We only want to get Rukia back!" Orihime replied. "We don't want to hurt anyone, we only want our nakama back!"

The human winced as she failed in fully evading one of the attacks, earning a cut on one of her arms, it was deep, and bleeding a lot.

"If you don't fight me I'll cut you many, many more times!" The shinigami insisted.

For all answer Orihime made a gesture with her right hand, prompting her Santen Kesshun to separate her from her opponent, while she held the other hand against her arm and chanted softly a different kotodama.

"Souten Kisshun…"

There was a brief flash of yellow-orange light and suddenly the blood that had been dripping down her arm vanished at the same time muscle, skin and even clothe knitted back together.

The awe in the shinigami-girl was noticeable, but Orihime didn't say anything; since her Healing Shield was her most used ability it had evolved far beyond any of the others, enough that she could undo most wounds in a matter of minutes, could restore things almost totally destroyed with some effort, and when it came to her own body, short of death nothing would be able to stop her…of course the cost on her energy was considerable, and she didn't have limitless reiatsu, however, she'd definitely gotten better than when she'd begun using her powers two years before…much better.

"Yay! Great!" The pink-haired shinigami cried out in delight. "I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you sun-girl!"

Orihime was still trying to understand what was going on, when the girl in front of her unexpectedly ran the palm of her hand against the length of her small blade, allowing her blood to cover the entirety of its length.

"Don't tell Ken-chan I can do this, ok?" The girl said with a small smirk. "Paint yourself with the blood of our enemies, Shinkuhana!"

The human girl had seen shikai releases before, Urahara's, Mr. Kurosaki's and Ichigo's as well; still, never before had she seen something quite like what she was seeing in that moment. It was like an explosion of pink reiatsu that enveloped the small girl suddenly, and when it cleared, the sight that greeted the ryoka was completely different. No longer was there a short pink-haired girl in a too-big shihakusho, holding a small blade; instead before Orihime suddenly stood a petite girl who looked like she was fifteen or maybe sixteen years old, her pink hair straight and long enough that it reached her hips, her shihakusho now so small it barely covered enough to be considered acceptable, leaving her arms and long legs bare; also, instead of the short katana she was holding a blade as long as her forearm, it actually looked like two blades connected by the hilt with a milimetric separation in the middle; the hilt was made of a silvery colored metal with a hint of pink, and it the very spot where the guard, hilt and blades connected an intricate flower was engraved.

In few words, the orange-red haired girl had no idea what was going on, she only knew one thing: the situation had just drastically changed.

At first Orihime did her best to simply evade the pink-haired shinigami's attack as much as possible, her shield was strong enough to stand the barrage of attacks, but Orihime wasn't fast enough to compete against her opponent's shunpo, which caused her to end up with quite a few wounds, mostly minor cuts and scratches, in both arms and one of her legs.

"Fight me!" The teen-aged lieutenant kept demanding over and over.

And yet Orihime kept hesitating, even if she did send Tsubaki a few times, she did her best to stay a certain distance away from the pinkette, not wanting to truly duel her.

"Fight me!" Yachiru practically screeched.

Orihime was so surprised by the yell she didn't realize when she first stepped on empty air, since the battle at some point had moved to the tiled roofs.

"Santen Kesshun!" She called, distressed.

The shield that had been protecting from the front broke in pieces, before reforming underneath her, forming a platform of sorts for Orihime to kneel on.

"Oh…neat!" Yachiru cheered her. "Now fight me!"

The shinigami took advantage of the fact that Orihime no longer had a shield covering her and moved in a direct attack, the ryoka girl's reaction was instinctive:

"Tsubaki! Help!" She called in panic.

*Good to see you finally ready, woman.* The spirit of the Rikka devoted to attack declared. *Now I can reach a second level! Call my name, call my true power!*

"Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun! Nibankyuu! I reject!"

In an instant Tsubaki had materialized yet again, except that instead of taking the form of the shooting shield like it always did, it instead was thinner, more stylish, like a mix of a scimitar and a boomerang. Orihime took a hold of it and used it to block Yachiru's zanpakutou.

"Yay!" Yachiru seemed strangely delighted at this. "Fight me! Fight me, sun-girl!"

"Wha…" Orihime could only look at the now hand-held blade, confused. "Tsubaki?"

*Use your will. You can decide when I am to cut and I am to hit. You can also throw me like a boomerang.* Tsubaki instructed her mentally, thrilled at reaching a new level. *Come on woman, don't back down now. What will your nakama do if you fail?*

Those words were enough to not only instruct her on how to handle the new version of her power, but also to give her the needed motivation to push on in the fight.

Focusing, Orihime leapt off the still floating Santen Kesshun with enough force to flip over the surprised pink-haired shinigami and then land nimbly on both feet on the roof. Yes, Tatsuki had most definitely done a very good job training her in martial arts and gymnastics.

The three Rikka that formed her defensive shield broke down and returned to her pins, somehow knowing Orihime wouldn't need them anymore.

"I'm sorry fukutaichou-san." Orihime called in a soft, yet steeled voice. "I'm afraid I'll have to end this fight now."

Before the pink-haired could say anything Orihime was upon her, her moves quick and swift, even when she still couldn't compare to a shinigami's shunpo, she made up for it with great agility and fast reflexes. Several of Yachiru's attacks were blocked before Orihime gave one of her own, Tsubaki went straight through the pinkette's zanpakutou, without doing anything to it, only to cut open the shinigami's arm, forcing her to let go of her weapon and fall down.

In a matter of seconds the blood loss was such that the shinigami lost consciousness.

"I'm sorry." Orihime whispered.

The blade disappeared from her hand as the battle was already over. Orihime knew she had to return to her nakama, lest they worry about her, but she couldn't just leave the pink-haired girl there, she couldn't leave her to die, it just wasn't in her nature…

"Souten Kisshun…"

**xXx**

Meanwhile Chad could only watch the scene before him in something akin to disbelief. His opponent, the so-called fifth-seat of the 11th squad: Ayasegawa Yumichika, had turned out to be little more than talk. Their fight hadn't lasted more than ten minutes, and even then, not even half of that time had been spent in actual one-on-one combat. As at first Chad had tried to simply knock the shinigami down with one of his Directos. It hadn't worked, the shinigami was at least fast and agile enough to avoid them. But when it had become a matter of a direct fight, nothing could compare to the gentle giant's strength. The latin-ascendant ryoka's armored arm could easily stand up to the multi-bladed zanpakutou of his opponent; afterwards it was only a matter of hitting him with enough strength to knock him out cold.

Chad was making his way back to where the group had split when he saw Orihime staggering on a nearby roof.

"Orihime!" He called worriedly.

His voice seemed to distract her enough that she actually slipped down from the roof and, thankfully, straight into his arms.

"Are you alright, Orihime?" The half-Hispanic inquired, worried.

"Fine, just very tired." Orihime explained in a low voice.

"It seems like your battle was hard." Chad commented.

He actually suspected it was more like Orihime had hesitated. He, like everyone else in their group, knew Orihime had amazing powers, that she had the potential to do a lot of things, possibly more than even they could imagine, but the girl was so used to just being backup, and was so against fighting, that her potential hadn't been pushed…until then.

"I fought…I won…" Orihime explained in a tired, yet very proud voice. "Tsubaki…reached a new level…I can wield a blade now…"

Chad's eyes widened at that, he could only wonder what exactly had happened to make Tsubaki, out of all her Rikka, reach a second level…they hadn't even known her Rikka had a second level until that moment!

Yet, before he could ask anything, Orihime's eyes opened again sharply, and a second later he realized the reason too: two reiatsus had just skyrocketed, one closer than the other.

"Karin-chan…" Orihime whispered, worriedly.

"And Ichigo." Chad added.

"We need to get to them." Orihime declared.

And yet, she knew she couldn't move, not with how tired she was.

Chad didn't say anything, he simply picked her up, holding her against his back. He was strong, and not tired at all, they would get back to their nakama fast enough.

**xXx**

Karin slid back several feet before managing to stop herself. She took a moment to look at the piece of the boken she still held in her hand before throwing it away with a huff. She'd gone into the fight with only the wooden sword as a weapon, infusing reiatsu into it to give it the strength and cutting edge of a normal sword, it had worked pretty well for almost five minutes, when her opponent finally managed to break it.

"If that's all you can do, then this is going to certainly be a short and boring fight, girl." The shinigami commented in a bored tone.

Karin hissed at the insult before reaching to the small of her back, one moment she seemed to be grasping thin air, until suddenly the pommel of a sword materialized in her hand; when she moved her hands to the front again, she was holding in her right a foot long half-curved kodachi with an uncommonly long hilt and in her left its wooden mahogany scabbard.

"A Zanpakutou!" The shinigami declared with a predatory grin. "Now that's more like it! I was beginning to fear all you could use was a wooden sword, girl."

"Hardly." Karin declared, taking a stance. "I just didn't think I would need it for this fight."

"Didn't think…" The bald man's eyes widened. "You insult me girl! I am Madarame Ikkaku, 3rd seat of the 11th Squad, under the great captain Zaraki Kenpachi. And you thought you could defeat me with a mere boken…"

"Well, if I'm dealing with such a high-level shinigami, using just a boken would be an insult." Karin admitted with a half-smirk. "Still. I may not have a rank, as far as your ranking goes, but I don't need it either. Soon you'll get to see what I'm capable of, with your own eyes. That is, of course, if you're intelligent enough to comprehend what you see!"

Before Ikkaku could say anything else Karin had leapt straight at him.

They exchanged blows for several minutes, each using their zanpakutou to attack and the scabbards to block; they seemed to be well-matched.

"Now this is a fight!" Ikkaku declared, thrilled. "What do you say we kick this up a notch, girl?" he didn't actually wait for an answer before calling: "Grow, Houzukimaru!"

Karin could only watch as the shinigami pressed the scabbard to the hilt of his zanpakutou, then, in a rush of reiatsu the two came together to form what looked very much like a Yari.

"Interesting…" Karin admitted.

In an instant she dropped to the ground and rolled sideways to avoid the initial attack from her opponent's released zanpakutou.

"Come on girl, release your zanpakutou!" Ikkaku called.

Karin didn't answer, though she still refused to do so.

"You can never hope to defeat a shikai with a sealed blade!" Ikkaku insisted.

Yet Karin didn't pay him any attention, instead focusing on fighting him. It seemed to be going pretty well, until Ikkaku hit the back of her left hand with enough force that she was forced to let go of the scabbard.

"You're going to lose, girl!" Ikkaku announced with satisfaction. "Luck is on my side!"

"You haven't won yet!" Karin retorted strongly, parrying the next attack. "Luck is for idiots, and I'm not one of them. Regardless of how long your zanpakutou may be, length alone won't be enough to win."

"I see, you, like so many believe my zanpakutou to be a lance…I'm afraid you're wrong." Ikkaku declared with an anticipatory grin. "Split, Houzukimaru!"

Karin was aware, through the corner of her eye, of the moment the yari broke into three parts, becoming a sansetsukon, one of its parts moving around Ikkaku's head to hit her in the side. So she did the only thing she could do, she raised her left arm and blocked the attack.

The armguard she wore on her sleeveless arm turned to be strong enough to block the attack from the changed zanpakutou, but Karin knew the situation had gotten more complicated than she'd been expecting it too.

"Guess it cannot be helped then…" She declared as she took a couple of steps back.

"Yes, yes, call on your shikai girl!" Ikkaku called with anticipation. "I wanna see it! I wanna see what you can really do! I'm so lucky…"

"I really hope you'll be able to survive this, Madarame-san. Though luck alone won't help you." Karin commented with a sigh. "I have to warn you, I haven't yet gotten complete control over it…" she held her kodachi down, forming a diagonal across her body before calling: "Fly across the fiery heavens, Tenreikou!"

What looked like fire yet was actually her reiatsu enveloped Karin's right arm for a second, when it cleared her kodachi had turned into a five and a half foot tall naginata; two feet of the blade, half more of the hilt and a three feet long shaft with a metal spike in the end. All in all, the weapon was longer than she was tall, yet she didn't seem to be uncomfortable at all by this. The petite raven-haired girl held it with the pole resting on her right shoulder, while the tip of the blade rested right in front of her left foot.

"Oh…" Ikkaku seemed very interested in what he was seeing. "Our weapons look so similar! Yours won't split by any chance?"

"No, but then again, I don't need it to." Karin declared. "It's over, Madarame-san."

And before the bald man could say a single word she spun the naginata so the tip was up and then moved it straight down. The blade went through the middle of his own zanpakutou, cutting it in two as easily as he had cut down her own boken before, and with enough power that, an instant later Ikkaku fell back, bleeding from a half-deep cut that went from his collarbone to his hip.

"Guess my luck's run out then…" Ikkaku sighed as he let go of his zanpakutou.

The sansetsukon went back to looking like a normal katana, though it was still in two pieces. Karin hoped he would be able to repair it somehow, it had never been her intention to destroy the zanpakutou; though, at the same time, she hadn't lied when saying she didn't yet have full control over her power…it had been hard just to hold herself back enough so as not to cut the shinigami fully open and kill him. Even as bad as the wound seemed, as much blood as there was, the wound wouldn't kill him.

Satisfied, Karin lowered the tip of her zanpakutou again; it never actually touched the ground though, as it disappeared into reishi particles before it could, the scabbard that had fallen at some point vanishing as well.

"I must get back now, before my nakama worry too much." Karin murmured to herself as she turned her back on her fallen opponent.

"Hey girl!" Ikkaku called to her before she could leave. "Before you go, I wanna know, what is your name? And why are you here?"

Karin considered briefly just ignoring the man, but in the end decided to answer him, it's not like they were trying to keep their presence a secret or anything like that.

"My name is Kurosaki Karin." She answered over her shoulder. "My nakama and I are here to rescue one of our own: Kuchiki Rukia."

"The criminal on death-row?" Ikkaku seemed truly surprised at that.

"Yes, what's it to you?" She inquired.

"Nothing." Ikkaku admitted simply. "Though you and your allies must truly be nuts, if you think you stand a chance against the whole Gotei 13; because I'll tell you now, that's what it'll take for you to save your friend…"

"We'll do what we have to do." Karin answered, apparently uncaring.

"Well, in any case I hope you survive." Ikkaku told her. "I would really like to get to fight you again, after I've gotten stronger."

"By then I'll also have better control of my own power." Karin warned him.

"That'll only make things all the more interesting!" Ikkaku declared, thrilled.

Karin shook her head as she turned away again, that shinigami truly must be insane…

"Good luck Madarame Ikkaku." She said before turning around a corner.

"Good luck…Kurosaki Karin…" He whispered back.

She hadn't even been walking for a full minute when suddenly she felt a great power skyrocket, a power she had no problem identifying.

"Ichi-nii…" She muttered turning in a different direction. "What mess have you gotten yourself into now?"

And with no further consideration she shunpoed in the new direction.

**xXx**

The reishi forming the blades on the longest seele schneider dispersed as the young quincy relaxed his stance. Before him, next to the broken pieces of his own zanpakutou and one other seele schneider laid the half-unconscious form of the crimson-haired 6th Division fukutaichou: Abarai Renji.

"Impo…sible…" The downed shinigami muttered. "I cannot be…defeated…"

Uryuu snorted as he hooked the seele schneider back on his belt. Shinigami really were the worst kind of losers…

"You cannot…have d…defeated me." Renji insisted.

He tried to stand, yet was unable to; he reached for his zanpakutou, only to find it in pieces.

"Your zanpakutou is broken, as is your body, your reiatsu is lower than even the weakest of my nakama." Uryuu enlisted coldly. "Admit it, shinigami, you are defeated. And I, Ishida Uryuu, Quincy, was who defeated you."

Renji muttered something else under his breath, something Uryuu didn't understand, though he could guess what was going on.

"I know." The quincy nodded calmly. "You said before you read about Quincy when you came back…but reading is nothing compared to actual experience."

"I'd fought you before." Renji snarled lowly. "I defeated you before!"

"Yes, you fought me, you defeated me, in a time and place where I cared not about truly fighting you." Uryuu deadpanned. "You revealed all your cards in a fight I wasn't taking seriously. When we clashed today, I knew already everything, or almost everything you were capable of, while you had no idea of my real power."

"Why…not serious…before?" The redhead was beginning to lose consciousness.

"Rukia knew you, and she's nakama." Uryuu explained simply. "It wouldn't have been right to attack a possible friend of a nakama at full-strength. Especially since at that point I didn't yet know your intentions. By the time I did know…I had lost the advantage, Besides, I only had my bow back then, a certain disadvantage against an experienced swordsman."

"Rukia…my friend…but the law…"

"So you're willing to have the death of one you call a friend on your conscience, simply because it's the so-called law?" he growled. "Those like you are the reason I once hated shinigami with everything I was."

"Once…not anymore?"

"Saying I hate shinigami now would be an insult to some nakama; mainly Rukia and Ichigo."

"Rukia…nakama?"

"Yes, Rukia is nakama. I believe we've said it before. She's the reason we're here. She's nakama, and we're getting her back."

"You…save Rukia?"

"Yes."

"Good." He finally lost consciousness then.

Uryuu had no idea what exactly had gone through the shinigami's mind at the end, to make him say something like that, but he didn't care that much. His nakama were expecting him, he could sense that most had finished their fights already, they were much more important than a weak, defeated shinigami…

**xXx**

Yuzu pulled her hand back as yet another low-ranked shinigami dropped unconscious to the ground. That was the sixth she'd had to knock out with kidou since everyone else had split to fight their own battles. The chestnut haired teenager could sense that almost all of her nakama had already finished their own battles and turned to go meet them, when suddenly she could sense yet another presence approaching her from behind.

"Bakudo 4…" Yuzu called even as she spun around. "Hainawa!"

She extended both hands forward as she finished her spin; a yellow rope-like energy emerged from her hands then, going immediately around the newly arrived shinigami, binding him.

"Bakudo 15…"

"Wait!" The shinigami called to her in a very nervous voice. "Wait please. I want to talk to you! Please, I don't want to fight you…"

Yuzu halted her chant, but didn't lower her hands, it's not like the shinigami could hurt her, and she was curious of why he was trying to talk to her, no one had before.

"You're one of the ryoka, aren`t you?" He asked.

"I am." Yuzu answered simply, it should have been obvious enough.

"You are here to save Kuchiki Rukia-san, right?" He asked then.

Yuzu simply nodded. While they hadn't been sure if those they had sent the message to would be willing to explain the situation to their subordinates, it wasn't a totally unexpected situation either. Though that still didn't explain why he wanted to talk to her…

"I want to help!" The young shinigami announced.

Yuzu couldn't help but stagger at that, enough for her previous bakudo to break down. She could have never expected something like that. Why would a shinigami, any shinigami, want to help her, help all of them, save one who was supposed to be a criminal to them?

Yet before she could voice the question, something else called her attention, the echo of a very strong reiatsu as it passed by, powerful enough to make the male shinigami drop to his kness, while Yuzu couldn't help but turned back in shock and dread. She knew very well who that power belonged to.

"Ichi-nii!"

* * *

So... who's fight did you like most?

The Soul Society Arc is nowhere near done, see ya next week!


	7. Loyalties

Happy Valentine's Day! Time for a new chapter for Nakama.

Someone made a comment regarding why I chose to call this fic Nakama, why they insist so much on being a team one moment, and then split up... I think that being a team is about more than just being together all the time. It's about trust, both the trust that they have each other's backs, and the trust that they each can handle themselves if necessary. Trust is a huge thing for me, and for this fic. The Nakama do not trust Urahara, it's one of the reason Tatsuki stayed behind (that, and her powers are still developing, she'll have a more important part to play later on, I promise), so she'd handle things in Karakura. The Nakama trust each other, both to fight together, and to know, when they have to split up, that they can each handle things.

If anyone would like to make translations, fanarts, podfic, etc. You have blanket permission. Just let me know so I can go check it out and announce it here.

Without further ado, on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 7. Loyalties **

Ichigo groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself lying on cold metal, the top of one of his Inner World's skyscrapers, he felt dizzy, a bit nauseous and extremely tired.

He opened his mouth, only to find himself unable to speak.

*Wha…What happened?* He asked inside his mind.

"Aibou!" Shiro cried out in obvious delight. "You're awake...Well, not exactly but…"

It was until the orange-haired heard his white twins' exclamation out-loud that he came to the realization that he wasn't in Seireitei, or in the 'real world' at all. He was in his inner world.

"What a…am I doing here?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"Recovering." A stern voice answered.

It was until then that Ichigo realized that while Shiro was kneeling by his side, Zangetsu remained standing a few feet from his head.

"Recovering?" Ichigo repeated, still confused.

"What is the last thing you remember, aibou?" Shiro asked, a bit worriedly.

"Uh…" Ichigo actually had to make an effort to remember anything at all. "We were trying to find a new hideout, some place to wait until we had to go for Rukia…Abarai appeared, along with several other shinigami…one of them was a captain…he wanted to fight the strongest of us…I fought him. He was extremely powerful, and crazy…I called on Ossan's shikai, and then he ripped of some eye-patch he had…his reiatsu skyrocketed…I kept fighting him…I needed more power…more power…"

"I gave you more power." Zangetsu reminded him. "We synced…in a way no shinigami and zanpakutou have in at least decades. This allowed you to win your battle against Zaraki Kenpachi, though no without consequence."

"You had already been badly hurt by then aibou…" Shiro added in a low voice. "That stupid insane man's last stab pierced your chest, it almost reached your heart…You almost died…"

Ichigo realized then why his 'twin' was acting so out of character. He was afraid, afraid of dying himself, which would have happened if Ichigo had died; but mostly, he was afraid of Ichigo dying. It was likely that if anyone else were to see them, to know what each of them were, they wouldn't believe just how honestly worried Shiro had been about Ichigo; but the orange-haired knew better, his twin cared, so much…it didn't matter what he was supposed to be, or the way he'd come to exist, Shiro was Ichigo's twin brother in all ways that counted and that was that.

"Nii-san…" Ichigo whispered with a soft smile. "Thank you…"

Shiro huffed dramatically at the same time he turned to look away, wanting to hide his watery eyes; there was no way he would let Ichigo, or anyone know he was being so sentimental, so much he could almost cry…damnit hollows don't cry! They aren't supposed to feel, or even have a heart…! Right?

"Ichigo…" Zangetsu called the young man's attention back. "You need to go back."

"Go back?" Ichigo parroted back, confused.

"To the real world, to your nakama." Zangetsu qualified. "They're very worried about you, you've been unconscious for 24 hours now. If you don't wake up soon…"

"They might decide to do something stupid." Ichigo finished.

It was true, if his nakama thought he was too bad they would abort the original mission and focus on breaking Rukia out of the Senzaikyuu and then getting her and him out of the Soul Society as fast as possible, forget about helping Seireitei uncover the bunch of traitors they unknowingly had in their midst.

"Very well, Ossan, Aibou." Ichigo nodded, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this."

The other two thirds of his soul, the two sides of his power nodded solemnly and then, with a brief flash of light, they were gone, along with the rest of his inner world.

For Ichigo it was as if he'd just closed his eyes briefly before opening them again to find himself no longer in the skyscraper of his inner world, but laying on the stone floor of some underground passage; the top half of his shihakusho was missing and half of his torso, as well as an arm and a part of his head were bandaged.

His pained groan was enough to announce to everyone around him that he was, in fact, awake. Karin and Yuzu rushed to his side right away, while Chad and Uryuu hung back calmly. Orihime was sleeping, using her own rolled-up jacket as a pillow, with Chad's covering her like an improvised blanket.

"How are you Ichigo?" Chad inquired, worried for his friend.

"Fine…just sore." Ichigo admitted as he slowly sat up. "The fight against that madman took more out of me than I thought it would."

"Baka Ichigo!" Karin smacked him. "You almost died!"

"So I've been told." Ichigo admitted, rubbing the back of his head in pain.

"Ichi-nii…" Yuzu muttered with a sob.

"I'm sorry Yuzu…Karin, everyone, I really didn't mean to worry you." Ichigo promised them. "I just…I had to defeat him."

"I guess with your opponent being Zaraki Kenpachi I shouldn't be surprised." Karin said with resignation. "He is, after all, well known for being an insane swordsman, his bloodlust has really no comparison in Seireitei…"

"And how exactly would you know that, Karin-san?" A male-like voice inquired, interested.

They all turned to see the black cat approaching them.

"Yoruichi-san!" Yuzu called with a bright smile. "You're back."

"I trust you didn't have any trouble." Ichigo commented.

"None at all." Yoruichi assured him. "While all the divisions seem to have deployed more patrols than what's normal, none seem to be too interested in finding you. Either they don't believe you capable of going through with your threat, or they believe you'll be easily defeated when you arrive at Soukyoku Hill…"

"It wasn't a threat, it was a promise." Ichigo declared strongly. "And in any case, if they underestimate us it'll be their loss."

"I see." Yoruichi nodded, before turning to Karin. "You still haven't answered my question Karin-san. How would you know the kind of reputation Zaraki Kenpachi possesses when you all have barely been in Soul Society for a handful of days?"

"And who says this is my first time in Soul Society?" Karin challenged with a half-smirk. "I have my ways of knowing things, Yoruichi-san, you would do well not to meddle in my business. When the time comes, you'll know the truth."

Under normal circumstances Shihouin Yoruichi would have taken serious offense at being told to back off, especially by a fifteen-year-old girl; but the situation at the time wasn't normal at all, and she already suspected at least part of the raven-haired girl's secret. She, as well as Kisuke and Isshin did, even if the last was in absolute denial. In any case, if there were right…then a lot was going to change very soon…

"There's one thing I've been wondering, Ichigo." Yoruichi commented suddenly.

Ichigo turned in her direction in time to see her pushing next to him a slightly broken white bone-like mask with tribal red-lines.

*Shiro!* Ichigo cried out into his inner-world, before saying out-loud. "What is that?"

"That's what I would like to know, Ichigo." Yoruichi declared in a stern tone.

*Shit.* Shiro cursed inside his mind. *It's my fault. I materialized the mask inside your robes, to try and block the last stab from that crazy captain…I forgot to diffuse it afterwards…*

*It's nothing to feel guilty about, Shiro.* Ichigo assured him with a silent sigh. *You were just protecting me…* he turned to Yoruichi with a blank expression. "It looks like a bone mask of some kind, what of it?"

"It looks like a hollow mask." Yoruichi pointed out seriously. "What I want to know, is what was a hollow mask doing inside your clothes."

"No idea." Ichigo lied expressionlessly.

"Really?" Yoruichi didn't believe him. "So this mask, that I found between the layers of your shihakusho, that somehow apparently saved you from being stabbed to death during your fight with Kenpachi…you have no idea how it got there."

The Nakama could only gap at those words, only Yuzu had known how instrumental the mask had been in saving Ichigo's life, and even then she, like everyone else, were so used to seeing him like a strong, apparently all-powerful young man, that they hadn't realized how close he'd actually come to dying.

"None at all." Ichigo insisted in the same tone. "So, Yoruichi, unless you are the one who knows something you aren't telling…I guess the whole point is moot."

Ichigo and Yoruichi held each other's stares for a while; it was likely they both knew the other was hiding something, but neither was willing to reveal their cards, not yet anyway.

"Is Orihime alright?" Ichigo asked, breaking the staring contest and changing topic drastically.

"Mostly." Uryuu answered with a sigh. "From what she told Chad, her fight against the shinigami forced her to call on a new level of power. Seems her Koten Zanshun had a second level…It took a lot out of her, besides the fact that she used a lot her other powers as well. She briefly woke a few hours after we got here and then went back to sleep. We haven't woken her since we're in no hurry. It's unlikely the shinigami will come looking for us here, and it'll be better if she's in top shape next time there's a confrontation. The same goes for you."

"I see." Ichigo nodded. "Where are we exactly?"

"The underground tunnels of Seireitei." Chad told him. "Apparently this place is used as supply and rescue routes by 4th Division members mostly." He pointed to another sleeping form, a shinigami. "It was his idea for us to come here."

"A shinigami!" Ichigo gasped. "Here? With us…? Wait, he helped us, why?"

"His name is Yamada Hanatarou." Yuzu explained calmly as she used some healing kidou on her brother. "He approached me while each of you were in your own battles. Turns out he was the one in charge of cleaning the 6th Division while Rukia-san was there. She told him about us, about her nakama, who were going to save her. He came looking for us after Rukia-san was transferred to the Senzaikyuu, he wants to help us."

"Why?" Ichigo was really intrigued by the whole thing.

"He admires Rukia-san greatly, I think." Yuzu answered, slowly. "The fact that she's noble yet she treated him with respect. And also, through her stories of us, he's come to admire us as well. Especially you Ichi-nii. He told me he wanted to help Rukia-san, but knew he wouldn't be able to do it on his own, so he went looking for us, wanting to help us save her. He's the 7th seat of the 4th Division; it was he who taught me healing kidou."

"Yes, I was wondering about that." Ichigo admitted. "I know neither Rukia nor Tessai taught you any healing kidou, we never thought it would be necessary with Orihime here."

"And yet she's drained right now." Karin finished for him. "In a way, I guess it was fortunate that we met Yamada, and that he was able to instruct Yuzu on how to heal. Still, I'm not sure if we should keep him with us."

"Karin-nee!" Yuzu cried out. "He only wants to help us!"

"I know that Yuzu." Karin tried to pacify her sister. "What I said wasn't meant to be against him. But lets be honest here, we'll be fighting against shinigami, and the next time we all probably will have to go against captains and lieutenants, I don't think he'll be able to handle it. At the same time it wouldn't be fair to him, it's one thing for us ryoka to be fighting shinigami, but for him…he would be considered a traitor. The last thing we need is to have to bail him out as well. The situation is complicated enough already."

Yuzu bit her lip, in the short time she'd known Yamada Hanatarou she'd come to like the young man, he was very shy and awkward, but at the same time very talented in the healing arts; the young girl felt she owed him, since without him she wouldn't have been able to help heal everyone. At the same time, she knew Karin was right, the battles would only get worse, and it wasn't really fair of them to pull the young shinigami into a war he knew nothing of.

"We'll decide what to do about Yamada-san when we have to." Ichigo declared eventually.

"True." Uryuu agreed. "Right now we all need to rest, make sure our energies are restored before we have to get on the move again."

Yoruichi just watched the scene in silence; while she was much older and more experienced that the group of teenagers, she knew that in the end they would make their own choices and stick to them. She was there to help them when she could, but they were the ones who would be rescuing Rukia, and possibly confronting Aizen and his accomplices. She only hoped their power would be enough…

**xXx**

It took two more days for both Ichigo and Orihime to be fully recovered. And yet they hadn't wasted time. It had been advantageous for them to know that it was unlikely anyone would go looking for them in the underground passages, and while they couldn't train out of fear of being tracked down, they could still plan.

That morning, three days before the scheduled execution, the Nakama decided it was time to get moving again. Following Yoruichi's suggestions they were going to make their way to the base of Soukyoku Hill and to a hiding space which was pretty much a replica of the training grounds beneath the Urahara Shoten.

Yoruichi had gone ahead, in order to make sure no one would be able to block their way. The rest of the mostly-human teens were waiting for Yuzu and Hanatarou to return, since they had gone to get some food for everyone, before making their way to the hideout. What they never expected was for Hanatarou to return…by himself.

The moment the dark-haired shinigami reached them without the gentle twin by his side, half of the nakama raised their weapons against him.

"Where the hell is Yuzu?!" Karin and Ichigo demanded at he same time.

"I…uh…" Hanatarou seemed to have gone speechless in fright.

It took a little while, with how nervous Hanatarou was, but eventually the Nakama learnt that Hanatarou and Yuzu had been found out, by a captain no less! And that Yuzu was waiting for the rest of them along with the captain and a few others.

The group entered the captain's office in a very military fashion, with Hanatarou walking a few feet in front of them, to act as a distraction in case the whole thing was a trap. Ichigo stood in the center of the formation, with Uryuu and Karin at his flanks, Chad and Orihime right behind, all of them with their guard up and ready to fight or flee at a second's notice.

Great was their surprise when they found Yuzu sitting seiza in front of a low table; across from her two men in white haoris (signaling they were captains) and a young woman in a shihakusho and with a lieutenant badge around her arm.

"Hey Ichi-nii, Karin-nee, minna!" Yuzu smiled over her shoulder, either not noticing or simply ignoring the tension in her family and friends.

It was then the nakama realized something else: Yuzu was having tea with the three shinigami! Having tea! As if they were old friends!

"Yuzu…" Ichigo called in a low, controlled tone, one hand on the hilt of his still sealed zanpakutou. "Come here. Please."

"Ichi-nii…?" Yuzu inquired, looking over her shoulder again.

And if she really hadn't noticed the tension before, she did in that that moment, and all it did was make her sigh and lower her head briefly.

"Yuzu!" Karin hissed.

With a deep breath, the lighter haired, yet darker eyed twin, made her choice.

"No."

No one had been expecting that, apparently not even the shinigami having tea with her, since they all stopped all pretence of ignoring the Nakama as they kept sipping their tea and turned to look first at the young girl before them, and then at the rest of the teenagers standing a couple of feet behind her.

"Yuzu…" The two other Kurosaki siblings called in tense voices.

"No." Yuzu stated stubbornly. "I won't allow this to continue, Ichigo, Karin. These people, these shinigami, they aren't our enemies. They are not using me as a hostage, or whatever other insane reason is going through your minds. If I move from this place, the tension will remain, so I won't. I'm staying here, so you can either keep your ridiculous stance at the door or come and have some tea while we all talk like the civilized people we are!"

Never before had any of the Nakama, or anyone really, heard Yuzu talk like that. There was such seriousness, and also such conviction in her words…she couldn't have known the shinigami before her for longer than a few minutes, and yet she truly believed what she had told just said out loud.

Karin could only stare at her twin with a mix of shock and, in a very strange way, acceptance, as if a part of her, a subconscious one, had been expecting already something like that, even before the rest, her conscious side, had.

It didn't go unnoticed by the other shinigami the surreptitious looks the other twins were directing at the orange-haired young man in the shinigami attire, making it obvious that if anyone was in charge of the group, it was him.

"Very well Yuzu, we'll do this your way." Ichigo nodded.

"I assure you, young man, that neither of us have any intentions of attacking you, any of you." The shinigami with totally white hair and dark-green eyes assured him. "If anything, we might even find we have some things in common."

"Like what?" Ichigo asked, doubtful.

"Our thoughts regarding the punishment that has been ordered for one Kuchiki Rukia." The green-eyed shinigami commented calmly. "As well as our desire for her well-being."

That called all the Nakama's attention, at the same time it made the more paranoid ones more alert. While their intentions there on Seireitei were no secret, due to their own announcement, and they weren't even the first shinigami to offer their assistance…it was one thing for a plain shinigami, even a seated one, like Yamada Hanatarou to offer what assistance he could, and an entirely different one for two captains and a lieutenant to express similar intentions…

"My name is Ukitake Juushirou…" The man began. "13th Division Taichou and…"

"…Rukia's captain." Ichigo finished for him, suddenly beginning to understand.

"That I am." Juushirou nodded. "I guess, for your words, that she mentioned me."

"She did, on several occasions." Karin declared, refusing to give any details.

"I see." Juushirou smiled softly. "Beside me is Kyouraku Shunsui, 8th Squad Taichou, he's my oldest and most trusted friend. And with him is his second in command: Ise Nanao. You can be sure, all of you, that we want only to help Rukia-san."

"I see." Ichigo nodded, deciding to take a chance. "In response to your pleasantries I'll tell you my name is Kurosaki Ichigo, and the girl you somehow convinced to have tea with you is my sister Yuzu. The other one is Karin. No more names will be given from our side, just to be on the safe side. You can call us Nakama, though, that's what we are, what Rukia is."

The aged shinigami didn't complain, with how delicate the situation was, and the fact that they were all basically criminals on enemy territory easily explained the young man's attitude. It also didn't escape his notice the term he was using to refer not only to them, but Juushirou's own subordinate.

"So Rukia is Nakama as well." Shunsui commented with a small smile. "I imagine that's why you've decided to save her."

"Yes." Ichigo replied, not wanting to go into any details. "Will you try to stop us?"

"Like Juushirou already told you, we too want what's best for Kuchiki Rukia-san." Shunsui declared calmly. "And while usually that wouldn't include helping, or even ignoring the presence of ryoka…in this case it might be entirely necessary." He sighed and lowered his head. "You need to know something…Nakama. What's going on, the shortened time before the execution, the fact that the Soukyoku is being used on someone who isn't even a seated officer, and even the fact that the death penalty is being given for such a…well, even if it's not a minor offense, still…it's not normal. Something is going on, and it isn't normal."

There was no reaction from the human teenagers, which actually startled the shinigami.

"We knew that much." Uryuu admitted. "Like you said, it isn't normal, something is going on. Someone is acting for their own benefit, and their actions have caught Rukia in the middle of everything…while we don't care about any plots, we care about Rukia, like Ichigo said, she's nakama, we won't allow anything to happen to her."

"You know what's really going on, don't you?" Nanao practically gasped as realization came to her rather abruptly.

Uryuu visibly closed his mouth with a snap, showing his unwillingness to say anything else, and his self-reproach at having even said that much.

"It's alright U…" Ichigo caught himself before saying his name, before turning to the shinigami. "Yes, we have some idea of what's going on. But like we said before, it's none of our business. Rukia on the other side…"

"Very well." Juushirou nodded. "I hope that if 'whatever is going on' turns out to be serious enough you will be willing to at least give us a warning. In regards to Rukia, I'm afraid there's little we can do. We've tried all the legal avenues already, and short of breaking her out of the Senzaikyuu in the next three days ourselves…"

"Don't worry about it." Ichigo dismissed the thought calmly. "We have that part covered."

"You have…" It was Nanao who voiced the thought that must have been on all three shinigami's minds. "You're talking about breaking someone considered as a first-class criminal out of the strongest and best-guarded cell, which is right in the middle of Seireitei!"

"We know exactly what we have to do." Karin said in a scathing tone. "We have a plan."

Nanao opened her mouth again, thinking that the teens must be truly insane when Uryuu interrupted her with the same serenity as all his companions.

"Worry not, shinigami-san." He told her. "We may be human, but we're not stupid, or weak. Like we've said time and time again, Rukia is Nakama, she is one of us, there's no way we're letting her be hurt. We will save her, regardless of whatever anyone and everyone may do to try and stop us. You can be sure of that."

There was something in his voice, and in his posture, that made not only Nanao, but even the two captains, believe him. They would protect Rukia, no matter what.

A thought crossed the two captains' minds' at that point: if only all shinigami were as loyal to each other, and their divisions, as those human teenagers seemed to be to each other, even to one who wasn't human, and who couldn't have been a part of their group for more than three months…and yet they were moving against 'heaven' itself, against the most powerful military organization in existence to protect her…Such loyalties were rare, and hard to come by, all of them, Rukia included, were indeed lucky to be a part of such a group.

The group had tea and some pastries together, before the captains offered them a package that included enough food and water to last them for three days or so, something the Nakama had to admit to be thankful for. They'd been lucky the first two times they'd been caught by shinigami they'd either won or avoided any confrontation; they might not be that lucky a third time…and they would rather not take the chance.

It was decided that Hanatarou would not accompany the group any longer, the Nakama really didn't want him to be seen as a traitor, and he'd already helped them so much…Juushirou assured them no one would know what the boy had done, no one would move against him because he wanted to help do the right thing. And even though Hanatarou wanted to help, the others knew that things would get really complicated in three days time, and it wouldn't be fair to throw him in the middle of what could very well turn into a full-out battle, especially when he had no idea of what was truly going on.

Right as they made to leave, Ichigo decided to at least give the group of shinigami something to work with:

"We aren't your enemies." He informed the shinigami. "Regardless of what our words and actions may seem to imply. We aren't enemies of Seireitei, or the Gotei 13." He sighed before adding. "However, that doesn't mean there are no enemies waiting for the right time to attack. There are, they are here, and they will attack any moment…be careful, things may not always be what they seem…"

Then, right as the orange-haired turned to his friends waiting at the door, ignoring the captains who seemed to be about to ask him to clarify his words, an ear-splitting scream broke the air.

"Aizen-taichou!"

**xXx**

_A girl with shoulder-length raven-black hair in a slightly modified kosode silently jumped from one rooftop to the next in a relatively small Living World town. While usually no seated officer would be sent to mere patrol duty, there had been reports of quite a considerable number of hollows appearing in the area lately, which had made it necessary for higher level shinigami to take on the patrols. _

_The girl-shinigami had just reached a particular street that called his attention, or actually what called her attention was the half-faded very familiar reiatsu signature she could sense in the air. It seemed to encompass the whole neighborhood; like, whoever the owner of that reiatsu was, hung around that place a lot. Such was her curiosity that she was about to step into the area and begin searching for the origin of the aura, half-forgetting her actual duty, when she heard the tell-tale signature of a hollow nearby. _

"_Kuso!" She cursed under her breath before shunpoing away. _

_A minute later the hollow was dissipating. It hadn't been strong at all, though it had seemed to have some ability concealing itself. Of course, she was too good to be tricked. _

_The girl had just turned around, mentally weighing the pros and cons of returning to the suspicious neighborhood when suddenly all her senses her screaming an alert at her. She barely had a fraction of a second to unsheathe the kodachi strapped at the small of her back and raise it just enough to block the incoming strike. Then she spun on one heel and lashed with her blade, managing to catch her attacker across his chest. _

_The two jumped back, and it was until that moment that the girl realized who exactly it was that she'd just cut, even if just slightly; but more over, who had just tried to kill her… _

"_Kitsune!" She cried out in shock. _

_She didn't get the chance to say more, as he was upon her again and she was forced to use both her kodachi and its scabbard to block all the rushed attacks. _

"_Kitsune, what is going on?!" She demanded. _

_Still no answer, and still the light-haired man continued attacking. _

_As the minutes passed and the attacks continued, the girl eventually realized she was having no problem blocking all his strikes; the first had been harder because she had been unprepared for the barrage, but once she got used to it, it was nothing at all. _

_The point came when either she was too good, or he too bad, as she managed to catch his elongated blade in a cross formed by her own still-sealed zanpakutou and the scabbard. A sharp twist was all that was needed to send her opponent's blade clashing to the ground, forcing it to go back to its sealed form at the same time, that of a wakizashi, the movement also hurt the hands of the light-haired man, though he didn't seem to care. _

_What followed was a very fast, very complicated hakuda match, while the man was over a foot taller than the petite girl; the two were equally fast, and she seemed to be more agile than him by much. Then there was the fact that he didn't seem to be really trying. _

_The battle ended rather anti-climatically when the raven-haired girl was forced on a hand stand after the man hit her on a side; then, taking advantage of the position, she delivered a double half-spinning kick to her opponent; the first he managed to block with an arm, but the second hit him rather hard on a temple, making him fall to the ground and slide several feet. With a burst of shunpo the girl was crouching over his prone form, kodachi to his neck. _

_Absolute silence reigned for seconds that seemed to extend for forever, neither combatant spoke, move, they barely even breathed. _

"_What are you waiting for?" He finally panted. _

"_I'm waiting for you to stop acting like an idiot." She snarled, kodachi still held against his throat. "Be a man and tell me what the hell is going on." _

"_I tried to kill you, failed." He deadpanned. "Now do what's logical and kill me already." _

"_Kitsune!" She was so shocked she couldn't help but drop her kodachi. _

"_Damn it Karasu!" The man cursed as he closed his eyes tight. "Kill me already!" _

"_No!" She shook her head, pushing herself away from him, still in shock. "No way Kitsune. No way in Heaven or Hell…" _

"_If you don't kill me, then I will kill you." Kitsune told her coldly. _

_And yet, his zanpakutou was several feet away from him, and he didn't seem to be in any hurry to reach it, he was even ignoring her own zanpakutou, on the ground, next to him. _

"_You won't." She said empathically. "You could never…" _

_She realized the truth then: all along, all his attacks, he'd been acting as if he were trying to kill her, yet he'd never truly tried…all along he'd only been trying to provoke her… _

_Karasu sighed as she lowered her head, she decided she must be truly distracted not to have noticed what was going on before. Even her zanpakutou hadn't said a thing during the whole confrontation between the two… _

"_Who is he threatening?" She asked, finally raising her head again. _

_Blue eyes, very expressive deep-blue eyes, opened wide at those words. He'd nearly forgotten how perceptive she was. Still keeping his silence, he chose to close his eyes again. _

"_Kitsune, answer me." She demanded. "I don't care if you close your eyes, you know I don't need them to understand you." _

"_You're the only one who seems to know what I'm feeling even when my eyes are closed." Kitsune commented half-wistfully, half-bitterly. _

"_It may be Tori-san's influence." She said dismissively, signaling in the direction of her zanpakutou. "Now tell me the truth. What is going on? You act as if you wanted to kill me, but I know you better. Then you tell me to kill you instead…what has happened to cause this? Who is that bastard threatening? Is it…" _

"_Both of them." Kitsune interrupted her tirade. "He's threatening me with both their lives!" _

"_Does he…know…" Karasu felt like she was breathless with her sudden fear. _

"_He obviously knows about Ran-chan." Kitsune hissed. "Anyone who cares to see knows about Ran-chan. He does know about…Him…not everything anyway. However, he knows that for some reason I care about him, and he's using that…" _

"_I'm sure that after so many years he must be convinced about your loyalty." Karasu began considering. "Which means this isn't about that. What then? What is it he wants?" _

"_You, dead." Kitsune answered somberly. _

_Contrary to what most would have expected, the young shinigami girl didn't have any visible reaction to being informed that someone wanted her dead, except. _

"_Guess it can't be helped." She declared with a sigh. _

_With that she moved from her position, half-crouched half-sitting to kneel on the ground, hands at her sides, and then bowed her upper half until her forehead was nearly touching the ground at the light-haired man's feet. _

_Kitsune's blood went cold at seeing his friend, his very powerful, extremely proud and very strongly opinionated friend, adopt such a submissive, pretty much sacrificial position in front of him. The way she was keeping her hands to her sides, and with her neck bared to him, the message was pretty clear, but the man just refused to acknowledge it. _

"_What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kitsune demanded as he got on his own knees in front of her and tried to force her to straighten up. _

"_What must be done!" She snapped, shrugging off his efforts and retaking her position. _

"_I won't kill you!" He flat out refused. _

"_Don't be stupid Kitsune. This isn't about wanting or not wanting to do something. You Need To Kill Me. Not only for your sake, but for…for theirs." _

"_No, no way…" _

"_Kitsune…" _

"_No! You don't understand Karasu, if I do this…if I kill you…it will destroy me. You are my best friend, possibly my only friend. The one person I trust with all I am aside from Ran-chan. If I were to ever attack you…it would destroy all I am. As much as I may love…Them, I just cannot do this. I don't have the strength to do it…no, it's more like I don't have the strength to survive such an act…" _

"_You have to! Kitsune! If you kill me you'll be protecting not only yourself but also Them! Please. I understand what you're saying, you know very well you're one of my dearest friends as well. But just like you suffer at the idea of doing this, how do you think I would feel if something were to happen to you? Or to them? If something ever happened to Him…I would just die! I love him too much!" _

_Kitsune couldn't help but chuckle softly, almost bitterly at that. _

"_What?" She inquired, confused by the laugh. _

"_I was wondering if you would ever admit to loving him." Kitsune explained to her. "It's really ironic that it would only happen now…now that all seems lost…" _

"_It's not lost." Karasu snapped. "Kill me and go back. Protect Ran-chan and…everyone, like you've been doing until now. And take that bastard down the moment you get the chance. I love him, I love all of you enough to willingly lay down my life for yours. And you're in far a better position to take him down than I ever will." _

"_Yet you're much powerful than me…" _

"_In another life, that might have been enough. Right now, however, if it's a matter of you or me, we both know what must be done." _

_Kitsune just kept shaking his head, refusing to even truly consider doing what she asked of him. She may be willing to die, but he just wasn't willing to be the one who killed her; he may appear like a cold, unfeeling bastard to most who knew him, but there was nothing farther from the truth. There was only one woman he cared for more than Karasu, and not even for her would he do something like killing his friend…he would rather give up his own life… _

_Before they could continue their argument, a huge dark reiatsu descended upon them. They had no problem knowing what it was, what it meant: hollows, dozens of them, in the Material World, and all pretty powerful…It was a fight that would need them both to give their all if they had any hope of winning, or even just surviving. _

_Wordlessly, Karasu straightened up and then shot her right hand forward, in one instant, her sealed zanpakutou flew into it, in the next she was on her feet and holding her zanpakutou ready; by the time five seconds had passed Karasu was holding her considerably long zanpakutou in shikai with both hands, after having purified the first hollow. _

_The fight went on through the late hours of the night, to the point where the two shinigami could only pray that it would end soon, since their reiatsu wouldn't last forever. Neither had gotten truly serious wounds, but after holding shikai for so long, and the continuous use of shunpo and even some kidou was truly exhausting them. _

_Then, right as the numbers of hollows finally began decreasing, things got even more complicated, when the last handful of hollows turned out to be Hamen, imperfect arrancars. _

"_Kuso!" The two shinigami cursed as the enemies surrounded them. _

"_Karasu, can you open a senkaimon yet?" Kitsune inquired quietly. _

_While she wasn't a captain, she had sufficient authority in the Gotei 13, and Seireitei in general to be allowed to open a gate between the Material World and Soul Society on her own. _

"_No." She shook her head regretfully. "It's the same problem we've been having since the battle began: no senkaimon and no denreishinki. I realize they wanted to leave us stranded, but still…how where you supposed to survive this if I was already dead at this point?" _

"_Maybe I wasn't supposed to." Kitsune shrugged. _

_Karasu could only curse again under her breath. _

_It was something they had realized early in their fight, the fact that the hollows attacking them weren't normal, they had been experimented on; and it was likely they both knew exactly who was behind those experiments. They had also been able to deduce that the hollows were supposed to be at the same time a cover-up and an alibi, to explain Karasu's murder and whatever condition Kitsune ended up in if he had fought her. And yet…the hollows were just so powerful, it was unlikely either of them would have survived on their own. _

"_Well, you better survive this." She finally hissed to her comrade. "For Ran-chan, for…and for everyone else too!" _

"_The same goes for you too Karasu." He reminded her with fake calmness. _

_Each attempted an attack on the Hamen approaching them, only to find out they had no effect, even being imperfect arrancars, they were still much more powerful than a shinigami, even geniuses like them, using shikai. _

"_Guess there's no other choice then." The girl decided with a sigh, she assumed a position, holding her zanpakutou tightly and called. "Ban-Kai!" _

_Her already modified shihakusho changed further, the sleeves of her shitagi tightening around her arms, at the same time as dark-red gloves covered her hands, a long fire-red ribbon adorned her otherwise unchanged zanpakutou. _

"_Nice." Kitsune commented simply. _

_She directed a small smile to him, before both jumped back into the battle. _

_It took a while, until the moon disappeared from the sky and the whole place looked totally dark, but eventually the battle seemed to be over. _

"_There." Kitsune declared, resealing his zanpakutou. "We're done with that now and…" _

_He didn't say anything more, or if he did, Karasu didn't hear, for in that moment her attention had been called by the sudden appearance of one more arrancar; it was not an imperfect one, in fact, it had been good enough to hide its reiatsu from them, and had enough intelligence to wait until Kitsune at least was distracted to attempt an attack. _

_Karasu knew there was only one way Kitsune was going to survive that attack. _

_*I'm sorry…Tori-chan…* She whispered into her own soul. _

_There was no actual response from the zanpakutou, only a sense of resignation, of acceptance, the spirit knew already what her wielder was going to do, and there was nothing to do but follow that decision, her shinigami's decision, to the very end. _

_It took just a second. By the time Kitsune turned around sharply all he could do was catch in his arms the lethally wounded form of his best friend, while the arrancar who had tried to attack him was vanishing in a pillar of ruby-red fire. _

"_Karasu!" He cried out in absolute panic. _

"_Kit…sune…" She gasped, a hand on her bloody chest. "You're…ok…I'm glad…" _

_Her zanpakutou briefly went back to its sealed form, before vanishing completely; Kitsune had a very good idea what that meant, and it only made the pain in his own chest, which was emotional and not physical, all the worse. _

"_Hang on." He told her fervently, eyes fully open and filled with grief. "You'll be alright…" _

"_There's no t…no time…for lies…" She muttered at him. "Listen to me Kitsune. You have to protect Him…Them…Both. You…You must promise me…promise me you'll…you will anything…everything…that you will protect Them." _

"_I promise…" He said in a broken tone. "I will keep Them safe, and I'll destroy the bastard. For them, and for you…" _

"_Good." She nodded with a small smile. "Then it's all worth it…" _

_And those were her last words, as her ashen eyes closed for the last time… _

A tall, lanky-looking shinigami was walking through the empty streets of Seireitei in the hours before dawn, unable to sleep at all, until a moment when he realized he wasn't alone at all, as a figure stepped out of the shadows of a nearby building. He could only stare at her, all petite, raven-black hair and ashen eyes, looks that he knew so well, looks that he half-thought he was imagining, she couldn't be there, she couldn't be…alive.

"Hey Kitsune…" Her greeting erased all doubts. "It's me, Karasu, I'm back."

* * *

So... anyone saw that coming? Anyone wanna guess what's coming up next?

See ya next week!


	8. Chaos in Heaven

To those who wanted the Nakama to actually act as Nakama, as a team, here you go! And as promised, all roads have lead to Soukyoku Hill... time to get serious!

There's a bit of worldbuilding in this chapter, that doesn't really fit with Bleach canon, mostly because there was a lot we still didn't know at the time I wrote this (there are some things I think were never fully explained), still, if you'd like me to explain some things further let me know and I'll do my best.

Things get really insane in this chapter but I hope you'll enjoy it and I'll see you all next week! (Please don't forget to comment/review).

* * *

**Chapter 8. Chaos in Heaven **

It was nearly noon of the seventh day since a group of ryoka had managed to infiltrate Seireitei, when the first class criminal Kuchiki Rukia, dressed in a white yukata and wearing a reiatsu-suppressing collar as well as ropes on her wrists arrived to Soukyoku Hill escorted by four hooded guards in white garbs.

"The attendance is horrible." Sui-Feng, captain of the 2nd Squad and the Onmitsukidou, Yoruichi's successor in both accounts, commented disdainfully as she looked around her.

And it was that the only squads for which both high-ranking officers were present were the first, second, fourth, eight and twelfth; since the thirteenth didn't have a fukutaichou it wasn't strange that only Ukitake Juushirou was present (his third seats were conspicuously absent).

It was also in that very moment that Kuchiki Byakuya made his arrival; unknown to everyone but a select handful, until a few minutes before he'd been in battle against his own lieutenant, who after his loss against the Quincy had decided he would rather fight to save his childhood friend: Rukia. The redhead had lost the battle, and almost his life.

Unknown to everyone, members of the eleventh, after their own losses against the ryoka, had for some reason decided to help them; which is why they, as well as the heads of the seventh and ninth divisions were absent as well.

The authorities of the third, fifth and tenth squads were another matter entirely.

Like the ryoka had found out at some point during their stay in Yoruichi's hideout, the scream they'd heard right before leaving the 13th's barracks had come from Hinamori Momo, 5th Division fukutaichou, and the reason was that she'd just found the body of her murdered captain. The crime had been, of course, pinned on the ryoka, even when the humans had never actually seen the man in question, though they more than knew about him: Aizen Sousuke.

Since that day quite a lot of things had happened, some important, some not so much, but it had all come to that moment, with some of them fighting in various corners of Seireitei; while that particular group in Soukyoku Hill got ready for all hell to break loose.

"Kuchiki Rukia, do you have any last words?" The Soutaichou inquired solemnly.

Rukia took a deep breath, as if considering what to say, however, before a single word could leave her lips, someone seemed to interrupt her, if unwillingly.

"Je!" It was Omaeda, Sui-Feng's fukutaichou. "And to think some actually were worried that those ryoka would appear. I wonder if that's why so many are missing…" he chuckled. "I knew they were nothing but a bunch of pansies; nothing but humans, insects…"

Nanao bit her lip nervously, were the human teenagers really not going to get there in time?

Shunsui and Juushirou for their part couldn't help but tense, wondering if they would have to step in to try and save Rukia. After talking to the ryoka they'd been so sure they would be there, to the point that Juushirou had decided not to try anything himself. Would the humans fail? Had something happened that wouldn't allow them to get there? Or…

"Oh, but are you sure they aren't here?" A male voice unexpectedly asked in the same tone.

"How would you even know if they are or aren't here, when you have never seen, or sensed them before?" A second male voice asked in a drier tone.

It was until that second voice was heard that the shinigami realized where they were coming from: the four guards still surrounding Kuchiki Rukia.

"Humans you say? Insects you say?" This time it was a female voice who spoke. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"In any case." A fourth voice, male, said as he removed the hood, revealing a mop of bright-orange hair. "I'm really glad we're here. After all, I would really hate to disappoint everyone."

As those words ended the other three guards too removed their hoods, revealing a tall, broad shouldered, Hispanic looking young man with dark-brown hair and coffee-brown eyes; a tall, slim light-skinned man with short blue-black hair, dark-blue eyes and square glasses; a girl with long sunset colored hair pinned up and violet-gray eyes; and finally, the young man with the spiky bright-orange hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"Did you really think we wouldn't show up?" Uryuu asked as he pushed his glasses up. "We gave our word we would, failing on showing up wouldn't be too honorable now would it?"

"More than honor." Orihime added pointedly. "We promised Rukia-san we would come, that was a promise we weren't about to break."

"How…?" It was the question in every shinigami's mind, even if most were still too stunned to even say it out loud.

"Does it matter?" Chad asked in a deadpan tone. "The important thing is, we're here."

"The seventh day has come, and now you'll see who and what we are…" Ichigo reminded them before flashing his reiatsu briefly. "Nakama!"

"Nakama!" The others repeated in unison.

In what seemed like choreographed moves all four threw away the white robes they'd been wearing, showing the attires they still had on; in Orihime's and Chad's case it showed, without a shadow of doubt, that they were, in fact, human; then there were the shocking complements of Uryuu's Quincy attire and Ichigo's shinigami shihakusho. Never before had anyone present seen such a group, such a team, and it was unlikely they would again afterwards. Such a team, it was just too much of an anomaly…yet it was real.

"Orihime…" Uryuu called in a low voice.

"Right." Orihime, apparently having known beforehand what was expected of her, brought a hand to her temple and called. "Koten Zanshun!"

Two petals in one of her hairpins flashed before separating, turning into an orangey-colored disk that zoomed by Kuchiki Rukia, so close it should have cut her back open, instead all it did was destroy the ropes binding her hands together, as well as the red reiatsu-suppressing collar.

The moment the two pieces of the red plastic-like material touched the wooden platform they were all standing on, chaos began:

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Several shinigami demanded.

Those words, and other similar phrases, were repeated over and over again, each louder than the other, as if trying to be heard better, until, eventually, the Soutaichou had had enough.

All it took was the short but loud thud of his cane hitting the earth at his feet, along with the brief release of some reiatsu and everyone in Soukyoku Hill quieted at once; most of those present event flinched slightly at the reiatsu that was released, though none of the Nakama.

"Who are you?" Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, the over two-thousand year old Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 demanded to know.

"Shouldn't it be obvious?" Uryuu drawled sarcastically.

The others rolled their eyes, but Ichigo still stepped forward.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo." He announced in a strong, confident voice.

"You're the one who sent that message, a week ago." Isane commented, surprised.

"That is true." Ichigo nodded. "We promised we would be here, we promised we would get Rukia back. So, here we are."

"Do you honestly believe you stand a chance against the whole Gotei 13?" Sui-Feng snapped in a very derisive tone of voice. "You're but a lowly human, regardless of the clothes you may wear or the powers you may claim. All of you are nothing but humans, you don't stand a chance against us shinigami…"

"Wanna bet?" Ichigo half-smirked. "Have Zaraki Kenpachi, Kusajishi Yachiru, Abarai Renji, Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika told you about their losses against us yet?"

"Those are irrelevant." Sui-Feng insisted. "Among them all, only Zaraki is taichou-class, and even then, the worst example of one. The rest…I guess if you all ambushed them that might explain how you managed to win…"

Her derisive words were interrupted by Uryuu's sardonic laughter.

"All of us ambushing them, really? That's what you think?" He mocked the shinigami captain. "I alone fought and defeated Abarai Renji. We all fought battles one on one against each of the men and woman we mentioned, and we defeated them."

"If you're so powerful, why wait until now to appear?" Sasakibe asked, honestly confused. "Why not get her when she was being transferred, or during her time in the Senzaikyuu? Why wait until the last moment?"

Ichigo shrugged wordlessly, not willing to explain their actions.

"All that talk is useless." Yamamoto declared sternly. "You won't make it off this hill alive, boy. Neither you, nor any of your group will. Kuchiki Rukia has been sentenced to execution by Soukyoku, and the sentence will be carried out, if it's necessary for all of you to be executed as well, then that's what will happen."

"Sentenced to be executed?" Uryuu hissed. "Really? On what grounds? Sacrificing herself, her own power to save a human family about to be consumed by a hollow too powerful for her? If that's the kind of justice you shinigami have…then I'm really glad not to be one of you!"

"Who exactly are you, brat?" Omaeda demanded.

"Ishida Uryuu, son of Ishida Ryuuken, grandson of Ishida Souken, heir to the last Quincy Lineage." Uryuu introduced himself formally. "I'm also a Nakama, and it's because of that last part, that you'll actually pay. You've dared to act against one of us, you might as well have acted against us all. We won't let this go unpunished!"

"Don't talk to me about punishment, boy." Yamamoto ordered authoritatively. "You're centuries too young to know what you're talking about!"

At that Yamamoto flared his reiatsu much stronger than he'd before, enough that all the lieutenants in Soukyoku Hill began trembling, some even fell on their knees panting, even half of the captains began shivering, while the rest at least winced. It was such a display of power…none were left untouched. Yet the Nakama remained standing, and at a silent signal all four flared their own reiatsu, strongly enough to keep Yamamoto's own at a distance.

The moment the Nakama's reiatsu flared Rukia couldn't help but drop to her knees; such power, high enough to be visible as a mix of dark-blue, light blue, orange and brown-red auras, just a few minutes after being released from the reiatsu-suppressing collar, after having spent so long wearing it, and imprisoned in a cell made entirely out of Sekkiseki stone…

"Rukia…" Ichigo whispered, turning to look at her with an indiscernible expression. "Stand Rukia. Get on your feet."

The obsidian haired girl in the white yukata wanted to answer him, to tell him she couldn't, that she could hardly even breath, but no word could leave her lips…

"You can do it Rukia." Orihime assured her softly. "You can stand up. Feel the power, accept it, let it wash over you. You are Nakama, you are one of us. Our reiatsu will never hurt you, because we never would."

It was then that the white-clad girl realized something: Ichigo and Uryuu were much more powerful than Chad and Orihime, and yet the two humans didn't seem to be affected by the weight of it, theirs even seemed to add to it, forming a mix of power such that it almost seemed to be too much power for just four 'humans' to have.

She also realized something else: the reiatsu wasn't hurting any of them, it actually seemed to be a part of them all. It didn't hurt them because they were all Nakama…but then so was she.

With that Rukia got slowly on her feet, still trembling at first, until she suddenly pushed herself straight, and as she did, it was like something inside her snapped, and then the reiatsu was in her, a part of her, and her own amethyst colored aura joined the mix.

And then, came the icing on the cake, as the obsidian-haired girl unexpectedly shot her hand high up and called in as strong a voice as she could.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

No one expected anything to happen; actually most shinigami thought she had to be insane, calling for her shikai when she didn't even have a zanpakutou in hand, and when she should still be so weak. And yet…

With a flash of amethyst light, and amidst a small storm of snow, a purely-white katana suddenly appeared in the young shinigami's raised hand, the long white ribbon that hung from the hilt twirling gracefully around her body.

None of the shinigami present could believe it: an unseated, supposedly powerless shinigami, who had spent the last week inside the Senzaikyuu, who had been wearing a suppression collar since her return to Soul Society a week before that, and who supposedly had surrendered all her powers at least ten weeks before even that…had just done something that very few were capable of, displayed a talent only a handful of the most powerful shinigami were known to be able of: she'd summoned her zanpakutou.

Realizing he was achieving nothing but make his own subordinates uncomfortable, the old Soutaichou eventually stopped flaring up his reiatsu, obtaining a similar response from the humans standing on the platform.

"What are you all standing there for?" Sui-Feng's harsh command broke the tense stand-off. "Fukutaichou, capture those ryoka!"

That was all that was needed, as immediately Isane, Nanao, Nemu, Omaeda and Sasakibe moved to do as they'd been instructed.

"Chad, Orihime." Ichigo called calmly. "Can you handle it?"

"Sure!" Orihime nodded enthusiastically.

"No problem Ichigo." Chad assured him.

In an instant the two humans jumped off the platform and went straight at the group of lieutenants that had been sent after them.

Nanao, Isane and Sasakibe were knocked out cold in a matter of seconds. Chad actually took the last two of them himself, using the barest amount of force possible on the tall, thin, silver-haired lieutenant of the 4th Squad, not wanting to hurt her unnecessarily.

The battle between Orihime and Ise Nanao, on the other hand, lasted nearly a full minute, though in the end all the female ryoka needed were her abilities in martial arts to block the lieutenant's several kidou attacks before taking advantage of an opening to flip over the shinigami and hit her in the back of the neck, the shinigami was knocked out.

Chad was then forced to go on the defensive against Omaeda, as the time he took taking out the other two had given the last male lieutenant the chance to release his own shikai.

Orihime turned around as she heard the last of the lieutenants: Kurotsuchi Nemu, release her own shikai, which turned her zanpakutou into a three-lashed whip, with which she then tried to attack Chad from behind.

"Santen Kesshun!" The sunset-haired girl called without even thinking about it.

Nemu, and the rest of the shinigami, seemed honestly surprised at the triangular shield that suddenly appeared, blocking the lieutenant's zanpakutou.

"I'm your opponent!" Orihime informed the lieutenant, raising her hands to her temples and attacking in a second. "Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

"El Brazo Derecho del Gigante." Chad called in a calm voice, summoning his armor.

And so the two battles began.

"What kind of powers are those?" Kyouraku couldn't help but ask, intrigued by them.

"How can humans even have powers?" Sui-Feng demanded at the same time.

"Those are the manifestations of their souls." Ichigo explained it as it had been explained to them by Ryuuken. "Their will to protect, to save, to help, and even to attack…"

"It's all stupid." Sui-Feng insisted. "There's no way a couple of humans can be more powerful than lieutenant-level shinigami!"

"And yet that's exactly what you're seeing, isn't it?" Uryuu half-taunted her with a smirk.

The battles were over a handful of minutes later. Omaeda might have been big, and in a sense strong as well, but he had nothing on Chad and his armored right arm. Orihime had a bit more trouble with the very-agile and fast Nemu, but in the end managed to win as well.

"Chad, can you get them all together?" Orihime asked to her nakama as soon as she knocked out her opponent.

Chad nodded and began doing as she asked, already guessing what she was planning. He was proven right when, the moment all the unconscious shinigami were together Orihime summoned her twin-shield and enveloped them with it, forming a prison, another of her more unorthodox uses of her restoration-shield.

"Impossible…" Sui-Feng growled.

However, before she had a chance to go against the ryoka herself, an orange and purple blur went right by Soukyoku Hill, took a hold of her, and then vanished down the opposite side.

"What was that?" Rukia asked, as surprised as every other shinigami.

"Yoruichi." Ichigo answered simply, low enough so only she heard.

"Yoruichi?" Rukia repeated, baffled. "As in, Shihouin Yoruichi? The heiress of one of Seireitei's most prestigious clan?"

"Yes." Ichigo answered with a smirk. "Exactly that Yoruichi. While she isn't precisely Nakama, she insisted on coming with us and we didn't see the problem with in. In any case, thanks to her we have one opponent less."

"Insolent humans!" Mayuri raved at them. "You've dared defy us shinigami. You may have managed to defeat that stupid girl that is my fukutaichou and daughter, but I'll make sure her defeat won't be complete…"

For a moment the Nakama thought the shinigami was honestly angry at his 'daughter's' defeat and wanted revenge for that, until his actions proved to them just how insane he actually was.

The captain pushed a button on some strange device he had gotten from the sleeve of his own shihakusho and then…an explosion. The force of it was such that Soukyoku Hill shook slightly, and the only reason they weren't all affected by it was because it had actually happened inside Orihime's shield.

A quick mental command was enough to allow the smoke out, and when it cleared the violet-gray eyed girl, and everyone else around her, could finally see what had happened: it was the worst thing they could have ever imagined possible…

"Oh Spirits!" Rukia gasped in absolute shock.

"That bastard…" Uryuu hissed, his reiatsu trembling along with his body in fury.

"That explosive…was in his own fukutaichou." Chad added, eyes wide in surprise and horror.

"And he dared call her his daughter…" Ichigo added, just as horrified as Chad, and as furious as Uryuu. "How dare he…"

"Monster…" Rukia added in a sob. "I always heard others saying he was a monster, but I just never imagined…something like this…"

"Orihime…" Uryuu whispered suddenly.

And it was that from all the Nakama, Inoue Orihime was the only one who hadn't yet said a word, instead she remained quiet, her eyes wide open in her own terror, tears falling down her face nonstop, and her hands against her mouth, as if trying to keep herself from screaming.

"Orihime!" Ichigo and Chad called at the same time.

They knew how sensitive she was, even without being empathic like Karin, she cared so much for everyone…that and the fact that she was a pacifist were the main reasons why she had so much trouble fighting, even though she was good at martial arts and had such great abilities. In that moment, what she was seeing, it was almost enough to make her break down…

"No…" She whispered eventually, pulling her hands from her mouth. "Nononononono…." She shook her head vehemently in denial. "This wasn't supposed to happen! We never meant for something like this to happen. No one was supposed to get hurt!"

The rest of the shinigami couldn't help but be surprised at her words. There they were, a bunch of humans defying Seireitei, its laws and shinigami, all to protect a criminal condemned to execution; and they didn't want anyone to get hurt?

"Nanao!" Shunsui yelled, finally moving past his shock.

And it was that, still inside the shield, his lieutenant as well as Sasakibe were the most hurt, besides Nemu who seemed to have been burnt totally; all three were probably just seconds away from death; even Omaeda wasn't in a much better condition, Isane being the one who had been hurt the less, and even she had an arm and part of her face burnt.

"She is right." Ichigo muttered, loud enough for the shinigami to hear. "This isn't how things were supposed to be. We were only supposed to save Rukia. We've said it before, Seireitei isn't our enemy, shinigami aren't our enemies. This…" he signaled to the disaster. "This is just stupid loss of life. It shouldn't have happened…"

"No it shouldn't have…" Orihime muttered suddenly. "I won't let it be…"

It was shocking, how her expression suddenly changed from absolute despair to deep determination, even as she kept crying, her aura materialized around her, bright and strong as she held her hands to her hairpins and called in her strongest voice yet:

"I won't let it!" she closed her eyes and called her kotodama. "Shun'ou, Ayame! Souten Kisshun! Nibankyuu! I reject!"

It may have been the first time she ever called a second level of that particular power, but at the same time, it was like a part of her had already known about it, perhaps since forever, and had only been waiting for the right time to use it.

The effects of the shield were obvious almost immediately, and caused everyone who witnessed them to stare and gasp in shock. Even the Nakama. While the other humans had seen her heal before, there had even been times when she'd undone very serious injuries, like the ones Ichigo had gotten after defeating the Menos a few weeks before. Still, they could sense there was something different in what she was doing in that moment, something greater.

"She's not rejecting the wounds, but the event, the explosion itself." Uryuu deduced eventually. "That's what's different."

"What makes you say that?" Ichigo asked, truly interested.

"The lieutenant that exploded, she's gotta be dead already, and at least two others are very close to the same." Uryuu commented. "No one can undo death, not even Orihime, not really. If she were rejecting the wounds, that still wouldn't bring that particular shinigami back, and there's no way of knowing if it would be enough for the others. And yet…"

"And yet, as she's rejecting the event, it's like the explosion never happened." Rukia finished for him in understanding. "If there was never an explosion, they were never hurt."

"Exactly." Uryuu nodded.

"But if she can do something like this then…" Ichigo didn't have words to express himself.

And yet the other two understood. If Orihime was powerful enough to undo something like that, to reject an event that had caused death and in doing so erase the death itself…what were the limits to her powers?

Finally, she was done, something that was made obvious as the orange-golden shield dissolved into reishi particles, as the two Rikka responsible for it returned to her hairpins.

Kurotsuchi Nemu herself was the first to open her eyes, jade-green and wide in amazement at the fact that she was, in fact alive; even when the explosion had been completely undone, she could still remember it happening. After her, the other lieutenants began stirring as well, though not all woke up fully, all completely unscathed.

"It worked…" Orihime mumbled, eyes half-closed. "I'm glad…"

And then she blacked out.

Chad managed to move just fast enough to catch her before she hit the ground, and after making sure the other lieutenants were, even if conscious, still out of it and therefore wouldn't attack, the gentle giant turned his back on them and carried his unconscious nakama to the wooden platform where the other three still stood.

"Well, well, well." Mayuri called with a cackle of laughter. "This is indeed interesting. I really hope the Soutaichou will allow me to have you all as test-subjects, but especially that girl. I'm going to have so much experimenting on her."

"As if we would ever let you lay a single finger on her, bastard." Uryuu hissed as he prepared himself for a fight.

"Hm…" Mayuri eyed him up and down critically and then snorted. "You're a Quincy, and I'm not really interested in Quincy anymore. I finished the experiments on that race several years ago. So many test-subjects with nothing new to offer…" he shook his head derisively. "Even the last one, that foolish old man, he was supposed to be a Master Quincy, and yet he didn't show any special abilities. Boring. All he seemed to do was call a name…his grandson, or his student, or something like that…"

"Master Quincy…grandson…student…test subject?!" Uryuu repeated, his reiatsu rising along with his anger as he understood the dark truth. "Was his name Ishida Souken…?"

Chad, Ichigo and Rukia all gasped at the same time as they all realized the conclusion Uryuu seemed to be getting to. It was as, if not even more horrifying, than what that same bastard of a man had done to his own pseudo-daughter.

"Maybe." Mayuri shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Like I said, I'm not interested in Quincy anymore…"

"Oh, I'll be sure to make you interested." Uryuu practically snarled as he called on his bow. "Ichigo, this bastard's mine."

"As you wish Uryuu." Ichigo nodded solemnly, understanding his feelings.

"On the pride of the Quincy, but mainly, on the pride of the Ishida Family, I will defeat you!" Uryuu announced before firing his first set of arrows, at least a dozen in a second. "You just made a huge mistake, you made this personal…"

The evil shinigami did his best to evade the arrows, though nearly half a dozen nicked him, and one actually went through his forearm.

"Well," He commented as he unsheathed his zanpakutou. "This might be interesting, after all."

**xXx**

In another part of Seireitei, Karin and Yuzu were running as fast as they could, following Karin's empathic sense.

There was a reason why they hadn't followed the others to Soukyoku Hill, to help in stopping Rukia's execution directly earlier; Karin had sensed that something else was going on, and it involved some particular people dear to her. So in the last moment she'd informed her brother she would be going elsewhere; Ichigo knew better than to question his sister, and Yuzu had decided to go with her.

They were just getting actually close to a couple of reiatsu signatures, belonging to two powerful shinigami, they were just around the corner…when Karin stopped dead.

"Karin-nee?" Yuzu asked, confused about the sudden stop.

"Something's happened…" Karin whispered, closing her fist in front of her chest, almost holding herself in a phantom pain. "Something awful has happened…and it's still happening." Her voice grew hoarse suddenly. "The dragon is crying his fury…" she closed her tightly before opening them again. "Oh Spirits! Toushirou-kun!" She spun around, facing the a totally different direction from before. "Come on Yuzu!"

"But…" Yuzu was very confused even as she went back to running. "But I thought we were following that other trail."

"I know at least one of the two shinigami in that direction." Karin informed her twin. "It's Rangiku-san. The one with her isn't Toushirou-kun, I don't know who it is exactly, just that it isn't him. And I can practically hear the dragon yell…we need to hurry Yuzu!"

Yuzu still couldn't understand even half of what her sister was saying; but she was used already at both of her siblings saying only half of what they were thinking, having their minds so full of things she either didn't understand or just didn't know enough of. Still, she was loyal to them, and loyal to the Nakama, which means that she would follow them, wait for them to fully explain things, and then do her best to help.

It was a good thing that all of them had taken the three days in Yoruichi's hideout to train as best they could, in particular high-speed techniques. The twins in particular were able to use shunpo: and while Karin was able to move a bit faster and cover more distance with each flash-step, Yuzu was better at controlling her own reiatsu, which in turn allowed her to use shunpo more. All in all they were both pretty good at it.

And just like that they rushed, a particular building surrounded by yet another sekkiseki wall standing imposing in the distance.

**xXx**

In Soukyoku Hill Uryuu was standing a couple of feet away from a fallen Mayuri, his zanpakutou broken at his side since he'd failed to call on his bankai. The young Quincy had just notched a seele schneider on his bow and prepared to use it to execute the monstrous shinigami who had made his own subordinate and pseudo-daughter explode, but more than that, who had dared use the most important man in Uryuu's life, his grandfather and first sensei, as a test subject…it was clear it was also Kurotsuchi Mayuri's fault Ishida Souken had perished in the first place.

In the wooden platform Rukia extended a hand, she wanted to stop Uryuu, but Ichigo stopped her with a hand on her own arm.

"Ichigo…" She mumbled, confused. "You have to stop him. If it goes on like this, Uryuu will end up killing Kurotsuchi?"

"Would that be so wrong?" Ichigo wanted to know.

That reply actually froze Rukia in shock.

"All Uryuu wants is to avenge his sensei's death." Ichigo explained to her. "It's quite obvious that that shinigami was behind it. Should Uryuu not be allowed to claim retribution?" He shook his head. "You know that under normal circumstances I would have stopped him myself already, physically if necessary. But in this case…I cannot say I don't understand him."

"Ichigo…" Rukia really didn't know what to say to that.

"You didn't see what I did to the man I fought a few days ago, Kenpachi." Ichigo said in a low voice. "I didn't kill him, and I admit he was very powerful, but I had no mercy on him, even when all he had done was be in my way. I don't know what I would do if anyone were to hurt you, or my sisters, or any of the Nakama. I probably would do everything in my power to make them pay. So, on that front, I understand why Uryuu is acting that way…"

Rukia didn't say a single word, she didn't like it, but then she too understood. She too wondered what she would do if her nakama were to be hurt…nakama…it was still such a novel concept to her. And still, she could feel it inside, the friendship, the loyalty, the bonds she had to each and every one of them…She, she most definitely understood what Uryuu was feeling in that moment.

The Quincy in question had just drawn his bow and was about to fire the last shot when someone interrupted him, a very unexpected someone.

"Please…don't…"

Uryuu was so surprised he actually took his eyes away from his enemy. His surprise only became greater when he discovered that the one to say those words was none other than the recently-pretty-much-dead Kurotsuchi Nemu.

"Please, don't kill him." She insisted in a quiet, almost pleading voice.

"Why not?" Uryuu demanded, turning back to the fallen captain. "After what he did to sensei, after what he did to you…"

"He's my father…"

Uryuu released the arrow…and it landed an inch beside Mayuri's head, enough to cause him a thin cut and a reiatsu-burn, but not much more.

Those words, they had touched something inside Uryuu, the reminder that, regardless of how monstrous, how terrible that shinigami was, there was still someone that held him dear…even if he didn't deserve that affection.

With no further explanation Uryuu dismissed his bow and then used hirenkyaku to get back to the wooden platform with his nakama.

The shinigami could only watch in silence, honestly surprised by the sudden show of mercy on the Quincy's part, it was confusing and humbling at the same time.

"Why did he change his mind?" Nanao asked in a low tone.

Neither of them had heard what was said in regards of why exactly Uryuu had been so furious in the first place, but the change in his attitude was still radical enough to be noticed.

"I don't know Nanao-chan…" Shunsui whispered, he hadn't left her side since she had woken up after the quasi-tragedy. "I honestly don't know…"

Right behind them Juushirou stood, keeping an eye on Yamamoto; he knew that no matter how powerful each ryoka had proven to be thus far, there was just no way they could be a match for the Captain-Commander, and if he were to attack at some point…the 13th Division taichou honestly couldn't say who he would help. His superior, his mentor, his almost-father, or the group of human invaders trying to protect a girl that was also very dear to his heart?

Omaeda was still unconscious, while Sasakibe was standing behind Yamamoto, watching the events in silence, still shocked by everything going on. Unohana Retsu and Kotetsu Isane had left Soukyoku Hill at some point during the latest fight, for reasons only they knew.

It seemed like Rukia wanted to ask Uryuu if he was alright, but something in his eyes told her it wouldn't be a good idea, so she remained silent. Instead she turned to Ichigo and was about to ask him what they were going to do next: fight the remaining captains or try and run away, when suddenly she sensed a fast-approaching reiatsu. She opened her mouth to warn Ichigo, but there was no time, or need…

In a fraction a second Ichigo had spun around, unsheathed his zanpakutou and was holding it in a guarding position in front of him, blocking another blade.

"I can see you, Kuchiki Byakuya." He informed his attacker calmly.

Before Byakuya could say anything Ichigo held his sealed zanpakutou tighter in one hand and made an upwards slash with it:

"Pierce the skies to reach True Heaven, Zangetsu!" He called mid-slash.

At the same time as his zanpakutou entered shikai a blue-crescent was released from it, it wasn't as strong as his usual attacks, but still enough to push Byakuya back several feet.

"Uryuu, please look after the others." Ichigo called seriously. "I will handle this fight."

Uryuu didn't comment on it, simply nodded, he knew how personal the fight was for Ichigo, after the man had taken Rukia away for him; and not only that, the man, even being Rukia's brother, had still allowed her to be imprisoned, was going to allow her to executed. Kuchiki Byakuya simply went against everything Ichigo stood for: as a warrior, as an older brother, and even as just a man.

And so, a new battle commenced.

"Why…" Byakuya demanded to know. "Why do you, so persistently, try to save Rukia?"

"I'm the one who should be asking questions." Ichigo snapped back at him. "Aren't you Rukia's older brother? Why aren't you trying to save her?!"

"What a pointless question." Byakuya dismissed his righteous anger easily. "Even if I tell you the answer, you wouldn't be able to understand. It's useless to continue this empty dialogue."

"Empty dialogue?" Ichigo repeated, really angry at the older shinigami. "Are you listening to yourself? Do you even know why older brothers are born first? It's so they can get strong enough to protect the younger ones! Older siblings are supposed to be there to guide and protect the younger ones, always!"

"Rukia wasn't born my sister…" Byakuya informed the ryoka boy dispassionately.

"It doesn't matter how she came to be your sister!" Ichigo hissed. "The fact is that she is, indeed, your younger sister. So you should be protecting her!"

Byakuya ignored Ichigo's heartfelt words and instead kept attacking, only to be blocked by Ichigo at every move.

"It looks like there is only one way to end this." Byakuya decided eventually. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I will kill you; then with my own hands I will carry out Rukia's execution."

Rukia's breath actually caught in her throat as she heard that, how could anyone, especially her own family, hate her that much?

Byakuya couldn't have made a worse statement, or one that would anger Ichigo more either. Rukia's pained gasp-sob only sealed the deal. The young orange-haired shinigami's reiatsu shot up exponentially and a bright-blue aura enveloped him as he adopted a more serious stance and expression than before…

"No, that's not going to happen." He announced vehemently. "I came here to make sure of that. I will defeat you Kuchiki Byakuya. I will save Rukia!"

Byakuya shook his head dismissively but still called on his own shikai.

That marked the true beginning of their duel.

The fight went on for a while, where Ichigo proved to be fast enough in shunpo to evade all the 'sakura petal-blades' that formed Byakuya's shikai; and even when he couldn't dodge them, he was fast enough to block them all with Zangetsu or simply unleashed a Getsuga Tenshou to get rid of them.

Still, Ichigo knew that keeping up with Byakuya wouldn't give him victory. He needed to prove to be superior. And there was only one thing he could think of to do that:

*Zangetsu-ossan…I need your help.* He called into his inner world.

In the city filled by tall skyscrapers the zanpakutou spirit smiled. It felt good when his wielder showed so much respect for him. They had already shown Zaraki Kenpachi how stupid he was being by refusing to listen and work with his zanpakutou; now it was time to bring yet another opponent down, it was time for Zangetsu to help his wielder, another part of his soul, protect what he held dear.

*Very well Ichigo.* Zangetsu agreed instantly. *You know what you have to do. Give me your power and I'll give you mine.*

*With this equivalent exchange we'll synch.* Ichigo added. *In the end, you and I are part of the same soul, right?*

*Right Ichigo.* Zangetsu nodded wholeheartedly. *Let's do this.*

*Here we go.* Ichigo raised his head again right then and called. "Zangetsu!"

And while there was no actual change in him, or in his zanpakutou, the aura enveloping him seemed to almost solidify, at the same time as it changed to a darker blue.

Byakuya staggered briefly at the improvement the shinigami daiko had shown unexpectedly, it was such that for an instant he'd thought the boy was calling on bankai. But there was just no way, the zanpakutou hadn't changed in the slightest, even if the reiatsu had become stronger and higher; besides, as far as the noble was concerned, there was just no way a human boy with immature shinigami powers could develop a bankai, he was centuries too young to even attempt such heights of power.

In any case, Byakuya decided, the whole situation gave him the perfect excuse to put the ryoka in his place once and for all; the noble planned to show the orange-haired boy just how great the distance between the power each of them had was, why Ichigo could never hope to defeat one like him…

"Ban…kai…"

Ichigo's eyes widened as Byakuya seemed to let his zanpakutou fall to the ground, only to have it disappear, before a thousand huge swords appeared in two rows behind the shinigami taichou, only visible for an instant before breaking down into hundreds of thousands of petal-looking blades. And not only were they more, they were also much faster, making it impossible for Ichigo to dodge all of them, leaving him down, panting and bleeding from many small gashes in his whole body.

"Ichigo!" Rukia called out in a panic.

Only Uryuu's hand on her shoulder stopped her from attempting a desperate attack against her own brother.

Chad, for his part, he wanted nothing more than to help Ichigo, but he still had to guard Orihime, as well as the other two's backs, since they seemed to be distracted by the battle taking place; it wouldn't be good if some other shinigami, in particular one of the captains, found them with their guard down and attacked them for behind.

"It's impossible to dodge Senbonzakura's attack using such a slow and weak technique." Byakuya declared emotionlessly.

"Damn it…" Ichigo cursed under his breath as he fought to get back on his feet.

*Aibou!* Shiro began calling from his inner world. *Take it easy. I can help you regenerate, but it won't do any good if you get even more wounds before I can heal the first ones!*

*I'm sorry Shiro…* Ichigo whispered back sadly. *As much as I appreciate you wanting to help. I really don't think we have the time.*

Shiro grumbled inside the teen's Inner World, he hated it, but he knew his 'twin' was right, and that only made him even more nervous. Ichigo's power, even when synced with Zangetsu, just wasn't enough to take on Byakuya while in bankai. What were they going to do then? It's not like Ichigo would ever give up, that was simply not an option, but what then?

"Seems like there's no other choice then…" Ichigo muttered under his breath.

He closed his eyes briefly, focusing on his own reiatsu. During his brief trip to his Inner World while fighting Kenpachi, Zangetsu had explained to him how their synchronization worked: the fact was that Ichigo had a determinate amount of reiatsu, and under normal circumstances he passed it in relatively small quantities for Zangetsu to transform into the needed attack. When they got in synch Ichigo stopped controlling the amount of reiatsu Zangetsu used, instead putting it all at the zanpakutou's disposal; which implied a great amount of trust, something not easily achieved. Though, still, not all control was given, Ichigo retained absolute control over a very small percentage of his reiatsu, enough that even if Zangetsu were to end up spending every single drop of reiatsu Ichigo had put at his disposal, the boy still wouldn't die, he would collapse, drained, but he would still have the barest amount of power needed to remain alive.

In that moment, Ichigo let go of even that small amount of reiatsu. He did something no shinigami in history had been known to do before, he put his whole reiatsu, his whole existence, at his own zanpakutou's disposal…

*Are you insane Aibou?!* Shiro practically screamed the moment he realized the change. *Undo that! Retake control! Do you know what'll happen to us all if you don't keep at least a small amount of reiatsu at all times?! We could die! All of us!* he turned to the zanpakutou spirit. *Ossan, tell him that what he's doing is stupid!*

There was no response from the black-haired, midnight-blue eyed, ragged-looking zanpakutou spirit, instead, he just stood in the same place, a solemn expression on his face.

*I'm sorry, so very sorry, Shiro-nii-san…* Ichigo whispered mournfully. *But this is something I have to do.*

Shiro knew then how serious his 'twin' was being, he only called him 'brother' in such times. That didn't lessen the panic the hollow-version of Ichigo was feeling, though.

*I am really, really sorry Nii-san.* Ichigo repeated, his eyes shadowed in pain. *If this does end up killing us…I really hope you'll forgive me in the next life.*

With that Ichigo raised his zanpakutou, letting loose the most powerful Getsuga Tenshou yet.

Inside the Inner World Shiro sighed in distress, he'd known there would be no way of changing Ichigo's mind, yet he just had to try. That boy was being so idiotic: what good would he be to anyone if he died? If they all died there and then?

*Ossan, you gotta do something, please.* Shiro stressed, turning once again to Zangetsu. *Something, anything, you cannot let Aibou die!*

*Is it Ichigo that you don't want me to let die, or yourself?* Zangetsu inquired, curious.

*What kind of question is that?* Shiro demanded. *We're part of the same whole, of the same soul. If he dies, I die…in fact, if he dies, we all die. So why aren't you stopping him already?!*

*I am just Ichigo's power.* Zangetsu explained simply. *It is not my place to decide when he should fight and when he shouldn't, or how much he should risk himself when fighting.*

*Can't you at least stop him from actively trying to kill himself?* Shiro insisted.

*Maybe.* Zangetsu answered vaguely. *But if I break the synchronization we have right now his strength will plummet and his opponent might take the chance to kill him. What then will be the good of having done such a thing?*

Shiro had no answer to that, all he could do was go back to watching the battle through Ichigo's eyes, wishing fervently there was something that could be done. Even trying to take his aibou's place like he did at times when they were fighting against some gang or another wouldn't be a good idea in that moment; he would confuse and hurt Ichigo, and it might not even work because of the synchronization his 'twin' had with Zangetsu.

The minutes passed one by one, and Ichigo could feel his energies draining as he kept fighting, giving all he had to defeat Byakuya, and yet nothing he did seemed to be enough. Even with the synchronization, even offering all his reiatsu, nothing seemed to be enough to defeat Byakuya when he was in bankai.

"Am I going to die here?" Ichigo asked quietly to no one in particular.

*Aibou!* Shiro shouted, still panicked.

Ichigo could only sigh, he knew what he was doing was hurting his partners, both of them, he really wished there was another way, that even if he had to pay such a price in the end, that he wouldn't end up killing them as well…

*Don't be stupid Aibou!* Shiro practically snarled. *If you go, we go, that's how it works! We're one and the same, after all.*

*I know, and I really am sorry.* Ichigo admitted. *If there were another way…but I cannot let him win, I have to protect Rukia, I have to protect all my nakama…*

*Is that what you really want Ichigo?* Zangetsu asked suddenly.

*Yes.* Ichigo answered immediately, no hesitation on his part.

*Very well then.* Zangetsu nodded solemnly. *Let me tell you something. In ancient times, shinigami would only achieve the level known as bankai after centuries of communion with their zanpakutou. The shinigami and the zanpakutou had to get to know each other, to fully trust each other, to be able to achieve that kind of power together. It's why so few people had it, not many believed the kind of time and dedication achieving bankai took was worth it. Then the wars came, and they made having bankai a necessity, and some zanpakutou spirits began allowing trials to take place, so their shinigami could prove their worth and achieve bankai. A time came when shinigami began believing that was the normal way of achieving bankai, and no one tried again to truly connect with their zanpakutou spirits. Even today, there are many that only use Jinzen when trying to get something from the spirits, leaving them pretty much locked inside the Inner Worlds the rest of the time. You are different Ichigo, you are the first shinigami in thousands of years who truly got to know the spirit of his zanpakutou; you didn't demand that I grant you power, instead you asked for it when you truly needed it, and even now, you do not demand bankai…*

*What Yoruichi said I would have to do to achieve bankai, I cannot do it ossan.* Ichigo admitted, half-ashamed, half-proud.

*I know, and for that, I thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo.* Zangetsu declared proudly. *We've known each other for eight years, even if you have only known my name for a few weeks. We are Aibou, and I know you understand the truth, and the importance of those words. Now go, show them the kind of power a shinigami can achieve when in full synch with his zanpakutou. Show them my true power…*

It was as if time had stopped at some point, and then everything began moving again, as Ichigo's eyes cleared he could suddenly see what looked like a solid wall made out of sakura-like blades that was going his way.

*Call my true name now, Ichigo!* Zangetsu ordered strongly.

The young shinigami didn't stop to consider, simply placing his whole trust in Zangetsu once more and calling on the power that was suddenly being offered:

"BAN…KAI!"


	9. The Return

So many people reading this fic... even if not all leave reviews, thank you! Thank you so much! I hope you'll continue to enjoy this fic, and all my other works.

On that front, while I deeply enjoy writing fics, I still have to make a living. I'd be really happy if some of you might be interested in purchasing my original works. I am a writer and my original novels are available on both Amazon and B&N, if anyone would be interested on buying them, you can find them in both paperback and digital. I have three novels published, though the first one is only available in Spanish, as that's my first language and I've yet to translate it. The other two are available in both Spanish and English. "Xochiyao" is a relatively short novel (short for me, at least), about coming of age, finding your place in the world, what you want to do with your life; with some magic, friendship, romance, and a background of the prehispanic cultures that exist in Mexico (my country). "Silver Quetzal" is a romance/fantasy novel that borrows from a well-known prehispanic myth, that of Quetzalcoatl, the Warrior-King/Priest-God that ruled over an empire in ancient times and then one day disappeared, though it's been prophecized that he that he'll return one day. What if he did? And what if he wasn't the only one? His soulmate is to return first, to prepare the way, but the very same individual who tried so hard to destroy them both a thousand years ago, is ready to do so again... Love is the greatest force in the universe, it exists beyond time and time, life and death, it's forever...

Having said that, on with this fic and this week's chapter! See ya next Friday!

* * *

**Chapter 9. The Return**

Whatever Unohana Retsu and Kotetsu Isane might have been expecting when they reached the deepest room in the Chamber of 46, it was certainly not the sight that met their eyes: that of a young captain laying on a puddle of melted ice mixed with his own blood; he was laying on his back and beside him, a girl with straight chestnut-hair to her shoulders in two low pigtails dressed in black was on her knees, the green glow on her hands showing that she was using healing kidou to treat his grievous wounds.

"Oh Spirits…" Isane gasped as she processed the scene before him.

There was just so much blood…even diluted as it might be in the cold water that laid in puddles on the wooden floors. It was a miracle that Hitsugaya Toushirou hadn't died already. And something told the two that if it depended on the young girl by his side, not only he wouldn't die, but he would make a full recovery.

"You seem so talented in the healing arts, yet I don't remember you being part of my squad, young one." Unohana commented as he stepped closer to the girl.

Kurosaki Yuzu, for that was who was attending to the badly wounded Toushirou, didn't react to the approach of the two shinigami except to take a quick look at them, enough to assess their ranks thanks to the white haori the black-haired woman was wearing and the band around the silver-haired one's arm; they were a captain and her lieutenant, most likely of the 4th division since the shorter woman made allusion to healers being under her command… Hanatarou had told her that was the 4th Squad's domain.

"That's because I'm not a part of your squad, or a shinigami for that matter, taichou-san." Yuzu replied softly, easily.

"A ryoka?!" Isane cried out, in a mix of surprise and confusion.

Yet again Yuzu didn't react, she continued focusing on healing. While Hanatarou hadn't had time to teach her too much about healing kidou, she was still a prodigy and the bare basics were enough for her, all she had to do was follow her instincts to make something go faster or be stronger when she thought it might help, she had very good instincts. Almost as if she'd done all this some time before…

"Why would a ryoka help a shinigami captain?" Isane wanted to know. "I thought you saw us as your enemies?"

"My name is Kurosaki Yuzu." The girl introduced herself politely. "You're right in saying I'm one of the ryoka, but wrong in believing we see shinigami as our enemies. This was never about an enmity, it was just about protecting nakama; you took Rukia-chan, you were going to hurt her, so we had to save her."

Unohana didn't comment, content to listen and analyze what was being said by the gentle girl. The events that had taken place at Soukyoku Hill earlier and, she supposed were still taking place, had showed her things weren't always as they seemed. The young girl sitting there was so sweet and caring, it was obvious she wasn't the kind to go against anyone with intention to hurt. And she was treating Hitsugaya…

"Karin-nee and I found him like this a little while ago." Yuzu explained. "He was nearly dead, we barely got here in time."

Yuzu could barely hold back her shudder and keep her focus as she remembered the moment she and her twin had arrived to that place.

_The twins stopped their shunpo in the middle of a stone courtyard, with rather narrow walkway that lead to what looked like a circular room. _

"_Where are we?" Yuzu asked, confused at her surroundings. _

"_The Central 46…I think." Karin answered, not completely sure herself. _

_They were confused when, at the end of the walkway they found a huge door that had been at some point been sealed shut; and yet, at some point before their arrival, someone else had used a sword to cut that same door open. _

"_Karin-nee…I don't like this." Yuzu whispered, voice stressed. "I have a very bad feeling." _

_Karin didn't want to tell her twin she felt it too, and that in her case it was even worse because she was almost sure she knew at least one person that was involved in that bad feeling. _

"_I know Yuzu. I'm sorry." Karin answered as honestly as she could. "I have to go in, but you know you don't have…" _

"_Where you go I go." Yuzu interrupted her, taking a deep breath to steel herself. "That's what sisters are for, right?" _

"_Right." Karin couldn't help but smile at her twin's loyalty. _

_With that the two shunpoed inside. _

_Karin seemed to have a better idea of the place, as proven when she at some point entered a room and then backtracked before Yuzu could enter herself. _

"_Karin-nee?" Yuzu asked, confused. _

"_You don't want to go in there." Karin said, shaking her head for extra emphasis. _

"_What I'm smelling…" Suddenly Yuzu's eyes widened in horror. "Is that blood?" _

"_Trust me Yuzu, you do not want to go in there." Karin insisted strongly. _

_Yuzu simply nodded mutely, even without seeing anything, she could smell the blood, so much blood…and she knew that that, along with her twin's expression meant that whatever was in that room…it was very, very bad. _

_It took them a while, but eventually they reached the deepest part of the Central 46 quarters. They could see in a far corner what looked like a long white ribbon twirling in the air even as it disappeared, along with two of the reiatsu signatures they'd been tracking down since shortly after passing the room that smelled of blood. _

_Yuzu noticed that that last room too smelled of blood, but what worried her more was that, while two reiatsu signatures remained in place, they were so weak they would probably vanish any second…it was only made worse with what she heard next. _

"_TOUSHIROU!" _

Yuzu shivered involuntarily, she'd never once before heard such pain, such despair in her sister's voice. Even when their mother had died, Karin had been so focused in being strong for her and for everyone else in the family that she had kept her emotions tightly under wraps. But when she'd seen the young white-haired shinigami laying on that mix of melted ice and his own blood…it had just been too much.

"You say your sister was with you." Unohana commented, noticing that part. "Where is she now? Why did she leave you here?"

"She went after the ones who did this." Yuzu answered simply.

Isane's eyes widened, while Unohana considered the words being said, and the ones not being said. Under normal circumstances both shinigami would have thought it was preposterous for a ryoka, especially one so young, barely more than a child, to go after someone who had so badly injured, nearly killed, a shinigami captain; and yet after everything the two women had witnessed at Soukyoku Hill…

"Did your sister know who were the ones responsible?" Unohana wanted to know.

"I couldn't see them." Yuzu admitted. "But we could both feel their reiatsu, and Karin-nee could identify them…" she took a deep breath before adding. "She said their names were Aizen Sousuke and Ichimaru Gin."

"But…butbutbut…" Isane was babbling in shock and confusion. "But Aizen-taichou is dead!"

"Yes, and it is believed that we killed him." Yuzu shook her head. "Like I said before, we have nothing against the Gotei 13, or against Soul Society. We just came to get Rukia-san back, not to hurt anyone. Whatever happened to your captain…if anything even happened to him in the first place…it wasn't us."

Once again, Unohana noticed there were things not being said, the young ryoka knew more than she was revealing, much more.

"Was your sister sure of what she said, of who those two were?" Unohana wanted to confirm.

"Karin-nee doesn't lie." Yuzu stated seriously. "Especially not about something this serious. If she says that captain isn't dead, and that he was here and did this, I believe her."

Unohana nodded, for some reason she believed it too. Ever since Aizen's supposed murder there had been something that just didn't fit…And then there was that name, Karin…it brought memories to the captain's mind, of another strong-willed and powerful girl who had bared that same name. Could it be…?

"He's not the only one." Yuzu pointed out quietly, signaling to her charge even as she kept healing him. "There's another in a room to my left, she didn't seem to be injured as badly as him, and I really cannot help both of them…I don't have enough reiatsu…"

At those words Isane hurried in the direction Yuzu indicated, only to gasp loudly at the sight that met her there, the fallen young woman with a stab wound in her middle.

"Unohana-taichou!" Isane called in shock. "It's Hinamori-fukutaichou."

"Worry not, young one." Unohana told Yuzu sweetly as she made her way to the other fallen shinigami. "I will handle Hinamori-fukutaichou, you are doing a wonderful job with Hitsugaya-taichou, I don't think he, or you, need my help."

Yuzu nodded silently as she continued diligently with what she was doing.

"Isane-san, please inform the other captains, lieutenants of what has happened here." Unohana made a brief pause to consider things before finishing. "…and if possible, let the other ryoka know as well."

Isane didn't stop to question her captain's orders, simply nodded formally before getting to work on a particular kidou, one Yuzu was very familiar with…

"Bakudo 77 Tenteikura!"

**xXx**

A pillar of very dark blue, almost black, reiatsu, rose in the center of Soukyoku Hill, the power was so strong that if it hadn't been for some of the captains, the lieutenants would have collapsed under the weight of it. Even Yamamoto opened his eyes to watch the proceedings attentively, while the power still didn't compare to his, it was enough to call his attention, and it made him wonder: how could a mere human have such power…

After a few seconds the pillar dissipated rather abruptly, leaving in place a Kurosaki Ichigo clad in a black long-sleeved coat with tattered ends, dark-red lining and black hakama; instead of the huge cleave-knife like zanpakutou he'd been holding before, in that moment he held a thing, long completely black daito.

"Bankai…" Ichigo stated strongly. "Tensa Zangetsu…"

"What is…that thing?" Byakuya hissed in a mix of strong disbelief and simple denial. "That small object…is his bankai?" his eyes narrowed in fury. "I see, with the execution, with the bankai. It seems that you really enjoy stepping on our pride. Then I shall carve on your body the penalty for violating our pride!"

That was as far as Byakuya got, because before even a second had passed, Ichigo was standing a couple of steps from him, holding his zanpakutou's tip against the other shinigami's throat.

"Does that 'pride' thing have anything to do with Rukia's execution?" Ichigo growled, not really waiting for an answer. "If so, then I will step on it, just like you said. I will step on your pride, on your laws, and on whatever else I need to. No one will hurt Rukia, or any of my nakama as long as I draw breath!"

On a side, Chad had convinced Uryuu and Rukia to get off the stand of the Soukyoku cross and with him against one side, just in case one of the fighters' attacks got out of control, it was better to have some cover.

"Ichigo…has a bankai?!" Rukia gasped in absolute shock.

She'd seen many surprising things in the last hour or so, especially when Orihime had used her new power to restore the fukutaichou, practically bringing one back from death and pulling two back from the edge. And yet with Ichigo…

"We don't know." Uryuu's answer both surprised her and confused.

"What…?" Rukia didn't know what to say to that. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Exactly that." Uryuu insisted.

"Three days ago we reached a hideout, Yoruichi-san directed us to it." Chad elaborated. "Once there she offered Ichigo a tool created by Urahara; it was meant to help him achieve bankai. We thought it was a good idea, considering almost all captains have bankai and it was only a matter of time until Ichigo needed such level of power, especially since we knew he would be going after your brother if given a chance."

Rukia nodded, she understood that part, she'd seen how much Ichigo cared for all his nakama, and his sisters in particular. What Byakuya had done when arresting her, and further more allowing her to be sentenced to execution broke the two golden rules Ichigo lead his life by: to protect his sisters as a good older brother, and to protect his nakama as one of them. That still didn't explain the bankai!

"So he trained for bankai…in three days?!" She cried out.

"No, that's the point." Chad shook his head.

"When Yoruichi-san explained that, to achieve bankai, he would need to force his zanpakutou to submit, Ichigo flat-out refused to do it." Uryuu elaborated. "He sees Zangetsu-san as his partner, as his equal, so there's no way he would make the spirit submit to him." He pushed his glasses up his nose in contemplation. "That's why this development is so surprising. Ichigo never trained for bankai, and yet right now he's using it…"

"How did he achieve it then?" Rukia asked, baffled by the whole thing.

"We have no idea." Chad answered honestly. "Maybe Zangetsu-san decided to grant him the power anyway?"

"But what would make a zanpakutou spirit decide to do that?" Rukia wanted to know. "Especially considering Ichigo has only been a shinigami for a few months, and only wielded his own power for three weeks!"

"You forget that Ichigo already had power before he met you." Uryuu reminded him. "Even if the spirit didn't give his name to him until recently, it was his power Ichigo had been using for over two years…"

Rukia was left speechless at that. She had known Ichigo had had power before she had lent him hers, and she had realized he'd had to have some power to become a shinigami after the power the bequeathed him was stripped from him; and yet…and yet what she was seeing in that moment just defied all logic!

Everyone's attention was called back to the fight when for the second time Ichigo got close enough to Byakuya to kill him, and yet he held back, instead he moved to simply slash the noble shinigami on the side, and didn't seem that surprised when his daito was stopped by said shinigami's own hand. Blood was drawn, but neither of the two combatants seemed to care that much, only caring about their own confrontation.

"You're so powerful, a captain, you're also a noble, respected." Ichigo enlisted. "You took Rukia as your younger sister, probably defying customs of your own clan…"

Byakuya couldn't help but wait in silence, wondering where the ryoka was going with that speech. He'd been surprised enough to see him suddenly wielding a bankai, even when it was obvious the daiko was very inexperienced with it, its power, the speed and raw strength it granted its wielder was truly incredible.

"Why don't you try to save Rukia?" Ichigo finally asked. "Why won't you protect your own sister, like any older brother should?!"

"If you defeat me, I will answer that question." Byakuya declared, expressionlessly.

Ichigo shook his head, he was tired, so very tired, not only physically but emotionally. Despite everything Byakuya had done, the way he'd hurt him and his nakama, and especially his actions, and inactions, in regards to Rukia's situation, Ichigo still didn't hate the man. He really only wanted to understand, he wanted to believe there was a reason for the noble not to be doing anything to save his sister, he couldn't really be that cruel, right?

There were just about to throw themselves at each other to continue their fight when they were abruptly interrupted; by a message that left every single person in Soukyoku Hill shocked:

It was Isane's voice, she was speaking on her captain's behalf, she described what the two of them had found when arriving at Central 46's, including the fact that all its members were dead, and the condition Hitsugaya and Hinamori were in. She also spoke about the ryoka that had saved Hitsugaya-taichou's life. In the end, she gave the names of the two held responsible for everything (without saying those were claims from a ryoka): Aizen and Gin.

It didn't go unnoticed to Byakuya the way his opponent let out a sigh and half-lowered his zanpakutou, as if he'd known something like that would happen, as if he'd been expecting such a message to arrive. It made the captain wonder if the message was a hoax, or something none in Seireitei had any idea of was going on…?

The answer came, to him and everyone else in the next second, as what seemed to be a white cocoon made of cloth appeared in the far end of Soukyoku Hill, breaking off eventually to reveal the very two men that had been addressed as responsible for the horror found in Central 46, and not only that, with them was a third man: Tousen Kaname.

"Aizen!" Many of those present cried out in shock.

"My, my, what an interesting reunion." Aizen commented calmly. "Not exactly what I had planned…but then again, plans can be changed."

"What do you want Aizen Sousuke?" Yamamoto demanded from his place, brows furrowing. "You are supposed to be dead."

"Yes, that was…necessary I'm afraid." Aizen declared dismissively. "But do not worry soutaichou, I have no evil plans for you or those under your command, yet…Except, of course for Kuchiki Rukia. I'm sure you won't mind handing her over…"

"You're nuts!" Ichigo called strongly.

"Ah…the ryoka boy." Aizen said, watching Ichigo up and down. "Do you really think it's wise to defy me, human?"

"I don't care about you, or your plans." Ichigo deadpanned, holding Tensa Zangetsu in a stronger grip with both hands. "But you're not laying a hand on Rukia!"

"We'll see…" Aizen declared.

A second later Ichigo unexpectedly was crashing violently against the ground, a puddle of blood forming beneath him rather fast, he tried to move but found himself unable to.

"Ichigo!" All the Nakama cried out in absolute panic.

"What a bother." Aizen drowned. "I actually meant to cut him in two. You must be a bit stronger than I was expecting. Doesn't matter. You will still die, and I'll get what I want."

At the reminder that he was after Rukia Ichigo began trying, even harder than before to get up, but his middle had been cut wide open, to the point that it was a miracle he was even alive, less of all conscious.

"No…Rukia…" Ichigo muttered, trying to move, to no avail.

Byakuya really couldn't believe what he was seeing, after everything that had happened, and even in such a condition, the ryoka was still trying to fight…to protect Rukia…

"Are you really a traitor, Aizen?" Byakuya asked as he raised his own zanpakutou. "If so, then it is my solemn duty to bring you down…"

"Really, it's all about duty with you, isn't it?" The traitorous captain mocked. "I mean, for your duty you were willing to kill your own sister…do you want me to impose another duty on you now, Kuchiki Byakuya?"

Those words brought realization, and that realization brought horror. It had all been planned by Aizen, he'd been about to see his own younger sister die, all according to that traitor's plan.

"Scatter, Sen…"

Byakuya didn't even get to finish his command, as before he could he was on the ground, with a wound that went from one shoulder to the opposite hip. It wasn't as bad as Ichigo, but still bad enough to take him out of the fight.

"No!" Rukia yelled, raising her zanpakutou, absolutely furious. "Nii-sama! Ichigo! NO! Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

Logic and reasoning lost in the middle of her fury, she threw herself straight at Aizen. It was useless, in a handful of seconds she was being held by the collar of her yukata, her zanpakutou in two pieces at her feet.

"So eager to die, Rukia-chan?" Aizen asked in a mocking tone, then eyed the two pieces of the zanpakutou. "Though I have to admit that was a surprise. It doesn't matter…"

Seeing Rukia being held by Aizen made Ichigo the motivation to yet again try to move, but it was taking all of Shiro's effort just to keep him alive, the 'white half' just didn't have enough reiatsu to regenerate Ichigo as much as he needed to get his body to move.

"You keep trying to move?" Aizen spoke in a very dispassionate tone. "Right now your spine is the only thing holding your body together. No matter how hard you try, there's no way to stand up without destroying your body. It's not a matter of spirit. It's simply physically impossible. Look on the bright side. You've been very helpful already, just lay there quietly until you pass on. Your mission is over."

Then he went on to explain his 'master plan' and how Ichigo and the rest of the ryoka had played right into it. He took his time, taking advantage over the fact that his two accomplices were keeping watch over the other ryoka and the remaining captains, and even Yamamoto didn't seem that interested in stopping him…at least not yet.

When Aizen reached the part of shinigami-hollow hybrids in his explanation Ichigo had to keep himself from gasping, briefly wondering if Aizen could possibly know about Shiro. Thankfully, as the traitor went on with his tale, Ichigo realized that it wasn't so, his 'twin' was still something only he himself knew about.

Eventually Aizen reached the part about Rukia being used to hide the Hougyoku, and the particular gigai Urahara had given her. Ichigo could only grit his teeth, hating the exiled shinigami all the more for being the reason Rukia was in such danger; and yet hating him wasn't going to change anything, he knew that.

When Aizen talked about what he had done to get Rukia to be executed Byakuya could only close his eyes, realizing that all along he hadn't been fighting for his pride, he'd just been another puppet being used by Aizen…it hurt his pride, his honor, and his heart…

After finishing with his considerable explanation Aizen called on some power he'd found, and used it to retrieve the Hougyoku from Rukia's soul; Ichigo briefly berated himself for failing on getting it first, but then reminded himself that he didn't really care about the stupid jewel, he only cared about Rukia, and his nakama…

"You are no longer, of any use to me." Aizen informed the fallen girl when he was done.

"Rukia!" All the Nakama cried out at the same time.

It looked like both Uryuu and Chad were about to take a risk, even with Tousen there, when someone else, someone unexpected, moved first.

"AIZEN!" A keen female voice screamed at the same time another very powerful reiatsu announced the arrival of a new individual.

Aizen moved his hand from where he was about to grab Rukia to block the considerably small blade that was suddenly trying to cut him, only to be forced to pull his hand back and shunpo to the side when a scabbard of all things hit his arm.

It all happened in a matter of seconds, suddenly Aizen was standing several feet away from the still recovering Rukia and the fallen Byakuya and Ichigo, while in front of him stood a petite raven-haired, ashen-eyed girl in a modified shihakushou, holding a kodachi in one hand and a scabbard in the other, it was Karin, and she was so furious her ruby-red aura was dancing around her like live flames.

"I'm going to destroy you Aizen!" Karin yelled at him vehemently. "For all the hurt you've brought, all the grief, all the pain!" she somehow vanished the scabbard and held her kodachi diagonally before her. "Fly across the fiery heavens, Tenreikou!"

Before Aizen even fully understood what was going on, she was upon him again.

For a little while, it actually seemed like Karin was managing to keep up with Aizen, maybe even overpower him; but that was only until he fully recovered his bearings and began fighting back, then it became obvious how big the difference was. Even when Karin's power was great, she just didn't seem to be on the same level as her opponent.

"I'll defeat you Aizen!" Karin insisted, pouring reiatsu into her naginata. "Reihinote Kizu!"

It was as if the blade of the naginata had suddenly acquired a red hue, and the moment it connected with part of the sleeve and the lower half of Aizen's haori it lit up in flames. It was the special ability of her zanpakutou.

Aizen's eyes widened even as he called a simple kidou to douse the flames, as if seeing such an attack shocked him more than the fact that a fifteen-year old was defying him.

On the side Kyouraku had helped his lieutenant and Nemu pull the badly injured Kuchiki Byakuya to them so they could begin treating him; they wanted to do the same with the ryoka, but he was just too far away.

"This is insane." Kyouraku commented as he watched the events. "She's just a child, what is she doing defying Aizen?"

"You cannot judge Karin like you would any normal person, or soul, or even shinigami." Uryuu commented. "You cannot judge any of us under such parameters."

"Who is she?" Nemu asked, awed by what she was seeing.

"Kurosaki Karin." Chad informed him. "She's Ichigo's sister, and also Nakama."

"But she's too young!" Nanao declared strongly. "Barely more than a child. Yet she's fighting Aizen right now. Why aren't you doing something? To help her, to stop her."

"There's nothing we can do…" Chad admitted in a mournful tone.

It hurt him to accept they weren't strong enough to help in that fight. But if Ichigo had fallen so easily, and Karin was barely managing to keep up even with all the reiatsu and raw power she was using in her fury…what hope did they have to be able to make a difference?

"I told you before, do not judge Karin, or any of us, by your usual standards." Uryuu reminded her. "Yes, she's young, but then so are all of us. We're all teenagers, but we're strong. We were either born with our powers, or we developed them over time out of necessity. And we trained, for months or even years, before we actually began using them to fight hollows. Now, now we're using them for what they were truly meant to be used. With us it's never been about fighting hollows, or anyone at all, it's always been about protecting." He sighed. "Karin in particular… she's one of the most powerful among us Nakama. The problem is that, maybe because of her youth, or because she's part human, she has trouble controlling that much power…it's the same with Ichigo actually…"

"Part human?" Ukitake questioned, confused. "Does that mean…"

Uryuu groaned lowly, he was definitely out of it, it had to be the stressful fighting taking place a few feet away from him; there was no other way to explain why he was saying way more than he should, and to a shinigami of all people!

Thankfully, Uryuu didn't actually get the chance to answer, as Karin's cry called everyone's attention back to the battle she was waging against the psychotic captain of the 5th squad.

Karin landed on her back harshly, her naginata behind her, and slightly out of her reach. She had several scratches and bruises in her body, and a cut on her cheek; and yet nothing seemed to be able to stop her.

"Just who are you?" Aizen asked, head to a side. "You look so much like…but there's no way you can be her…"

"Can't I?" Karin actually smirked at him from her spot on the ground. "And why not? Because you had me killed? As if that would ever be enough to stop me."

Aizen's brow actually furrowed at that, he'd seen the weapon, he'd seen the girl herself; but a part of him still couldn't believe it.

Karin knew she hadn't convinced him yet, which meant she would have to be more forceful. Planting both feet on the ground, she pushed herself in a back flip which turned into a hand-stand as, with her other hand, she took hold of her zanpakutou; then she pushed enough reiatsu into her other hand to shot up, flip once more and land on both feet, naginata at the ready.

"Have you forgotten already the kind of power I possess, Aizen Sousuke?" She asked him with a satisfied half-smirk. "I am shinketsu, I finished the Shin'ou Academy in just two-years and was considered a captain-candidate just ten years later; I may have never actually been made captain, but you know? That was only because I didn't want to be one, not because I didn't have the power needed to…"

Aizen's eyes widened minutely, it would have gone unnoticed by any of those who didn't know him, but there were a handful in that hill that actually did.

"You dared attack Toushirou-kun!" Karin yelled, beginning to lose her composure. "You dared try and take one of the people he cares for the most and then left him to bleed to death! You are no man Aizen, you are a monster, and as such it's my duty to cut you down! For I am Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin and I will make you pay for all your crimes!" Her reiatsu shot up suddenly. "Bankai!"

A fire-red aura enveloped Karin's form, and she changed even more than her brother had when calling on bankai. While his kosode had changed into the long coat Zangetsu wore; Karin's change was less yet more at the same time. The only change to her naginata was that it acquired a red aura itself, as well as a very long strip of bright-red cloth that hung from the handle. The upper half of her kosode disappeared, leaving in its place a snug sleeveless top that closed only in the center of her chest, leaving some cleavage to be seen as well as her mid-riff; she was also wearing two white armguards instead of just one and reinforced red-leather gloves in her hands. The most unexpected, yet striking change however, was in her hair, as it lengthened to reach her mid-thigh, at the same time it gained a red tint.

"Eishugo Tenreikou…" Karin stated as the change finished taking place.

The spectators didn't have to wait long to see just how much the bankai augmented Karin's powers. It wasn't just her change in clothes and the ribbon in her zanpakutou, the girl no longer seemed to need to call the name of her attack for the blade of her naginata to give enough heat to cut through anything; and it wasn't limited to that, it wasn't only the blade anymore, the naginata as a whole, and everything red-tinted in Karin herself (hair included) would cause flames to appear on anything it touched, be that Aizen's body, his clothes, or even the ground.

"So much power…" Rukia commented in awe.

"Is that really Karin-dono?" Ukitake asked, more to himself than to those around.

Rukia turned to look at her captain briefly, wondering about the suffix the man had chosen to add to the girl's name; one would almost believe he saw her as being above him. But that just wasn't possible, right? After all, Ukitake Juushirou was a captain of the Gotei 13, Karin was just a human, with shinigami powers, true, but still a human…right?

Byakuya for his part managed to move himself, even as Nanao kept doing what she could to see to his wound; he still managed to turn just enough to watch the battle.

"Karin…" Was all he whispered, in an unreadable tone of voice.

_The onyx-haired, indigo eyed man turned around a corner, he was walking by the veranda of his own property, watching the gardens; he wasn't quite expecting it when he saw someone sitting on the steps that lead to one of the more secluded gardens, young-looking with long raven black hair in a half-elaborate bun, held up with a couple of intricate looking clips, she was just sitting there, watching the cloudless sky…_

"_Karin-d…" He began calling her. _

"_Don't you dare call me that." She interrupted him in a snappish tone. "Don't you dare change the way you address me, not you, not now…" _

"_It's the way it must be." He said serenely as he stood behind her. "It's who you are now, Nagaken Karin-dono, the new Head of the Noble Nagaken Clan…" _

"_One direct descendant and a few distant cousins don't make a clan." She retorted. _

"_Even if it were only you, the Nagaken would still be a Noble Clan, and you would still be the head of it." He insisted. "Karin-dono…" _

"_I told you not to address me that way!" She jumped onto her feet and spun around to face him, eyes sparkling with defiance. "Nii-sama is gone! And now I have to carry this burden! I don't want it! I never wanted it! I never wanted to be head of the clan, or to even be a noble! I may be one, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm also a shinigami! I'm a shinigami damn it! And my name is Karin! Just Karin!" _

_Byakuya's eyes softened minutely as he realized just how affected the young girl standing before him truly was. She was still so young, barely a child in anyone's eyes; and already she had to carry the heavy burden of leading the most important and powerful clan in all of Seireitei. It was worse than what he himself had gone through when first becoming his grandfather's heir all those decades before, and then when actually becoming the new Head of Clan and captain relatively recently. All eyes were always on them, as nobles, but while he'd been expecting it for a while, she simply hadn't been ready for it. All eyes were on her, as so many people kept close attention on her actions, her words, her manners, every single detail, waiting for her to make a mistake, even the smallest one would suffice. And if that wasn't complicated enough, there was what he'd recently heard from the other captains… _

"_I heard you were chosen as captain-candidate." Byakuya commented. _

_The sigh that left her lips showed so much exhaustion, not necessarily physical, but mental, it made the Kuchiki Clan Head realize that things may be worse than even he'd imagined. He'd known Karin for so many years, since she was an infant, in part because the Kuchiki and Nagaken Clans had always been in good relations, and there was too much of a difference between his age and Isshin's for the two of them to connect. She was supposed to be a perfect clan princess, little more than a doll; but Karin had flat out refused to play by those rules; she defied her Clan's Elders every step of the way, until they were forced to bow to her wishes, she was allowed to enter the Shino Academy, and once there…she blew everyone off. _

_The girl was a prodigy, as much as Shiba Kaien had been half a century before, and almost as much as Ichimaru Gin and Hitsugaya Toushirou; the second which was also her best friend and rival as captain-candidate for the spot her own brother had vacated with his disappearance. _

"_I honestly don't know if I want to be captain…" Karin admitted. _

_Byakuya didn't say a thing, didn't think she was actually expecting him to say anything. He was fortunate to be one of very few people Karin trusted enough to be honest with; while they might not be the 'best of friends', there was still a connection between them, a respect, and trust and, to a certain level, affection…they didn't love each other, no way, but they still cared for each other. _

"_They want me to quit being a shinigami." Karin said suddenly, as she turned away from him. "My Clan's Elders I mean. They say it's too dangerous, that I could die or disappear like Nii-sama did, and then the Clan would fall. They even had the gall to bring in Kaien and the Shiba Clan into their speech!" _

"_You're still the Head of the Clan." Byakuya reminded her. "You're the one who gives the orders to them, not the other way around…" _

"_Yeah, because that works so well for you." There was an evident undertone of sarcasm in her voice as she spoke. "I've seen Rukia, and how she's treated…" _

_Byakuya didn't answer, and this time he was the one who turned away. _

"_She looks so much like Hisana-san, doesn't she?" Karin asked out-loud, not truly expecting an answer. "It must be painful for you…" _

"_You have no idea." Byakuya replied. _

_And while there was no emotion in his voice, his eyes more than made up for that, as the indigo almost disappeared beneath a gray shadow of pain… _

"_No, I don't." Karin admitted. "But I'm sure you're not the only one hurting. She is too. Pulled away from everything she knew, thrown into a society so absolutely different from the one she's comfortable in, and with no one to hold her hand and guide her through it all." _

"_She's strong enough to handle it, I'm sure of that much." Byakuya declared. _

"_Oh, I'm sure of that." Karin confirmed. "But I'm also sure it would be better if she actually had someone there for her, if she had you…" _

_Yet again, Byakuya didn't answer. _

"_She's your sister Byakuya…" Karin reminded him softly. "Regardless of how that came to be, if it was your choice or not, what matters is that she's your sister now, and she needs you." She shook her head almost sadly. "I hope you'll come to see that before it's too late." _

_She said nothing else as she moved to leave the Kuchiki estate. _

_He extended an arm silently in her direction, and while he didn't actually touch her and she didn't turn around, she still stopped. _

"_You should remain a shinigami." He said simply. _

_Karin closed her eyes briefly, a small smile appearing on her lips; she knew that was his way to offer his support, and she was thankful for that. _

"_I will." She agreed simply. _

_She knew it wouldn't be easy, but at least she had someone who believed in her, someone who would support her; it had become hard to find someone like that since so many of the adults she used to depend on had abandoned her: her parents, her teachers, Yoruichi, Kisuke, Hiyori…and even her Nii-sama. _

"_Good night…Karin." Byakuya wished her. _

_Her smile brightened up then, as she waved her goodbye before stepping through the gate on that side of the state, going into shunpo as soon as she was out of the property. _

The next time he saw her, she'd cut her hair to the nape of her neck, for some reason, that seemed to be the way she'd chosen to show her rebellion, by cutting her hair and remaining a shinigami, she was showing she would be no clan-princess, never.

It was she, Byakuya was sure of it, it was Karin, the same Karin…she was back.

"Your power is nothing to mine, little girl." Aizen said coldly as he parried all the moves. "I will strike you down."

"It doesn't matter." Karin spat back. "Don't you see, Aizen? You may kill me, but I'll just keep coming back; even if it takes me another twenty-five years to do it, I will keep coming back until I manage to bring you down for good!"

"You think you can do it?" Aizen challenged.

"I know I can!" Karin hissed.

She broke the standstill she had with Aizen, with the pole of her naginata, before spinning sharply and using her momentum to slash at Aizen's chest, she was able to cut right through his already slightly-burnt haori and part of the shihakusho, but before she could go fully from side to side, he stopped the blade, with his bare hand.

Everyone present gasped, for Karin it was like a shock going through her whole body, as Aizen's reiatsu fought against her own; and since her control was already on the verge of being lost…in a second it was gone.

For a fraction a second bright-red reiatsu, in waves that made it seem like live flames, enveloped Karin completely; that 'fire' focused on the naginata, and on the hand Aizen had used to stop it. Then…an explosion…

A pained cry abandoned Karin's mouth as she crashed against the stage of the Soukyoku cross, her clothes back to the modified shihakushou she'd been wearing at first. She tried to move, but soon realized it was useless, she could barely even keep herself awake and her reiatsu flickered dangerously, showing that she was badly drained; her zanpakutou was nowhere to be found.

"Karin!" Several voices cried out at the same time.

Ichigo couldn't take it anymore, first Rukia, then his sister; he forced himself to his feet with no little effort, testing a bit his muscles before raising his guard. The battle between the traitor and his sister had given him, or more like Shiro, the time needed to heal him, at least enough for the young man to be moving again; it would be stupid for him to fight…but of course, Shiro knew better than to truly hope Ichigo would keep himself safe…

Showing expression for the first time since his arrival at Soukyoku Hill, Aizen was holding his zanpakutou tighter than before as he began purposefully walking in the direction of the fallen girl; however, before he made it more than a couple of steps he was forced to stop, right as a dark-blue crescent passed in front of him, leaving a deep mark in the ground.

"You will leave my nakama alone, Aizen." Ichigo announced as he hefted his zanpakutou on a shoulder. "Your fight is with me."

"So, ryoka boy." Aizen addressed him. "You can somehow stand, even though I'm sure I cut you down not very long ago. How did you do it? What kind of power did Urahara Kisuke give you before he sent you here to retrieve his mistake?"

"No one sent me." Ichigo replied calmly. "And I care not about your feud with Urahara or anyone else. You dared act against Rukia, my nakama, that's the only reason I'm here. Even after you took what you wanted from her, you still tried to kill her, that's something I won't overlook. I will protect my nakama, I will defeat you."

Aizen couldn't fully hide his surprise at that, he'd been so sure that Urahara was the one behind the whole ryoka operation. And yet…his predictions regarding that didn't account how exactly the humans had managed to get into Seireitei without being noticed, at least not before they themselves made their presence known…They hadn't fought the Gate Guardians, neither had they crashed through the shields…how then?

"You seem confused Aizen…" Ichigo couldn't help but taunt the man. "Did you honestly think this was about the 'greater good'? You talk about surpassing all limits, about being on an entirely different level; maybe you're on such a different level to us humans, that you cannot understand our reasoning. Let me clear it out for you then: we're humans, whatever powers we may have, we're living humans. We care not about spiritual wars, we care about our families, about our friends, and about nakama…when first Urahara and then you saw fit to use Rukia, you were attacking a Nakama. That's why we all got involved. That's the entirety of our involvement in this mess. Of course, considering what you've already claimed are your intentions, I can suppose that, at some point, you will either end up attacking other nakama, or even our home…when you do, then we will get involved again. And I promise you, if you force our hands Aizen, we will bring you down."

"Know your place, ryoka boy." Aizen hissed at him. "You're mere humans, insects…you're nothing at all."

"Really?" Ichigo smirked cockily at him. "Is that why half your arm is burnt right now? Did you know that neither Karin nor I had used our bankai before today? We have no control over them. So imagine, what will happen once we have…" his look darkened. "If you dare act against those I consider my own, you will find out. And you will also be finding out what we're capable of when provoked. This…" he signaled all around him. "This was nothing. We may be humans, but we're certainly not nothing…"

"Hadou 90, Kurohitsugi!" Aizen growled pointing at Ichigo.

The huge black-energy tomb-like cube fell upon the orange-haired teen before he had a chance to react at all.

"Ichigo!" Karin, Rukia and Uryuu cried out at the same time.

The hadou dissipated a moment later and, to the Nakama's relief they saw Ichigo spinning around, dark-blue tinted reiatsu leaking from every pore, his already frayed and half-tattered cloak was even in worse condition than it had been before, some of his old wounds had reopened, and new ones had appeared, and yet, he was still standing.

Furious, Aizen made a move before Ichigo actually finished his last turn, getting right in front of the shinigami daiko before he actually realized what was going on. The traitor's move then was one quite unexpected, as he took Ichigo's own zanpakutou from him, and used it to stab through the young man's chest.

Ichigo could only open his mouth in a soundless scream, even as he dropped to his knees.

"ICHIGO!"


	10. Recoveries and Awakenings

And here we are! Chapter ten! And the Soul Society Arc still ongoing! People seem to be particularly interested in Karin right now. I'm glad. I hope you'll enjoy what I've done with her. Some of it with be explained in this chapter, but most will actually be in the next one (this arc's probably the longest in the fic...).

Thanks for all your awesome reviews, and don't forget to leave me more! On we go with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 10. Recoveries and Awakenings **

Ichigo tried to move, but it was useless, Aizen had driven his own zanpakutou into him with enough force that the young man had ended up practically nailed to the ground. He could hear his nakama's screams as they tried to rush to him to help but were either still too drained to move or being restrained by someone, for which he was thankful.

"An insect you still are, ryoka boy." Aizen declared coldly. "Yet at the same time a very annoying one. That stab might not have been enough to kill you outright, but don't be mistaken, you will die by my hand…"

And yet, before Aizen could bring his own zanpakutou down he suddenly had one blocking it, and a hand held threateningly over his neck.

In the next second the execution hill was filled by several high-ranking shinigami; most of which were briefly confused over what exactly was going on in that place, with all the ryoka fallen, the shinigami hurt, and those three particular captains…while they had indeed heard the message from Isane-fukutaichou, nothing could have fully prepared them for the sight that met them upon arrival to that place.

In rushed voices certain things were explained, enough that soon enough Tousen and Ichimaru were being held at sword-point as well.

"This is the end." Yoruichi announced in a satisfied voice.

"What did you say?" Aizen inquired, apparently unconcerned about his situation.

"Do you really not see reality Aizen?" Yoruichi wanted to know if he was really that unconcerned. "You're completely surrounded."

He was indeed, even those like Matsumoto, Kenpachi and his subordinates had finally finished their own fights and arrived just in time to see those who had defeated them down and Aizen silently gloating over his victory. They didn't like that, for the 11th Division, strength was everything, to have found worthy rivals, warriors who could defeat each of them, and then see them being humiliated by a man who had played them all like puppets in his attempt to reach heights of power that were supposed to be forbidden…

Yamamoto himself had finally stepped forward, zanpakutou in hand, his eyes open as he seemed to be deciding how to handle the situation. It wasn't something that could be done lightly, even his shikai was too powerful for it to be unleashed at any given time, and due to the nature of its power the only one that would not end up fried almost instantly was probably the girl who had displayed a power related to the same element.

Still, not even the danger the presence of so many high-ranked shinigami implied was enough to make Aizen seem in the slightest concerned about the situation he and his allies had landed themselves in. Instead he just chuckled.

"What?!" Yoruichi demanded, angry at his attitude. "What's so funny Aizen?"

"Yeah…" Aizen half-smiled at the women restraining him. "Sorry but…it's time."

Whatever was coming, Yoruichi seemed to be able to sense it a fraction before it actually happened as she reacted accordingly.

"Get away, everyone!" She yelled as she jumped back.

Sui-Feng, who had been helping her keep Aizen in place; as well as Matsumoto Rangiku and Hisagi Shuuhei, who had been keeping guard over Ichimaru and Tousen respectively, all immediately jumped back as well.

It was soon made obvious that they'd moved barely in time, as columns of negacion enveloped the three traitors, lifting them into the sky, where their corrupted allies, the hollows from Hueco Mundo, were waiting at a garganta.

No one liked hearing that once in the negacion Aizen was completely out of their reach; several of the shinigami were particularly vocal about that, but it was simply useless.

The nakama could only watch the scene with a certain detachment; Ichigo had been right when he'd spoken, Aizen wasn't their enemy, not really…or at least not yet. While Karin certainly hated the man enough, they had all agreed not to actually go to war against him unless it was absolutely necessary; which the adults had all assured them would come to happen sooner or later. The Nakama had gone to Soul Society to rescue Rukia, period; whatever came after that…they would handle it when it actually happened.

Which is, in part, why they weren't paying that much attention to the rants and speeches several shinigami gave as the three traitors ascended into the garganta; that is, at least, until Ukitake spoke, something that actually called their attention:

"What are you trying to do?" The man asked seriously.

"To go higher." Was Aizen's simple yet complicated answer.

"Have you fallen in the process, Aizen…?" Ukitake inquired.

That question required not answer, as far as the sickly captain was concerned; and yet the traitor seemed to have one:

"You are too arrogant Ukitake." Aizen declared. "No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even the gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on…I will be sitting on it."

The shinigami were all too shocked to answer to that speech, and even more so when they heard someone actually reply to it:

"Your insanity has really surpassed your genius, Aizen…" Karin declared mockingly.

It had taken some effort, but the teen had managed to rise to her feet, and in that moment she was standing in the very center of the stage, pointing at Aizen with her hand, her gray eyes like steel even as she condemned the psychopathic man.

"A man with your brilliance…" She shook her head without taking her eyes off Aizen. "You know as well as I only one man can sit on that throne, and that man isn't you!"

"Ah, anyone can easily claim an empty throne." Aizen replied easily.

Karin's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I see the truth, I saw it a long time ago." Aizen said with satisfaction. "It's why I decided to take this course of action. I will make that throne mine, young guardian…"

"You have fallen farther than I had thought, if you honestly believe such things are up to you, Aizen." Karin sighed tiredly. "But you will see in due time. An empty throne doesn't necessarily mean the absence of an heir…"

"I guess when the time comes, we will see." Aizen agreed, still arrogant. "It's been interesting seeing you again, Nagaken Karin…" he turned to the fallen Ichigo. "And you as well, ryoka boy…if you survive…you shall make things all the more interesting…"

Ichigo tried to move, tried to yell, but it was useless, the zanpakutou through his chest didn't allow it, he could barely breath as it was…

And then the garganta closed.

The shinigami were just about to move, when suddenly at least half of them staggered. The reason became clear just a second later, as what looked like a hurricane made of pure reiatsu formed around Ichigo's prone form.

"What…is happening…?" Orihime asked in a low, tired voice.

She had woken while Karin and Aizen were having their stand-off and was still trying to understand what was going on, she was in fact still so weakened even remaining awake took a considerable effort on her part. The last thing she remembered was reaching a new level with her Return Shield, and using it to restore the shinigami that had been so badly hurt by the explosion the insane clown-like captain had somehow caused.

Chad was very alert, the mysterious power-storm forming around Ichigo was what had woken him actually, as his instincts screamed at him to do something, even when his consciousness had no idea what he could do, if anything.

"Ichigo's totally lost control." Uryuu finally answered with a tired sigh.

"Lost control?" Chad asked.

"Has this happened before?" Kyouraku wanted to know.

Uryuu lowered his head, holding it with a hand, he was just so tired…

"Once." In the end, it was Karin who provided an answer. "It was a long time ago, and I don't think it was this bad…"

"He didn't have access to this much power back then." Uryuu reminded her almost bitterly.

"So, what exactly does any of this mean?" Kyouraku insisted.

They needed to know what was going on so they could fix it, preferably before his lieutenant and at least half of the other shinigami present, suffocated.

"Just like it sounds." Uryuu deadpanned. "He has no control whatsoever of his reiatsu. It will continue leaking like that, forming a storm, until its fully drained and dissipates, or he's somehow sealed…though that one isn't really an option right now, the one with the best grasp of kidou is Yuzu, and she's still too weakened after saving that shinigami captain."

It was true, Yuzu had arrived to Soukyoku Hill along with Unohana and Isane after they had left the recovering Hinamori and Toushirou in the Medical Division. The chestnut-haired girl had insisted on being there to support her nakama in any way she could, even though she didn't have enough reiatsu to do much of anything.

"The only other person would possibly be my father…but once again, he isn't here." Uryuu continued. "And I haven't learnt to seal or diffuse power yet."

"You said he's been like this before." Ukitake commented. "What did you do then?"

"We just stood back and let it happen." Karin admitted. "There was really nothing we could do. And, like we said before, he didn't have this much power at his disposal back then…"

Before anyone else could say anything, come up with some kind of plan, something quite unexpected happened: Rukia got on her feet, and without saying a word, without any hesitation at all she walked straight to Ichigo. The others began calling her to return, but she ignored them all.

It took great effort for Rukia to get to Ichigo, as the reiatsu circling fast and hard around him managed to hit her and cut her several times, but she ignored any and all wounds, all pain, and focused on getting past the reiatsu-twister and to him.

"What is she trying to do?" Nanao asked, shocked at the sight.

"She's trying to get to Ichi-nii." Yuzu deduced easily. "She may want to free him from his zanpakutou. She's realized that's what made him loose control."

And it was. To have been in such high as Ichigo was, in bankai and still half-synced with Zangetsu, with Shiro influencing him so as to regenerate him, and the adrenaline running through his body in enough quantities to allow him to ignore all tiredness and pain and push on in the fight…and then to suddenly be blocked, be pretty much speared against the ground. It was like forcing a runner that's going at a very-high speed to suddenly stop completely. It was dangerous, it was even considered life-threatening! So it was really no wonder than when subjected to such a situation Ichigo had lost all control, his power was trying to keep him on the same level, but he had no more use for that energy, and to way to get it under control, no way to let it out in a controlled manner, just no solution…

"Is she insane?!" Karin practically shrieked.

"What? Why?" Nanao was really worried about the unseated shinigami.

"Look, Ichigo is powerful ok, extremely powerful." Karin tried to explain in a rush. "Even under normal circumstances it's pretty hard for him to control his reiatsu. If anyone tries to touch his zanpakutou when there's so much power on it, and when he has no control over it…" she shook his head in denial. "It's insanity!"

"She may have been able to get past Ichigo's reiatsu pretty much unharmed." Uryuu added. "But the zanpakutou is a different matter entirely."

Suddenly extremely concerned about his subordinate, the fact that she'd just survived what effectively was a very elaborate attempt on her life, and yet there she was putting her life on the line, again…this time by her own will.

They all turned to watch as the reiatsu spiked, at the very moment Rukia finally touched Tensa Zangetsu's hilt with both hands.

"Rukia!" They all screamed at the same time.

It sounded like an explosion, and yet, instead of having a huge output of energy, it seemed to have compressed in on itself, more like an implosion. It was strong enough to make the earth rumble and make all shinigami below captain level drop to their knees, and it pushed up a cloud of dust that left everyone having a hard time seeing until someone had the initiative of letting out a pulse of reiatsu to clear the way.

The sight that met them was one none had been expecting, Ichigo was on one knee in the middle of Soukyoku Hill, one arm extended before him, in the direction of Rukia who was holding the black daito that was his bankai.

"She…she's holding it…she's holding the zanpakutou…" Karin mumbled, totally baffled. "She's holding the zanpakutou and she isn't hurt!"

She had no idea what it meant, none of them did, though they still could feel it was something extremely important.

"Thank you, Rukia…" Ichigo whispered softly.

When he extended both hands to her again she offered the zanpakutou back to him, and he took it gratefully, with the smallest of smiles.

"Baka…" Rukia whispered with a relieved smile. "It was my turn to save you."

Ichigo simply nodded.

A second later it was like his coat exploded, it turned into reishi particles that vanished in the air, at the same time as Tensa Zangetsu went back to the sealed Zangetsu.

The change was so serious that Ichigo actually staggered and would have fallen face-first to the ground hadn't Rukia been there to hold him up.

"Ichigo!" The Nakama cried out.

They all hurried to where Rukia with some effort had managed to roll Ichigo around so he was laying on his back, with his head on her lap.

"I'm alright guys." Ichigo assured them. "Just…extremely exhausted."

Unohana ignored him and knelt beside him to check him over; she was very shocked a few seconds later when she confirmed that he wasn't hurt at all, only very drained.

"How…how is that possible?" Ukitake asked, not quite believing it. "We just saw how Aizen stabbed him through the chest."

"Yes." Ichigo didn't deny it. "And he did it with my own zanpakutou."

"That doesn't change the fact that he ran you through with a sword!" Renji yelled.

The redheaded lieutenant was extremely frustrated in that moment. Rikichi had found him after his fight with his captain, and he knew that Unohana had healed any major wounds, leaving minor ones to Yamada Hanatarou. Still, by the time he had made it to the top of Soukyoku Hill the battles had already begun. He'd been so shocked seeing how powerful each of the ryoka were that he'd done nothing. And when the traitors had arrived he'd been knocked out before he could do anything at all. He'd only recovered consciousness in time to watch the last part of Aizen's and Ichigo's confrontation.

"It's different because it was Zangetsu!" Ichigo explained as if it should be obvious. "He would never hurt me!"

It wasn't until he noticed the surprised and confused expressions of all the shinigami around him, including Rukia, that he realized that wasn't exactly normal.

*Eh…Ossan?* He called into his inner world.

*Quiet Aibou, I'm trying to sleep.* Shiro hissed at him sleepily.

*He truly is tired, we both are, Ichigo.* Zangetsu informed him. *Him even more so, you must remember it was his power of high-speed regeneration that kept you alive…*

*I know.* Ichigo nodded mentally. *Thank you nii-san…*

*Yeah, yeah…* Shiro waved off the gratitude. *Just let me sleep already.*

*Eh, Zangetsu-ossan.* Ichigo was careful to talk more quietly, even if it was still just his own mind. *About what is being said out here…*

*Like you must have guessed already, what happened with us isn't really normal Ichigo.* Zangetsu said serenely. *I have given you my absolute trust, while you have given me yours, that in turn means we will never hurt each other.*

That was enough to allow the orange-haired shinigami to understand, Zangetsu had said it already, how different he was from any other shinigami, how the kind of bond he shared with the other parts of his soul was stronger than anyone else's…

"It's complicated." He said out-loud, knowing the others were waiting for an explanation. "Ossan…I trust him, and he trusts me…"

"Ossan?" Kyouraku asked.

"Zangetsu." Ichigo clarified. "I call him Ossan sometimes. I guess I just got used to doing that, what with not knowing his name for so long."

"Just how long have you been able to talk to your zanpakutou, Kurosaki-san?" Ukitake asked, with hesitation born from apprehension.

"About eight years or so." Ichigo answered honestly. "Since I was nine. Though I wasn't actually capable of using any kind of power until almost three years ago, and only learnt his name a few weeks ago."

No need to tell them about what had happened three years before, on that awful anniversary…

And still, that had been more than enough to leave everyone present staring at him wide-eyed and with their mouths gaping open (either figuratively or literally) in shock.

"Just…just what are you?" Renji demanded.

It all came to that: just what was he…

**xXx**

When Ichigo came back to he found himself laying on a bed in a white room. Next to him stood Chad, he seemed to be standing guard…it took just a second for Ichigo to realize that must be exactly what his friend was doing, it was the kind of person he was.

"Hey Chad…" Ichigo called in a soft yet strong voice.

"Glad to see you awake Ichigo." Chad nodded.

"How long was I unconscious?" Ichigo was actually intrigued by this.

And it was that, unlike the first time he'd synced with Zangetsu during his fight with Kenpachi, after the last fight he hadn't ended up in his inner-world, he had been completely unconscious until waking on what he could guess must be the 4th division.

"Three days." Chad replied. "I've been keeping guard most of the time, seemed logical since I was the one least tired. Uryuu took over for a few hours every day so I could have some sleep. While we aren't exactly seen as enemies anymore by the shinigami we still didn't want to take the risk of someone taking advantage of all of us being unconscious at the same time."

Ichigo nodded, he could understand that.

Looking around Ichigo could see Orihime in the bed on the other side from Chad, while Uryuu was sitting on one on his other side reading a book; across from the room were another three beds, one being shared by the twins, the other empty (it was Chad's) and the other looked slept on but was empty.

"Rukia has been sleeping on that bed." Chad answered the unasked question.

"Rukia?" Ichigo immediately began getting worried about that.

"She's alright." Uryuu said, putting down his book. "The ordeal took a toll on her and the head healer Unohana-taichou insisted she spend a few nights here, at the same time she wanted to keep watch over you, so eventually it was agreed that she would sleep on the last bed." He pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's good to see you awake Ichigo."

"Thank you." Ichigo nodded. "How's everyone been?"

"While Orihime didn't black out like you, she's been sleeping a lot." Chad signaled to her sleeping form to his side.

"We think it's because of her new powers." Uryuu added. "After all, she did discover a new level for two of her spells. Then there's what she did in Soukyoku Hill…" he sighed. "I never imagined anyone could possibly do something like that."

"Yes," Ichigo nodded thoughtfully. "It's amazing."

"It's dangerous." Uryuu corrected.

"Wha…?" Ichigo didn't understand. "Why?"

"She can reject time!" Uryuu whisper-shouted. "We knew already she could reject wounds, and fatigue, and that kind of thing, but back at Soukyoku Hill she actually undid time, she made it so that explosion never happened. It was the only way that shinigami could have been saved. I believe she may have even been dead already…"

"But…no one can bring back the dead!" Ichigo replied. "It just isn't possible."

"No it isn't." Uryuu agreed. "But what Orihime did wasn't healing, she wasn't even undoing the harm, she was undoing the event that caused the harm!"

"But…" Ichigo was left both amazed and afraid at the possibilities.

"If anyone realizes what she can do, she'll be in danger." Uryuu finished for him.

"Then no one can ever find out." Chad declared stoically. "We will protect her, just like we protected Rukia, like we protect everyone. We are Nakama."

Uryuu and Ichigo both nodded seriously. They knew Chad's logic was sound, and yet that didn't stop them from thinking it just might not be enough…

**xXx**

That afternoon Karin found herself standing at the door of another room in 4th Division Medical Area, trying to decide whether she should go in or not. She was still pondering when the door opened and a tall, short silvery-haired young woman walked out, Karin knew her to be the 4th Division fukutaichou: Kotetsu Isane.

"Hello, you're one the ryoka, right?" Isane asked looking at Karin. "Can I ask what you're doing here? Your room is at the opposite end of the hallway."

All the teens knew they had been assigned just one room for all of them for two reasons, mainly: so those who might still consider them ryoka wouldn't try anything (like Chad said, there was always one of them on guard) and so the healers wouldn't feel threatened in any way by so many 'invaders' everywhere in their HQs. In any case it didn't affect anyone, and it actually made things easier on the Nakama's side.

"I know." Karin replied. "I'm considering whether to go in or not."

"You are the sister of the girl who was healing Hitsugaya-taichou!" Isane suddenly realized.

Since most of the members of the healing division, despite the things that had been revealed, still were pretty unnerved with regards of the humans' presence, Unohana and Isane had mostly handled their treatment, with some help from Hanatarou and a couple lower seat voluntaries when needed. So it wasn't really that hard for Isane to realize the girl before her was the twin of the one she and her captain had found treating Hitsugaya in the living quarters of Central 46…even if the two were nothing alike.

"Yes, that's me." Karin nodded calmly.

"How do you know Hitsugaya-taichou?" Isane wanted to know.

At that point it wasn't really a question of if she knew him, that much was obvious enough.

"It's a long story, complicated." Karin evaded answering. "Is it alright if I go in for a while?"

"Sure." Isane nodded. "Just don't expect much, he hasn't woken yet."

It was unusual, to allow someone they knew so little about, in to see another patient, especially one as important as a shinigami captain, yet Isane couldn't help but think it was the right thing to do. In any case, she would inform her captain just to be on the safe side.

"Thank you." Karin nodded her head and entered the room.

Inside, Hitsugaya Toushirou looked young, almost painfully so, surrounded in medical equipment and laying on a bed too big for him. Karin herself was petite, but she knew how sickness seemed to make many people look even younger, smaller.

"Oh Toushirou-kun…" She whispered, extending her hand yet not actually touching him. "How I wish I had been faster. That I had gotten there earlier, in time to stop something so awful from happening to you. How I wish…" The moment she actually touched Toushirou her hand was covered in ice, if only briefly. "I'm sorry Hyourinmaru…"

She pulled her hand back and, a second later, Unohana Retsu stepped in.

"I imagine your fukutaichou informed you of my visit." Karin commented, closing her eyes briefly. "If I'm breaking some rule I don't know about I can always leave…"

"That's not what I was going to ask of you." Unohana admitted calmly.

"Are you going to ask me how I know Toushirou-kun too?" Karin wanted to know.

"That would be a good question, you know him, and you call him by his given name." The head healer commented. "I don't know many people who do."

Karin simply shrugged at that, she'd always called him that, and it wasn't something that would change anytime soon unless he demanded it directly; and even then he would be hard-press to get her to comply.

"What intrigues me the most isn't actually your presence here, or even your status as a human/shinigami." Unohana admitted after a while. "But something I heard happened in Soukyoku Hill…" he watched the young woman attentively before continuing. "I've been told that your allies, Nakama as you seem to prefer to call yourselves, called you Kurosaki Karin, and yet I was also told you gave Aizen a different name while you two battled."

"Nagaken Karin." She didn't try to hide it.

"Yes, but if you truly were her…" Unohana furrowed a brow slightly. "As far as everyone in Seireitei is concerned, Nagaken Karin-dono, 3rd seat of the 10th Division and captain candidate died 25 years ago…"

"That she did…" Karin agreed with a long sigh. "She died, fighting hollows in the living world." She closed her eyes before dropping the bombshell. "Ever heard of reincarnation?"

"But…" Unohana actually faltered at that. "That…well it's not impossible but, but souls never remember when they're reincarnated."

"There were special circumstances." Karin half-explained. "Like I told Isane-fukutaichou, it's complicated. The thing is, yes, I'm her, I'm Karin, and I remember. The rest can wait until Toushirou-kun wakes up. If anyone deserves to be the first to know the whole truth it's him."

"I don't think Yamamoto-soutaichou will be willing to wait." Unohana pointed out, it wasn't a threat, just a warning.

"This time it's not up to him." Karin declared calmly. "In any case, if he tries to force me he'll find himself in a bind."

Unohana wondered if that was a warning directly from the girl, the reincarnated noble-girl before him…or maybe it was something about her siblings?

"Guess I should go now." Karin declared.

However, before she actually did she leaned over the bed, to whisper something into Toushirou's ear, Unohana had no idea what.

"Wake up soon Toushirou-kun…" She finished in a more normal tone of voice as she straightened up. "Take good care of him Ryuu-san…"

Unohana's eyes widened when ice appeared briefly over Karin as she said those words and brushed Hitsugaya's zanpakutou on the bedside table; yet the ice disappeared as soon as it had appeared and the raven-haired girl left the room without a single word more.

**xXx**

The next day, Ichigo had finally gotten Unohana's permission to take a walk in the division's gardens when he happened to run into Byakuya as he was doing the same.

"Kurosaki Ichigo…" The noble shinigami acknowledged his presence.

"Kuchiki Byakuya…" Ichigo replied in a similar manner.

The two stood there for what seemed like forever, until Ichigo decided it was ridiculous to have a stand-off with a man he wasn't going to be fighting anymore, a man who wasn't and technically had never really been his enemy. Despite all the things he might have done, and not done, in the end he was just one of many to have been manipulated by Aizen. It wasn't exactly his fault that Rukia was going to be executed, it was Aizen's right? Ichigo wasn't sure but he just had to keep believing that, otherwise he just might attack Byakuya again, and this time no one would interrupt them, this time he would actually make the older shinigami regret ever even thinking about hurting his own sister in any way…

Ichigo had just given one step past the still-recovering shinigami (he didn't have the daiko's advantages to recover faster), when he spoke…

"You wanted to know the reason, for my support of Rukia's death." He said solemnly.

"I didn't actually defeat you." Ichigo reminded him of the deal they had made.

"One who commits a crime must suffer the consequences." Byakuya went on, eyes fixed on the distance, with no emotion showing in his expression or his voice. "If one is sentenced to death, the execution must take place. Those are the rules."

"Say what…?" Ichigo could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"In light of rules all personal feelings have no value." Byakuya continued talking, with the same impassivity. "Also, something as useless as emotions…I never had them to begin with. The Kuchiki Clan is one of the Four Noble Families. We are the role models for all Shinigami. If we do not obey the rules, who will?"

As if Ichigo needed any more reason to hate the noble clans, his own clan…

"Sorry, but I still don't get it." He admitted, turning to face Byakuya's back. "If I was you, I would definitely fight the rules. The only way anyone would ever reach my own sisters would be over my own dead body, and I think that even then I would find a way to keep fighting. I guess it's part of being a brother, a protector."

Unbidden, an image rushed to the forefront of Kuchiki Byakuya's mind: a tall dark-haired man in a shihakusho and a captain's haori, standing beside a petite girl dressed in the Academy uniform, with long hair of the same dark color, in a tight braid that hung over her left shoulder. The older man placed a hand on the girl's head, as if to ruffle her hair, only to have her slap it away, then hit him in the arm; and during the whole exchange they were both smiling at each other.

"That's why emotions are useless…" Byakuya began.

Before he knew what was going on Ichigo was holding him by the arm and spinning him around so they were face to face.

"Don't say that!" Ichigo hissed. "Don't say you don't feel when I know the truth!"

"I don't…"

"You do!" Ichigo interrupted him vehemently. "You may believe yourself a master of disguise, and I may not be empathic like Karin, but I too am a big brother. I know that you care, a lot. I have no idea what made you not show it, but I know you do care. If you think it's necessary to put up a front for everyone else, then that's your problem, but don't try to lie to me! At least not on this matter…"

"How can you know…?" Byakuya really wanted to know.

"Like I said, I too am a big brother. It doesn't matter how Rukia became your sister, if it was by birth, by adoption, even by mere chance. The fact is, that she is most definitely your sister. That matters. And we both know it."

Yes they did, Byakuya didn't try to deny it any longer, instead he turned to the ground, thoughtfully, before he began talking again:

"A bit over five decades ago I met a woman in Inuzuri, the 78th district of South Rukongai, her name was Hisana." Byakuya said, closing his eyes in grief at the memory. "She was a commoner, and a humble woman, but still I loved her. I took her as my wife, defying all the rules of the Kuchiki Clan and of Noble Families in general, refusing to pay any attention whatsoever to their complaints. I didn't care, I was young, still a bit of a rebel, and she was just so special to me. Five years later I lost her, she died of some sickness Unohana-taichou couldn't heal." He shook his head. "She died in spring, and her last will was for me to find her sister, to find her and take her in, to protect her…"

"Rukia…" Ichigo whispered, suddenly understanding.

"Yes." Byakuya nodded and continued. "Hisana abandoned Rukia when the later was still a baby, unable to care for both of them. The remorse Hisana felt over that act stayed with her to her last day. I found Rukia in the shinigami Academy a year later, and immediately I made arrangements to make her a Kuchiki. For the second time I went against every rule, every convention of nobility, so I could fulfill the last will of the woman who'd been my wife, if only for five years…" he raised his head to the sky in contemplation. "The Clan didn't like it, but I'd been made Head already, so they couldn't exactly oppose me, and Rukia proved to be good enough in her shinigami studies, so in the end they stopped complaining…mostly. And I made an oath, I swore I would never again break any rules, that I would stick to the law and honor my parents that way, I would never again go against what they had taught me, against what the Kuchiki stand for…never again. And then…"

"Rukia was set to be executed." Ichigo finished for him with a sad sigh, finally understanding the kind of situation Byakuya had been in.

"Yes." Byakuya nodded again. "How could I reconcile the promise I'd made Hisana of always protecting her sister, with the vow made on my parents' graves of upholding the law?"

Ichigo could only sigh as he closed his own eyes, he wasn't usually one to empathize with people he'd hated, but after listening to everything Byakuya had to say he couldn't help it.

"I admit I don't fully understand, guess I never will." He admitted with a sigh. "In that sense, I don't really have the kind of family, or clan you do, while my father sure has expectations of me, as does shishou, I know it's not the same. I don't know what I would do in your place, and I guess in the end it's not really my place to judge. I just know that I, in my own life, would have done anything for my own sisters…in the end I guess it's not the past that really matters, but the present, and the future." He sighed again. "In the end Rukia is still alive, and the law wasn't broken…at least not by you, so I guess both your vows were upheld. I really think you should try and show Rukia more that you care, she cares a lot about you, about your opinion, and I know it would do her good to know that those feelings aren't one-sided. It's not like you have to make a big production of it, as long as she knows." He seemed to be considering something before adding. "Everything you just told me, have you told Rukia?"

"I told her a few days ago." The noble answered honestly.

"That's good." Ichigo nodded.

With that the orange-haired turned as if to leave, before considering something and looking over his shoulder at the still unmoving noble.

"You know, caring isn't weakness." He commented with a wistful smile. "I know I care about my family and all my nakama, and I like to believe it's what's made me so strong, especially in the last several months…" He shrugged before turning back around. "In the end, it's your life, I guess; it's just…I know shinigami can live for centuries, even millennia, and I think that's a very long time to be without caring for at least one person."

Byakuya didn't get the time to answer him directly, by the time he'd turned back in Ichigo's direction the young human/shinigami was already gone…

"Impudent boy…" He muttered under his breath.

From the distance, Unohana Retsu could only watch. She hadn't been close enough to actually hear what the two men talked about, she could only hope that the fact that they were talking civilly might be a good omen; a sign that things would get better. After all, if two men who just four days before had been trying to kill each other could have an honest, polite conversation, didn't that mean similar things could be expected from everyone else too?

**xXx**

That evening, Matsumoto Rangiku, the strawberry-blonde haired and sky-blue eyed, very curvaceous lieutenant of the 10th Division found herself working late; something she never did, she barely even worked most of the time, but in that moment it was necessary to keep the division going with their captain absent. The one good thing was maybe that she knew the captain was, indeed, coming back.

"Lord…I don't know what I would do if he had died…" She admitted to herself quietly.

"Probably spend the rest of eternity berating yourself for everything you did wrong, or simply never did." A young female voice answered her.

Rangiku looked up to find, to her surprise, a young raven-haired ashen-eyed woman in a modified shihakusho, one she could recognize and yet had trouble believing she was there.

"Karin-san?" She asked, shocked. "Is that you?"

"Yes." Karin answered simply as she stepped into the office.

"But you died." Rangiku tried to explain.

"Death isn't the end, all shinigami know that." Karin reminded her.

"I can't believe it!" She rushed to the young woman, embracing her tightly.

Karin didn't complain, she had long known just how expressive the older woman was.

"I can hardly believe you're here." Rangiku admitted when finally letting go.

"Like I've said several times before, it's complicated." Karin replied. "I'm waiting until Toushirou-kun wakes up so I only have to explain the whole thing once."

Rangiku nodded, she knew Karin, and trusted her, and so wouldn't question her, or the decisions she was making.

"Rangiku-san, before Toushirou-kun wakes up, we need to talk." Karin informed the fukutaichou in a very serious tone.

"About what?" Even as she asked, the blonde sensed it wasn't going to be good.

"About Gin-kun." Karin answered solemnly.

Rangiku closed her eyes tightly and lowered her head, she had known she wouldn't like that.

"There's a lot you don't know, Rangiku-san, a lot you need to know." Karin elaborated. "But the most important thing is: I talked to Gin-kun two nights before the defection. We talked for half the night, about many things, some are personal, others I will tell you when we have more time. Right now the one important thing is something he wanted me to ask of you."

"What was it?" Rangiku inquired.

The blonde didn't understand, Ichimaru Gin was a traitor, why then did Karin refer to him as if he were still her best friend?

"He said, and I quote: 'You need to tell him the truth. He needs his mother. Now more than ever…' end quote." Karin stated softly.

Rangiku gasped and covered her mouth with both hands at that.

"He knows…" She whispered in a hoarse voice. "And you…"

"Of course he knows, he's always known." Karin answered as if it were nothing. "About me, it took me a while to put the pieces together, but I did it. And really, once I knew, so many things made a lot more sense. Like the way you always act with him…"

"He cannot know, I cannot tell him." Rangiku shook her head almost violently. "No, not now. It's been too long…"

"It's never too late, Rangiku-san." Karin insisted. "And I agree with Kitsune that he'll need you. After everything that happened a few days ago, he needs something to hold onto."

"And I'll be here, like always, as his fukutaichou."

"He doesn't need a subordinate right now! He has enough of those! What he needs is his family. With Hinamori-sempai in her current condition…you're all that's left."

"What about you?"

"I'm not his family. You are, you're his mother!"

"I haven't been his mother since he was barely an infant! I abandoned him Karin!"

"For his own safety. I know that, I understand. And he will too, if you explain things to him."

"I cannot, no, just no. He will never forgive me." She shook her head in absolute denial. "He will hate me. I would not be able to handle that Karin-san, just not. Shirou-kun hating me, it would just kill me."

"And why would I hate you?"

Both women turned their heads at once at the door, shocked speechless; never having expected the young white-haired turquoise-eyed boy standing there.

"Toushirou-kun…" Both whispered at once, neither knowing what else to say.

"Tell me now, Matsumoto, why would I hate you?" He then turned to the other woman and his own eyes widened in shock. "Karin?!"

"Hello, Toushirou-kun." She greeted him, not knowing what else to say. "I'm back."

* * *

So... how's that for a cliffhanger? Next chapter is really intense, a lot of Karin's story is coming, and the mess I've made of several characters. Some things which have either been heavily implied, or even outright stated already. I have to wonder, this anyone see this insanity coming? I'm curious whether we're all on the same wavelength or if I'm just that crazy (probably the latter, but still).

Also, question, with a bit of background, in the Everlasting series I'd give teasers for the next chapter, some which included the name for the chapter, some that didn't. I was wondering if you'd like me to do those right now, or if you'd rather I continue things as we have thus far.

See ya next chapter!


	11. Lion, Raven, Fox and Flower

And here we are! For all of those who've been waiting for me to explain Karin's story, the time's come. And of course, because no person is an island, her story is intricately connected with others, whom you'll have guessed after the end of the last chapter. Also, you should know that this chapter is told a bit differently, there are a lot of flashbacks, but that's how my muse wanted to do it, and I liked how it turned out, so...

From this point on I'll try to lessen my ANs, unless it's important. And last chance for any of you who might be interested in teasers for the next chapter to let me know! Thus far no one's said yay or nay either way. If no one's interested I won't use them.

See ya next week!

* * *

**Chapter 11. The Lion, the Raven, the Fox and the Flower**

He was sitting in the porch of what had once been his old 'Granny's' home, watching the sun descend, remembering how he'd been there brooding since before it even rose. It was likely a lot of people would be either worried about or pissed off at him, but in that moment he just couldn't bring himself to care. Hitsugaya Toushirou, shinigami, wielder of the legendary dragon Hyourinmaru, 10th Division taichou, who had finished the Shino Academy in just one year and been found Captain Candidate a decade later, who had reached bankai twenty years after graduation and immediately became captain of his squad, succeeding the Noble Nagaken Isshin; who had for his whole life believed himself to be a mere orphan from Rukongai, who had seen his Granny and Hinamori Momo as the closest thing he had to a real family…so much of his knowledge, so many of his beliefs had been tested the previous night, to the point that he was no longer sure who he was supposed to be at all.

He knew that the whole madness had begun a handful of days before when, on the very day the unseated shinigami Kuchiki Rukia was supposed to be executed through Soukyoku for giving her powers to a supposed-human, and some believed a group of human ryoka would interfere to save her, he had suddenly realized the great quantity of anomalies with regards to not only Kuchiki Rukia's sentence, but also the recent murder of one of his colleagues: Captain Aizen Sousuke, from the 5th Squad.

Armed with his suspicions Toushirou had led his loyal lieutenant: Matsumoto Rangiku, to the offices of Central 46, only to find they'd all been murdered some time before, at least a few weeks, and that the 3rd Division fukutaichou: Kira Izuru was the only living person in the place. Wanting to know what was going on, a chase had begun. However, at some point he and Rangiku were forced to split, leaving her to go after her colleague, while he backtracked to the Central, where he found his life-long friend, his almost sister: Hinamori Momo, bleeding to death after being stabbed by a very-much alive Aizen.

He'd called on his shikai, even his bankai, and thrown himself against the traitorous captain, only to realize, in the most painful manner possible, that even if he was considered a prodigy, even if so many believed him to be extraordinarily powerful, he was still much too weak against people like Aizen Sousuke.

A part of him had known even before he unsheathed his sword that he had no chance of winning, but he just couldn't stand it, he had lost so much already…and with that knowledge came the realization that the disaster hadn't actually begun that day, but many years before… on a tragic morning when he learnt that his best friend, his confidant, the one person he trusted the most in the whole world…was dead.

_A slightly younger Hitsugaya Toushirou, with his hair less spiky, wearing a simple shihakusho and with Hyourinmaru in a sash at his back was pacing at the entrance of the 10__th__ Division barracks. He'd been doing the same thing since sunrise, and already the sun was about half on its way to its zenith, even if he wasn't sure just how many hours had passed. _

_The reason for his rather unprecedented attitude was the absence of his long-time best friend, confidant and 'rival' as captain candidate for their division: Nagaken Karin. The white-haired shinigami knew she'd been sent to patrol a human city for a few days, since the last shinigami on patrol had been badly injured. Since the patrol wasn't part of her normal schedule she was to actually share the duty with Toushirou, they were expected to each go and guard the city every other night. Karin was supposed to have been back by sunrise, since the hollows seemed to only show themselves at night, for whatever the reason. Usually she would write a report for the soutaichou and then join him for an early workout, during which she would tell him about her patrol, then they would have breakfast together before splitting, he to go to his own duties, she to take a shower and sleep for a few hours. However, that day things weren't going according to plan, several hours had passed since sunrise and Karin had yet to show up. He didn't like that. He had a very bad feeling. _

_Finally, he sensed a reiatsu approaching, not exactly the person he was expecting to see, but since the 3__rd__'s barracks were nowhere close, Toushirou decided there had to be a reason why Captain Ichimaru Gin was around. He decided maybe he even knew something about Karin's absence, it wasn't totally impossible, seeing how the two seemed to be best-friends; and how that was even possible with how odd and even creepy the silver-haired one was, was something the turquoise-eyed just couldn't understand. _

_What he could have never expected, when Gin finally came close enough for Toushirou to see him clearly, was the fact that the silver-haired shinigami was holding something or rather someone in his arms. At first Toushirou hadn't noticed because he could only sense the reiatsu of one person… _

_Then, as the figure laying on Gin's arms became clearer, Toushirou's horror rose: he could see the shihakusho, drenched in blood, the same blood that was staining Gin's own clothes, including his usually pristine white haori; he could see the short strands of raven-black hair, falling from the head that hung loosely from where Gin was doing his best holding her, it showed that she wasn't holding her own neck up; and finally, he could see the paleness of her face, so foreign on someone who had always been tanned…the conclusion was evident for anyone with eyes to see, and yet Toushirou refused to see it. _

"_Hitsugaya-san…" Gin whispered in a low, hoarse voice. _

"_What happened?" The younger shinigami demanded to know. _

"_I met her by chance during her patrol, late into the night." Gin began spinning a story that was only half-true. "I decided to stick around until her shift ended; and shortly before it was supposed to, hollows began appearing, dozens of them. They weren't normal, they were much too…good, I guess, to be normal. A handful of them were even Hamen. It took us hours, but eventually we managed to bring them all down, or that's what we thought…until one of them went at me from behind. By the time I even realized what was going on it was already too late, she'd defeated the hollow, but at the same time it managed to deal a fatal blow to her." Gin took a deep breath before sealing the deal. "I'm really sorry, Hitsugaya-san, Karin-san is dead, she died saving me…" _

"_No…there's no way." Toushirou shook his head violently, in absolute denial. "She cannot be dead. She just…she can't. She's strong…so very strong…much more than I am…than I'll ever be…she cannot be dead…" _

_But even as he finished his rant he was beginning to see truth, becoming unable to deny it anymore. And it hurt, it hurt so much. _

"_Give her to me!" He demanded. _

_Gin didn't say a word, simply passing the dead body of the petite shinigami to the younger man, a man who still seemed so much a boy…whom Gin cared so much about and yet couldn't allow himself to show it. That's why it was better for Gin to keep his eyes closed, so no one could see his feelings displayed there, his grief, his pain… _

"_It's your fault!" Toushirou accused them. "She's dead because of you!" _

_Gin didn't deny it, he probably felt he was right. _

_Toushirou knew Gin hadn't been telling the full truth, but had no way of knowing how much of it was lie, and how much wasn't. In the end only one part mattered: Karin was dead, gone, she, his best friend, his confidant, the woman he…_

"_NOOO!" The young shinigami's screamed echoed through half Seireitei. _

_Rangiku arrived at that point, and she could only cover her mouth to try and hold back her sobs even as tears fell down her face at the scene that greeted her. That of the young boy and genius she cared so much about, unknown to him, on the stone ground, screaming and crying, his spirit so broken, as he held the body of the one he'd cared for the most… _

Yes, Hitsugaya Toushirou could still remember that day well, perhaps too well.

He remembered what it felt like when, after a few hours, the body still in his arms began disappearing into reishi particles, the loss, the terrible soul-breaking pain that had filled him as she had slowly vanished from his arms.

He remembered how he'd followed all the funeral rites more in instinct than consciously, before locking himself inside his quarters for three days, buried in things that reminded him of her, trying to convince himself he would never forget her.

And then…he remembered the day he'd finally left his room, it was the same day he went to train and achieved bankai; the same day he'd taken all his pain and grief on Ichimaru Gin during a test; the day he was given the title of taichou, becoming the youngest shinigami to ever achieve bankai, or gain the level of captain in the history of Seireitei. It should have been a great satisfaction, and yet…all he could think about was the person who had pushed him that far, who had been his motivation for everything, and who was no longer there with him.

His best friend, his confidante, and the woman he…

Very close to where Toushirou was in that moment, so close it was actually a surprised he hadn't sensed her yet, Karin was standing on the branch of a tree, just watching him in silence.

'I wonder what you're thinking about…' She thought. 'Is it about what we talked last night? Or maybe about my last life?'

She could still remember the day she'd found out, without doubt, that she was in fact the reincarnation of Nagaken Karin, the last Head of the Nagaken Clan…

_Karin was mentally cursing everything and everyone she could think of. Her big-brother was out on the streets, in the middle of the night, fighting a couple of shinigami too strong for him, especially when he was running on borrowed powers still, and she couldn't do a thing! Why? On one side, because she had promised him she wouldn't, and she must have been crazy to ever make such a promise; and on the other, because she knew that her power would be even less effective than Ichigo's on a battle like the one he was fighting in that moment. _

"_But why?" She asked to one in particular, while clenching a fist. "If we're so sure that Ichigo is supposed to be a shinigami, with or without Rukia-san's powers; even Yuzu-nee is an expert at kidou, Rukia-san said so. Why then am I so weak?" _

_*Do you feel weak?* A voice unexpectedly asked inside her own mind. _

"_Wha…?!" Karin was on her guard instantly, had one of the other shinigami gotten past her brother and to their home? "Who is talking? Show yourself!" _

_*That I cannot do.* The voice replied softly. *And worry not, a shinigami I am not.* _

"_Then what are you?" Karin demanded strongly. _

_*Answer this first:* The voice instructed her. *What is it you're missing to be a shinigami?* _

_Karin actually stopped to consider her answer, as half of her brain analyzed the fact that the voice sounded female, and yet at the same time not completely human; the other half kept considering the question: she had reiatsu, without it she wouldn't be able to see spirits or have any abilities at all, she had a strong reiatsu…What did Ichigo have that she didn't? _

"_A weapon…" She realized out-loud, then corrected herself. "A sword…a zanpakutou…" _

_*Exactly.* The voice replied, satisfied. *Tell me, Young One, do you know what a zanpakutou truly is?* _

_Karin knew the question was important, and again stopped to consider her answer. _

"_A weapon, but not just that." She qualified. "It's…a partner." _

_*True.* The voice acknowledged the answer. *A partner. Aibou…do you want to have an aibou, Young One.* _

"_Yes!" Karin didn't doubt, not even for a second. "Wait, why do you call me Young One, I have a name, it is…" _

_*I know your name, Nagaken Karin, just like you know mine.* The female voice replied serenely and authoritatively. _

"_Nagaken?" Karina asked confused. "No, my name is Kurosaki Karin." _

_*That may be the name of your body, but is that the name of your soul?* _

"_I don't understand your riddles!" _

_*Kurosaki Karin is who you are now, but it's not who you've always been. Focus, Karin, focus and remember the past; it's such a pivotal part of destiny it just cannot be forgotten.* _

_And as Karin closed her eyes and let go, her mind was suddenly flooded by many images: people, places, events, which she couldn't fully recall, but knew they had happened, knew they had been and still were an intimate part of her. And among it all, three memories in particular stood out: an older looking man in shinigami clothes, looking down at her with pride and even some humor; a beautiful, majestic bird made of the purest fire; and a turquoise-eyed, white haired boy in a shihakusho, smiling at her. _

"_Nii-sama…Tori-chan…Toushirou-kun…" She whispered the name of each in turn, before her gaze hardened. "Oyaji, I'm gonna kill you…" _

She actually had forgotten to fulfill her self-made promise before leaving for Soul Society. It could wait, there were more important things than taking vengeance on her father, brother, whatever, for not telling her the truth. In any case, it's not like he knew for sure it was her, and he had no way of knowing until they got back and she confirmed or denied everything, they would both have to wait until then.

A few feet away Toushirou kept pondering on recent events, in particular those related to that disastrous day at Central 46 offices; he'd almost died. In fact, according to what Isane-fukutaichou had told him shortly after he'd woken up, he would most definitely have been beyond saving, if it hadn't been for the providential help of one of the ryoka girls who apparently knew healing kidou: Kurosaki Yuzu. Toushirou knew he would have to find her and thank her at some point.

But what was truly important was what had happened while he still was in limbo, in the middle of continued unconsciousness and awakening:

_He'd been floating in nothingness for an indeterminate amount of time. At times he would sense reiatsu, or hear voices, but they were muffled and he couldn't understand what was being said. Until he heard her voice: _

"_Oh Toushirou-kun…" _

_He had no idea who that voice belonged to, only that he hadn't heard one so clear before since going into that state. And both her voice and her reiatsu were so painfully familiar to him… even if he couldn't focus enough to remember who they belonged to. _

"…_wish I had been faster…had gotten there earlier… time…s-stop…aw-ful…happening to you… I wish…" _

_He couldn't actually hear everything she was saying, but still enough to realize that she seemed to feel guilty about what had happened to him… _

"_Don't…" he mumbled out-loud, even knowing she wouldn't be able to hear him. "It's not your fault lady…whoever you are…the fault is all mine…" _

_He interrupted himself again when he felt the sudden rush of freezing coldness that went past him, he knew who it belonged to; but what shocked him the most was what he heard the girl say immediately afterwards. _

"_I'm sorry Hyourinmaru…" _

_She knew Hyourinmaru! She knew his zanpakutou! Just who was she?! _

_He lost focus for a while, which made his miss the words being said as the girl visiting began talking to someone, most likely one of the healers. It took a great effort, but after a while he managed to focus enough again to make out her words: _

"_Guess I should go now." He heard the girl say, her voice even cleared than before. _

"_No, don't go!" Toushirou called, even knowing it was useless, he had to try. "Don't leave me here in the dark! I want to keep hearing your voice!" _

_He suddenly felt a warmth fill him, she was touching him! And what followed was a few words that must have whispered straight into his ear, because of how clear he could hear them, and how quickly they seemed to reach her heart. _

_He was so dazed by those actions he was only half aware as she said her goodbyes. _

"_Wake up soon Toushirou-kun…" He heard her whisper softly, full of feeling. "Take good care of him Ryuu-san…" _

_Even Hyourinmaru answered to her goodbye! And since when did someone call any zanpakutou, especially one not their own by a nickname? _

_Still, he didn't give those details much importance, the only important thing was the words he could still hear, and feel, echoing inside of him: _

"_Come back to me, Winter Lion…I'm waiting for you…" _

He'd woken up at some point during the morning, and after too many tests and checkups to count it had been declared that he'd been in good condition, still sore and tired, but no longer in any danger. And yet, when he'd wanted to leave, he hadn't been allowed, according to the healer in turn, Unohana wanted to keep him for a few days more in observation, after all, he'd nearly died not even a week before!

Karin's thoughts, meanwhile, had changed to something else entirely, her talk to one who had at one point been her best friend, just a couple of days before all hell had broken loose and Seireitei had been sent into chaos…

_She had left Yoruichi's hideout and been wandering around for a while, she knew it probably wasn't a very good idea, considering how tense all the shinigami seemed to be after the 'murder' of Aizen Sousuke… _

'_If they only knew the kind of monster that bastard was, and probably still is.' Karin hissed inside her own mind. _

_She really didn't buy that the captain was dead. Such a powerful, cunning, psychopathic bastard didn't die just because, there was just no way they would be that fortunate. Besides, the timing was a bit too convenient, what with Rukia about to be executed and half of Seireitei going nuts over the 'ryoka' invading Seireitei. _

_Somehow, her steps brought her somewhat close to the 3__rd__ Division, and right before she could convince herself to leave, she noticed someone else seemed to have chosen that very night, that very moment to take a walk. A silver-haired, shihakusho-clad someone who seemed to keep his eyes permanently closed and whom she knew almost as well as she knew herself… _

_The petite girl just couldn't help herself, the moment he moved slightly, just enough to show he'd become aware of her presence in the shadows she stepped out and called to him, in words she knew he would understand perfectly well, even if he had trouble believing them. _

"_Hey Kitsune…" She called with a half-smile. "It's me, Karasu, I'm back." _

_The man stared at her for what seemed like forever, apparently unable to talk, until his eyes opened, deep-blue, extremely expressive eyes, that in that moment showed how dazed he was, an emotion that showed in his voice as well. _

"_K…Karasu?" He gasped. "B-but how? I thought…No, I know you died!" he began talking very fast. "He wanted me to go but of course I didn't, how could I leave that little brat alone with his pain? So I stayed, I saw you vanish, I saw his pain, I saw Ran-chan trying to offer him comfort and yet so afraid herself of being too obvious in her affection…Foolish Ran-chan, and stupid me, it's because of me that she never dared show the kid the affection he deserved. She knew I would realize who he was, and she just had to keep him safe, even from me…So much pain, so much love not being given, and it's all my fault…my fault…" _

"_Kitsune…" Karin began calling him. "Kitsune calm down! You're babbling." _

_It was so rare, he barely even spoke at all so him babbling was something only two people had ever seen, the only two he'd ever trusted with all he was. _

"_Karasu…" He whispered, apparently more focused. "How are you back?" _

"_First answer me one thing." Karin changed topic slightly. "Are you going to go through with it? Are you really going to betray Seireitei, to betray Rangiku-san and…Him?" _

"_So you know what's going to happen in a couple of days." Gin commented with a nod. _

"_You mean what's not going to happen." Karin corrected. _

"_You cannot stop it, no one can." Gin told her calmly. "Regardless of how unlawful it is, the captains are so sure of their absolute power, and the omnipotence of Central 46 that none of them have even considered the possibility of there being foul-play; not even with all the obvious irregularities taking place…" _

"_Not everyone is as oblivious Kitsune." Karin corrected him. "Ukitake-taichou, Kyouraku-taichou, Ise-fukutaichou and a few more shinigami here and there know the truth." _

"_Really?" Gin actually seemed interested in that. "And what are they going to do?" _

"_Nothing." The girl deadpanned. "They won't have to. That's what my nakama and I are here for. We'll stop that execution, we'll save Rukia, and if we manage to unmask Aizen at some point, then all the better." _

"_The Nakama…" Gin nodded, as if confirming something. "That means you're one of the humans who infiltrated Soul Society. I was wondering about that…" he shook his head. "In any case, do you really think a bunch of humans will be enough? You mentioned Aizen, which means you haven't been fooled…" _

"_Not even in my last life could he convince me of watching as he used shikai." The petite girl confirmed. "I always suspected foul play…" _

"_And you couldn't be more right." Gin agreed. "Still, a reincarnated shinigami and a bunch of humans are not gonna cut it…" _

"_How about two shinketsu, a kidou genius, the heir of the Quincy lineage and two humans with powers that defy nature?" Karin suggested. "Oh, and a technically-exiled shinigami." _

_Gin actually blinked at that, carefully considering that. _

"_You mean to try to stop Kuchiki Rukia's execution with just seven people, yourself included?!" Gin questioned. "Are you insane?!" _

"_Not try, do." Karin corrected calmly. "You should really have more faith in me, Kitsune." _

"_I have a lot of faith in you, Karasu, I just don't know what to think about your so called Nakama." Gin stated. _

"_Fair enough. You'll get to see them the day of the execution, I guess. And talking about that, you still haven't told me what you'll do." _

"_You know what I will do. What I have to." _

"_You don't truly have to." _

"_Yes I do." _

"_What about Rangiku-san? What do you think she'll do if you turn traitor, if you leave her? What do you think she'll feel?" _

"_I don't want to leave her, but the place where I'm going is not one where she would be safe. And if she comes to hate me for my actions…all the better, maybe then she'll move on and be happy, finally." _

"_Move on? Be happy? Did you lose one too many brain-cells in the last twenty-five years Kitsune? She loves you! That's never gonna change. No matter what you do, where you go. She's always going to love you!" _

"_And as happy as that makes me, I know it's cause for pain." _

"_It wouldn't be if you weren't so stubborn and accepted that you don't have to go through with this. You've done enough!" _

"_Tell me one thing Karin-san." He used her name to show how serious he was being. "If you were to fight taichou right now, do you think you stand a chance of winning?" _

"_No…" It cost her a lot to admit it, but she did. "But that's just because I've only recovered my powers recently. Kitsune…!" _

"_Then I have to do this, Karasu. It might be the only way to bring him down…" _

"_I understand…" Which didn't mean she had to like it. _

"_Now that I have answered that. Will you tell me how it is possible for you to be back? I mean, and before you mention it, yes, I know that souls go through a continuous cycle of reincarnation and all that. But still, they aren't supposed to keep their memories!" _

"_There is one exception for that rule: when the soul in question has a mission to fulfill, a destiny so-to-speak, and they died before it was done." _

"_And what is this destiny of yours, if it may be known?" _

"_Isn't it obvious?" She smirked slightly. "Tell me Kitsune, what's the phrase I call to release my zanpakutou?" _

"_Fly across the fiery heavens." Gin quoted. "What's that got to do with anything?" _

"_Only certain people use the term 'heaven', Kitsune, especially when calling on their zanpakutou. They are the ones who serve Heaven, True Heaven…" _

_Gin was left speechless, eyes open in realization. _

"_What Aizen wants is an impossible ambition." Karin informed him solemnly. "I will guard that throne until the day the rightful heir is ready to step forward. And even if something happens to me, I'm not its only guardian. Aizen will never be King, I won't allow it." _

_Gin nodded mutely, still too surprised at what had just been revealed to him to say a word. He realized the huge show of trust that was, Karin had revealed that much to him, because she trusted him…he would never betray that trust. She was, after all, regardless of life or death, of being human or shinigami, his best friend. _

"_I think I should better go back to…the others." Karin declared out-of-the-blue. "Before someone sees me, us, here. It wouldn't be good for either of us." _

"_True." Gin nodded in agreement. _

_She had already given several steps away when Gin called her. _

"_Can you pass on a message to Ran-chan for me?" He asked. "After all this is over, please?" _

"_It'll be my pleasure." Karin agreed immediately. "Want to send her your love?" _

"_No." Gin shook his head slightly. "I won't make that part even worse. And this is more important. I need you to tell her, word for word what I'm gonna say." _

"_You can trust me." She assured him. _

"_I know. Tell her: 'You need to tell him the truth. He needs his mother. Now more than ever…' That's it." _

"_You do realize she'll have a stroke when she realizes you know, and always did." _

"_That's doesn't matter right now. What matters is that she be honest with him. He'll need her, just as much as she'll need him." _

"_What about you? When will you get what you need?" _

"_Probably when I die." _

_He was gone a second later, disappearing into shunpo, but Karin just couldn't help the foreboding feeling that had feel her when he'd said those words. When he died…she really, really hoped it wouldn't come to that. _

"It would be just too cruel…" Karin whispered to herself.

Toushirou closed his eyes slightly, he was feeling tired, probably the reason why Unohana had wanted him to stay in observation for a few days; and yet anxiety and stress just wouldn't allow him to stay put. So after a few hours, and with no little effort on his part, he'd somehow managed to slip away and made his way to his Division's barracks. He could have never, not even in a million years, imagined what greeted him there:

His fukutaichou calling him by his given name, even by a nickname, crying and claiming that he would hate her for some reason, while talking to a girl that until that very second, and for the past twenty five years he'd believed to be dead!

"…_He will hate me. I would not be able to handle that Karin-san, just not. Shirou-kun hating me, it would just kill me." _

_When he'd finally reached the barracks, the recently awakened white-haired captain had been actually surprised to realize that his fukutaichou was still in the office; an emotion that changed to confusion when he realized she was talking to someone, and crying; and he'd no idea what the talk could possibly be about, what could be making the two women talking so overly emotional; he didn't even realize the other name that was said in that moment; though it became clear the whole thing it involved him when a certain nickname was spoken. _

"_And why would I hate you?" _

_He knew it was almost cruel, to shock them like that, but he just couldn't help himself. He would have even smirked at the twin expressions of shock that adorned the women's faces if he weren't so interested in actually hearing the answer. And still, he didn't really see the second woman standing there. _

"_Toushirou-kun…" Both whispered at once, neither knowing what else to say. _

_It started bothering him at that point, how it wasn't just Rangiku calling him by his given name, which was already strange enough to consider, but that the other woman was doing the same, and his name seemed to roll off her tongue so easily, as if it were the most normal thing in the universe for her to say it. _

"_Tell me now, Matsumoto, why would I hate you?" He demanded before turning to the other woman, his eyes finally realizing what he was sighing, and the shock enough to nearly make him go catatonic. "Karin-san?!"_

"_Hello, Toushirou-kun." She greeted him, an awkward expression showing that she really didn't know what else to say. "I'm back."_

_It was like he'd been speared in place, he couldn't move, he couldn't think, he could hardly even breath for a few seconds… _

"_How…?" Was all he managed to ask out-loud. _

"_Come on, Toushirou, did you really think something as trivial as death could keep me away?" Karin seemed to dismiss the mere idea. _

"_You are dead!" Toushirou's mind finally caught up with him and he began yelling. "You died! I held you in my arms as your spirit dissolved! There's no way you can be here. Either Aizen is using those stupid hallucinations of his or…or I snapped. Maybe I did die back at the Chambers of the 46 and…" _

"_Toushirou!" Karin interrupted his rant as she shook him by the arms. "You aren't dead, you didn't snap, and I indeed, am alive. It is possible…I'm human." _

"_Human?!" Toushirou gasped as he realized things. "You were reincarnated." _

"_Yes." Karin nodded. _

"_Yet you remember." Toushirou continued. _

"_Yes." Karin nodded again. "And I'm still a shinigami. It's ironic really, how I ended up being Nii-sama's daughter…" _

"_How…?" Toushirou asked again. "How can any of this be possible?" _

"_I have a mission, Toushirou-kun, a destiny so-to-speak." Karin explained. "It's the whole reason I could die, be reincarnated and get to keep all my memories, and my power…Well, mostly, my control is atrocious right now, since my human body clashes with the level of power I had at the time of my death. Bankai was torture on me when I used it…" _

"_Bankai?" Both Rangiku and Toushirou asked at the same time. "You have bankai?" _

"_You had it when you died…" Toushirou added, realizing the other part of it. _

"_Wha…?" It took Rangiku a second to catch up with that. "You mean you had bankai, and still you died? Who or what killed you exactly?!" _

"_A hamen." Karin answered half-absently. "Possibly one of Aizen's experiments. And yes, I had bankai when I died, I was still perfecting it though…" _

"_If you had a bankai, why weren't you made captain?" Toushirou asked. "We were candidates, weren't chosen immediately because we needed bankai first. If you had already achieved it…" _

"_Isn't it obvious, Toushirou-kun?" Karin asked with a sigh. "I was never interested in being a captain. I like being a shinigami enough. But captaincy…too much paperwork, too little action, at least as far as I'm concerned…" _

_Toushirou couldn't help it, he chuckled. _

"_Karin-san, I just noticed something." Rangiku spoke right then. "Why aren't you carrying a zanpakutou? Did something happen to it during the fight?" _

Toushirou shook his head before laying a hand on Hyourinmaru by his side; wondering what he would ever do, if he lost that connection, if he lost his partner. After all, Karin may still have Tenreikou's power, but it just wasn't the same…

On a high branch of a tree, it was almost as if Karin could read his mind, as she watched his hand on Hyourinmaru she could only place her own in the small of her back, on that empty space, where her zanpakutou should have been…

_The naginata that was Tenreikou's shikai dissolved into reishi particles before disappearing entirely as Karin finished her training for the day. It'd barely been a day since her brother had woken up after his battle against the two shinigami who'd taken Rukia away, and finally she'd managed to hold her zanpakutou for the whole session. _

_Of course, Isshin didn't yet know about her powers, or her memories…she didn't have the time to deal with such things just yet. _

_*Great work Karin-san.* Her zanpakutou congratulated her. *You have finally recovered your full-power. Of course you'll need more training to fully recover mastery of your shikai, and especially bankai. But the crucial part is done now.* _

"_Tori-chan." She called out-loud. "I've been wondering. Why is it that I can't see you, or go into my Inner World?" _

_*I was wondering where you would ask that?* Tenreikou whispered. *The reason is simple, Karin-san. I'm not really here.* _

"_That's not exactly possible, you're talking to me." Karin pointed out. "For the last three days you've been guiding me through my training to regain this power, to regain you." _

_*You've been training to regain your own power, Karin-san.* Tenreikou answered. *And what you here right now…it's just a memory, of me, of you, of our past.* a sigh could almost be heard. *I do not exist Karin-san…I haven't existed for twenty-five years. Since that day we died protecting your friend…* _

"_But, but…I don't understand." _

_*You remember the kind of level we used on that fight?* _

"_Bankai. It was the first time we actually used it in battle." _

_*Yes, bankai. And when that didn't cut it, we synced.* _

"_Yes, I remember." _

_*We were synced when we died…And only one soul was reincarnated.* _

"_But…I can hear you…I can even feel you!" _

_*You're just feeling yourself. Me…I'm a part of you. We died together Karin-san, and when the time came for us to be reincarnated, our synched souls melded completely; now we're only one. There's no Nagaken Karin and Tenreikou anymore; only Kurosaki might have been two spirits once, but now we're only one. You hear me, you feel me, because I'm a part of you, the part that holds the knowledge of the power you can wield…* _

"_It can't be…" _

_*Yes it can. Why do you think you're even empathic? That wasn't a gift you had in your previous life, was it?* _

"_I thought maybe I inherited it from mom." _

_*No, in a sense you did inherit it, from me. It's also why your zanpakutou dissolves into reishi particles every time you stop focusing on it. You don't need a zanpakutou, you're both shinigami and zanpakutou, Karin-san…* _

_She wanted to deny it, to scream to the four winds that such a thing wasn't possible. She couldn't have done that, couldn't have killed her closest companion, her partner… _

_*You didn't kill me Karin…*Tenreikou whispered inside her soul, inside her heart. *I'm here, I'll always be here, a part of you…* _

_Karin didn't answer, in that moment her grief was too strong, she could only cry. _

Karin sighed and closed her eyes tightly to keep what she considered useless tears back. She couldn't hear Tenreikou anymore, and she knew she would never see the actual zanpakutou spirit again. And yet…Tenreikou was a part of her, and Karin could feel her, she knew what the zanpakutou would say in every situation, because it was a part of her own thought-process, same with her feelings, and everything else. Karin was no longer just Karin, she was also Tenreikou; shinigami and zanpakutou in one…

Toushirou closed his eyes as he remembered the pain in Karin's ashen eyes as she had explained what had happened to her zanpakutou.

"I know I never say this enough, Hyourinmaru…" Toushirou whispered, caressing his zanpakutou's scabbard. "But thank you for being with me…"

*It's a pleasure master…* Hyourinmaru replied in his usual rumbling tone.

Tensai or not, the white-haired shinigami was having quite a hard time wrapping his head around everything that was going on, everything Karin had revealed the previous evening; and even then, he knew there was much she hadn't said, much he didn't yet know. Why exactly Karin was keeping secrets, he had no idea; but he'd decided to wait to ask her about it until he'd fully dealt with everything else. And it was that while Karin's return had truly dazed him, it hadn't been the biggest revelation of the night. Not by a long shot.

"_Rangiku-san…you need to tell him." Karin said. _

_The comment had been made out of the blue. One moment Rangiku and Toushirou had been trying to think of something to say to the young woman, some kind of comfort after what had happened to her zanpakutou, a pain neither of the other true could begin to comprehend; and then she was saying those words. Words that immediately reminded Toushirou of what he'd managed to hear right as he was arriving. _

"_No." Rangiku flat out refused. "I won't do it. You cannot make me!" _

"_I cannot make you do it." Karin admitted. "But you need to understand you have to. It's the right thing to do. For…for everyone involved!" _

"_No!" Rangiku insisted, an almost hysteric tone in her voice. "No. Never." _

"_Just what is going on?" Toushirou wanted to know. _

_And yet he was ignored, as the two women continued arguing about something he didn't understand, and yet knew was pretty serious. _

"_Rangiku-san, please…" Karin insisted, almost pleaded with the older woman. _

"_Why are you insisting so much on this Karin-san?" Rangiku wanted to know. "Is it because he asked you to do it?" _

"_Wha…? No!" Karin shook her head vehemently. "I'm insisting because I know it's something that needs to be done…" _

"_No, that's not true…" Rangiku began. _

"_It is the truth!" Karin yelled, loosing what little patience she had left. "I can feel you both! I can feel your pain! Did you understand what I meant when I said I fused with Tenreikou? I have her abilities, all of them, including her empathy, to feelings and power. I can feel the pain each of you are feeling as if it were my own and its breaking me inside!" _

_That confession was more than Toushirou could have ever expected, more than Rangiku could hold against. The two of them turned to each other, somehow managing to ignore the petite girl that had just let herself fall to the ground as their eyes met, waiting for one to break the silence holding them captive. _

"_As you probably know, I'm from Rukongai." Rangiku decided to give the full story. "I lived in one of the upper districts and was always hungry. Then, when I finally thought I would die, He found me. He brought me to a shack where he was staying, got me food and water and nursed me back to health. He would leave at times, but always came back, he protected me, he became my first friend…His name was, and still is, Ichimaru Gin." _

_Toushirou grunted in disgust, he'd of course already known that Rangiku and Gin were close, and had been longer than he'd known either of them; he just had never imagined how much longer. The fact that they had met, become friends, maybe even gotten together before even going to Seireitei for the first time…it was something that baffled the young prodigy. _

"_Flash forward a few years." Rangiku declared. "One day Gin left and didn't come back. I found it strange; since I'd been attacked a few months earlier he simply refused to leave me alone for more than a few hours at a time. I'd heard him say in passing that he would become a shinigami, but didn't take him seriously. Not until he finally returned, days later, to tell me he had passed the entrance exam. I was shocked, but didn't try to stop him. I stayed back for a year or so before I decided I couldn't wait any longer, so I went to the Shino Academy. My entrance exam wasn't the best, to the date I'm not even sure why I was accepted; it's not like I was anything special…In the end, though, I was accepted. It wasn't easy. I'm not like you, Toushirou-kun, I had the drive, the will, but I didn't have the power. It took me a great effort to graduate in the normal time, and even then, it's not like many divisions were dying to have me. In the end I was accepted as an unseated officer in the 5__th__ Division. Back at a time when Aizen was taichou and Gin his fukutaichou." She sighed sadly. "I thought it was our chance to reconnect. How wrong I was. Gin and I were together…and yet we weren't. It was like, at times he wasn't really, fully, there. So I got frustrated, and I began drinking…yes, that's how my alcoholism began." she shook her head bitterly. "I kept trying, as hard as I could, to get back what Gin and I had had while in Rukongai, but I just didn't seem to be enough. It was like some kind of huge chasm had opened at some point and I couldn't cross it anymore. And then I found out I was pregnant…" _

_Toushirou's eyes widened in shock. Matsumoto? His fukutaichou? Pregnant? _

"_It was awful." Rangiku continued. "The morning sickness in particular, I would have it any time but in the mornings! In particular when I had to go to the office, or when I happened to run in with Aizen-taichou…" she half-smiled sadly. "Guess that should have been a clue, huh? Even my baby knew there was something wrong with Aizen!" she shook her head. "No one knew I was pregnant, I even swore Isane to secrecy; the only ones who knew aside from her were Unohana, since pregnancy for us souls is so rare, especially in one not from a Noble Clan…and Nanao-chan, my best friend. When I was around my third month or so Aizen-taichou told me that I was being transferred, according to him I just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the squad; whatever that meant. So I was transferred, to the 10__th__ squad, under Nagaken Isshin-taichou. I think he realized my condition from the very beginning, he was very considerate of me, and always made sure I wouldn't be sent on any dangerous missions; some began accusing me of whoring myself to him to get special treatment, and he immediately shut them all up. When I was six months along, and truly began showing I was sent on a 'reckon mission', or so it said on paper, in reality I went into hiding on a property that belonged to Isshin-taichou, though under another name. I stayed there the last three months of my pregnancy, and for three more months with my newborn baby. Either Isane or Unohana would visit constantly to check on us." She sighed tiredly. "Then my 'mission' was over, and I had to return to Seireitei. I somehow felt it wasn't a good idea to take my baby with me, the moment I stepped through the gates with that baby in my arms, everyone would know who the father was, and even though there was much I didn't know, and even more I didn't understand; I knew Gin had changed, and I sensed it wasn't a good idea for him, or anyone, to know about the baby. So I left him with an old lady, a nice woman, friend whom I had helped once, in Junrinan. She was already taking care of a little girl she saw as her granddaughter, and she agreed to take care of my baby; I even promised I would send money so she wouldn't worry, and visit as often as I could. So that's what I did. I would send half my paycheck every month and visit every free day I had. Until Isshin-taichou told me I was being followed, apparently my change had been too obvious. So I began going to visit less and less, afraid that someone would follow me and find my baby. Until eventually I could only visit once every several weeks. It made me sad, and once again I turned to drinking to fill the hole in my chest. Then…the time came when my baby began growing, and I wasn't there to see it; that broke me, little by little. I was a terrible mother, such a terrible mother…I soon realized I didn't even deserve that child. I still don't." _

"_But if you just left him to protect him…" Toushirou whispered, not quite understanding. _

_Karin sighed, wondering if he would still be as understanding when all was said and done. _

"_When my son grew enough, I could no longer go see him." Rangiku continued. "He had such reiatsu, even at that young age, if anyone connected him to me, he would be found. So I began only visiting in secret, watching him from a distance. And he grew…without me. Until the day came when we met in the middle of town and he didn't know me…" her voice grew hoarse. "I talked to oba-san, she told me that he'd become very powerful, I guess he must have gotten that from Gin; like I said before, I never had the power…but he did, my baby had it, and he needed to learn to control it before it controlled him. So I went to him, like nothing more than Isshin's newly promoted fukutaichou, it took a while but I convinced him to go to the Shino Academy, and once there, he proved to be even better than his father when he graduated in even less time than it took him!" she couldn't help the proud smile on her face. "Isshin-taichou took him in as soon as he graduated, before anyone else could even object or try to fight to have him. I realized then that taichou knew, had probably always known, and he was trying to give me back what I had lost, even if I couldn't protect my son like a mother should, I would protect him like a superior officer, like a friend, could…" _

_Toushirou's mouth opened and closed several times, as his mind began coming to terms with what Rangiku was saying, and what she wasn't. _

"_For so long I thought I had done my best to protect my baby." Rangiku declared, in a half-sob. "Never realizing that the one person I hid him the most from, always knew…And now, now I know it might be too late, that it's likely that I long ago lost the chance to ever call him mine. And yet I just can't help it. It doesn't matter if he's my subordinate, or my captain, he'll always be my dear baby…" her glassy eyes rose to meet Toushirou's wide ones. "You'll always be my baby Shirou-chan…" _

"_No." Toushirou declared, unexpectedly. _

_His voice was so unyielding, so cold…Rangiku couldn't help but flinch; at the same time as Karin curled upon herself, feeling what was coming before it even happened. _

"_No, you're not my mother." Toushirou denied fervently. "You cannot be. I have no mother. She died. She's gone. I'm alone. You're not my mother. I have no one! No one!" _

_And before any other word could be said, he was gone. _

Then, as he watched the sun finish setting, Toushirou couldn't help but sigh to himself and close his eyes; it had taken time, but his brain had finally begun to accept everything he'd been told, that it was the whole truth. He'd also begun to accept that he might have been a bit harsh with his fu…his mother…

**xXx**

Karin was walking through the lantern-illuminated streets of Seireitei. She'd left Junrinan at some point while Toushirou was still deep in thought; she was considering dropping by to visit Rangiku, to try and cheer her up, useless as she knew it would be; but when she got close enough to the 10th Division HQs she suddenly realized she was sensing two reiatsu signatures instead of one, and he could hear voices as they spoke.

"Hitsugaya-taichou…" That was Rangiku, and she sounded so hesitant, so afraid…

"Toushirou." The white-haired one corrected her. "At least when not on duty. That's my name, it's the name you gave me, right?"

"Right…" Rangiku obviously couldn't understand the change. "Toushirou…I…"

"I…I really don't know how to do this." Toushirou admitted after a while. "I don't know how to connect to someone, how to have a family. But…but I would like to try…"

The next thing that was heard was the 'oof' as Touchirou found himself being smothered by the strawberry-blonde woman, at the same time as he realized that there may have been a deeper meaning to the very tight hugs she'd been giving him all those years…

"Be happy, Toushirou-kun, Rangiku-san, you deserve it…" Karin whispered melancholically, as she walked by the building, in the direction of her nakama. "Kitsune…I really hope you'll get your chance as well…"


	12. Meetings, Meetings

A lot of small scenes this time, and then the piece of the story that was missing from the last chapter (wonder if you might be able to guess already what it is...).

Now, before we actually go into the chapter I'd like to go into a comment I got last week. I decided to handle things in an AN instead of a response because as it was left by a guest I had no way of knowing if they'd actually get the response or not; and because some of the parts I think are relevant enough to bring up with all of you.

First: I was told that Ichigo was OOC. I'm not going to even try to deny that. What I will say is that I thought that was pretty obvious from the get-go. His background is very different from canon-Ichigo: from starting down the path of a fighter earlier on, to the fact that he's not alone, his experiences... a lot is different. So of course he's going to be different.

Second: I was told off for not including the mess with Kon... to be honest, while Kon is great for comedic relief, and every now and again he truly has his moments, I just didn't need him this early on. Also, the episode of his introduction... it wouldn't happen like that at all. Ichigo in the series was alone a lot of the time, his friends found it more odd that he spent so much time with Rukia, than him disappearing so often. That's not the case here; both because here he's not alone, and he's not just disappearing. Kon would have never gotten the chance to do any of the crazy things he did in canon, so I saw no need to mention it.

Third: Ichigo's image. That I've not included scenes with him explicitly saying some things doesn't change who he is. My Ichigo is single, like canon Ichigo, he still doesn't flirt, has no interest in 'playing around'. Some things might be different about him, but the core of him is still the same.

Fourth: This person said they didn't recognize this as Bleach... I don't even know how to answer that. I mean: same characters, same villains, same powers, same places... it's not like this is an AU in Medieval Europe or an All-Human, or Space Odyssey... so I've no idea what I should have done to make it seem more like Bleach. Of course there will be differences, that's only natural I think. All the same, I will never force anyone to read my works (not like I can), so if you don't like it, there are thousands (probably dozens if not hundreds of thousands) of awesome Bleach fics out there, sooner or later you'll find what you're looking for. Personally I've found quite a few that I like and go back to read every so often.

And Fifth: And this is the one that throws me the most. I've been told I should tag for Harem... why? And I'm honestly asking the question because I've no freaking idea. I'll be dead honest with you here, there will be two or three trynes in the future, because that's how the story came out, they're minor characters and you can always ignore the status of their relationships if you don't like them. There will be both het and yaoi pairings, but you must know that by now. But I still have no idea what this person has read that makes him think there's an Harem here. And I'd really like to know, because if it's there then I need to either rewrite something, clarify things, or something, because I wrote no Harem's (not in this fic, at least). So... yeah.

If you're still here after all that, thank you and I'll bore you no more. After the very long AN (a week after I said my ANs would be shorter, I know, I'll keep trying), on we go with the chapter, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 12. Meetings, Meetings…**

It was still considerably early in the morning and Karin was standing inside Captain-Commander Yamamoto's private office, wearing a new shihakusho she had modified to look like her old one, some people had tried to convince her of wearing the more traditional one, or at least one with both sleeves, but she flat out-refused; the way she looked with those modified clothes, it was part of the change in her case by the melding of the original Karin's soul and Tenreikou's, and there was no way she would allow anyone to take that away.

"It is, indeed, a great surprise to find you back here, Nagaken-dono." Yamamoto was saying right then. "Though in these hard times your presence might be just what the Gotei 13 needs."

"No." Karin interrupted him coldly.

"No?" Yamamoto opened one eye, he wasn't expecting refusal.

"You won't use me as a symbol, or for some kind of campaign." Karin stated, ignoring the fact that she was talking to the leader of the Gotei 13. "It is true that I once was Nagaken Karin, a noble lady and a shinigami, captain candidate; but that's not who I am anymore. I am not part of the Gotei, nor will I be, at least not for the time being. My name is Kurosaki Karin, and I have a life back in the world of the living, one I'm not about to give up. In regards to the Nagaken Clan, I'll be acting as retainer until the heir is ready to step up and claim his title as the next head of the Nagaken Clan…"

"Heir?" Yamamoto's brow narrowed. "It was my understanding that both y…Nagaken Karin and Nagaken Isshin had died without any children. Or will one of the distant cousins ascend to the position of heir."

"You are right on the first part, for the most part." Karin answered vaguely. "And on the second, it just wouldn't be possible, they aren't pure enough, but mostly, they just aren't powerful enough for such a thing. No, suffice it to say that there is an heir, one of blood and of power, he will take his position when he's ready, until then I'll act as retainer."

"Why not take the position back yourself?" Yamamoto insisted.

"Because that position was never meant to be mine." Karin replied tiredly. "And I don't want it. In any case, my destiny lies elsewhere."

"Yes, what you said to Aizen Sousuke…" Yamamoto stated, wanting her to elaborate.

"If you don't see the truth yet I won't be the one to say it." Karin stated coldly.

Really, it was obvious enough, or so she thought.

"You're a Celestial." Yamamoto stated. "One of the Royal Guardians."

"Yes." Karin answered honestly.

"And there's always supposed to be two of them." Yamamoto continued. "The phoenix and the dragon…" the old man nodded, as if confirming an old assumption. "Hitsugaya Toushirou, he's your partner."

"Yes." Karin waited for him to go on.

"And if you're here, that means that a Royal Heir has been born." Yamamoto added, both eyes opened as he realized what that meant. "Then what Aizen said was true, the throne of heaven indeed must be empty right now…"

"And like I told Aizen when he commented on it: an empty throne doesn't necessarily mean the absence of an heir…"

"You have found him already."

Karin shrugged simply, she wasn't about to answer that.

"I guess, with your position, it's in everyone's best interest to let you go about and do as you please." Yamamoto admitted after a while. "What of the rest of the ryoka?"

"The Nakama are a very particular group." Karin answered thoughtfully. "They will have their own part to play in what's to come, and I will stand as a part of them. For while a part of me may still be Nagaken Karin, captain candidate and Royal Guardian; I am also, and possibly more strongly, Kurosaki Karin, Nakama."

Yamamoto's brow furrowed, he really didn't like the idea of letting humans with supernatural abilities and knowledge of the spiritual plane go around and do as they pleased, it went against everything he believed in, and yet he knew the kind of power a Royal Guardian held, both in reiryoku and in authority, and he wasn't hard-headed enough to defy that. So he would allow it, and hope things would go well.

"Something will have to be arranged, for the rest of the Gotei 13 to know the ryoka are no longer enemies of Soul Society and are to be accepted as our allies." Yamamoto declared out-loud. "Especially with the war that is to come…"

"Yes, about that." Karin sighed, knowing the reaction to her next statement wouldn't be good. "The Nakama aren't getting involved."

The Soutaichou's reiatsu flashed very briefly, though it was still enough for Karin to stagger slightly, if more in shock than because she had actually been affected; the old-man never lost his control, never.

"Explain yourself Na…Kurosaki Karin." Yamamoto demanded.

"This isn't the Nakama's war, this isn't our war." Karin tried to explain, still tired. "At least not yet. You need to understand Soutaichou, none of us care about politics, or about your power struggles. We only care about protecting: each other, our families, and if it were to become necessary, our town. Seireitei as a whole acted against Rukia-san, which is the only reason we got involved in the first place. The situation with Aizen and the Hougyoku…we were made aware of it before coming by Urahara Kisuke, who at one time was wrongfully accused of Aizen's own doings; and I remembered some things from my other life in time, but it was never our intention to really move against Aizen ourselves." She took a deep breath and added. "However, we aren't stupid. Aizen wants to get into Heaven, and I know what is needed to get there…it's not hard to imagine the place he'll choose as his sacrifice, after all Karakura Town is the current Juureichi. If…or more like when, Aizen makes his move against our town, then we will get involved."

"In the end you're just delaying the inevitable." Yamamoto stated hardly.

"Understand Soutaichou, if we were to get involved now, if you and the Gotei 13 as a whole took us as allies…what purpose would it serve?" Karin inquired. "We won't follow your orders. None of us. We will always do what is needed to protect what we've claimed as ours, that may at some point go in your favor, but it also may not. For example, we will never allow you to send us someplace else; Hueco Mundo or wherever, not when we know our home could be at risk. We have our priorities, and no order will be able to trump them."

Yamamoto nodded, though still displeased; in the end it wouldn't have made a difference, he realized, what was the point of having the ryoka enlisted as allies when they wouldn't follow his, or the Gotei 13's orders anyway?

"At the same time, know that if you call for our assistance, and as long as it doesn't act against us, or our principles, we will never hesitate to help." Karin added. "Like I said before, it's in our nature to protect: be it friends, family, a place…and there are people even here in the Soul Society that we've come to hold dear…if nothing else, we will always try to help them."

Yamamoto nodded, that definitely made things better; he knew that with people like Hitsugaya Toushirou, Matsumoto Rangiku, Kuchiki Rukia, and maybe a few others as well, as part of the Gotei 13, the ryoka's…no, the Nakama's aide, was almost guaranteed.

**xXx**

It was still the morning, and while all the Nakama had been given a clean bill of health and been sent off that morning to find other accommodations for the remainder of their stay, Sado Yasutora was in that moment on his way back to the 4th Division barracks.

He noticed in his way how the shinigami would eye him wearily, most moving out of the way instantly, it was a mix of respect and fear; he wasn't used to the first, and the second truly made him sad, but he said nothing and simply kept walking. He tried several times to ask someone, once in the barracks, where he could find either their taichou or fukutaichou, but no one seemed to want to get close to him, so he kept looking on his own.

After a short while he began to tire, more mentally than physically, seeing everyone's attitude in regards to him was truly taking a toll on his gentle heart. He laid against a nearby wall, eyes to the ceiling so he wouldn't have to watch the same scene anymore, when unexpectedly a thing yet slightly large hand touched his arm.

"Are you alright, big guy?" A soft voice asked him.

Chad looked to the side and realized at least one of the women he'd been looking for had found him before he could find her.

"I thought you and the other ryoka had been sent off this morning." Kotetsu Isane added in a thoughtful tone.

"We were." Chad nodded. "I just came back."

"For what, if it may be known?" Isane inquired. "Is one of you hurt again? Maybe I can help."

Chad couldn't help but smile slightly, he'd decided that she really was a special girl, she, Unohana Retsu and Yamada Hanatarou were the only three shinigami from that division thus far that he'd met who didn't either fear or hate him and the rest of his nakama just for being humans with strange powers.

"I came to thank you." Chad said, then clarified. "You, your captain, and Yamada-san."

"Why thank us?" She seemed honestly surprised by that.

"For all you've done for us." Chad replied.

"We only did what we had to." Isane said simply. "We're healers, and so we healed. There's no need to thank us for doing our duty."

"Then let me thank you for 'doing your duty' without fear or anger." Chad said in turn.

That actually seemed to take Isane by surprise.

"I have good eyes, and very good ears." Chad answered the unasked question. "The three of you are the only shinigami here who do not either fear us, hate us or both."

Isane nodded, a sad understanding shining in her eyes.

"It's really not their fault." She tried to justify her peers. "They just…don't understand."

Chad could only think about a young, shy shinigami who had known and understood even less, and yet he'd gone looking for them all out of his own free will. He would have probably even stayed around if they all hadn't been so insistent on it being too dangerous for him.

"I know." Was what he said in the end. "Still, it's only right to thank you. I'm sure if the others weren't busy they would be here too."

"Well, then you're welcome." Isane said, then smiled slightly. "You know, big guy, you're awfully chatty today."

Chad didn't answer to that comment, he knew she was right. In the days they'd all spent in the 4th Division he would always watch attentively as she checked up on everyone, and the times when she needed to do some healing kidou. Knowing he was guarding the others she would explain as much as she could what she was doing, or sometimes just what state they were all in. He would hardly ever say a word to her, only nodding to acknowledge her and giving one word responses when she wanted to know if she understood everything she was saying. Still, in that time he'd come to realize how special she was, her soft, caring nature, her calm acceptance and understanding of a bunch of humans who were so much out of the norm that practically everyone was afraid of them…

"Don't mind them." Isane said right then, signaling discreetly at the other shinigami. "They will come to accept you ryoka in time."

"If you need to use a term to refer to us all, we prefer Nakama." Chad pointed out suddenly.

"Nakama…" Isane repeated, thinking about what she'd seen, and what she'd heard of the battles she'd missed. "It seems fitting."

Chad inclined his head in thanks.

"Well then, big guy," Isane declared suddenly. "I have work to attend to, and I have a feeling so do you. So good luck."

"Good day." Chad nodded in kind.

She had given a few steps away when, quite unexpectedly, she turned back and stood on her toes to deposit a quick kiss on Chad's cheek before spinning around and rushing once again to the door, though before crossing it she stopped again and looked over her shoulder, the red in her cheeks quite visible.

"Oh, and you're welcome to visit anytime!" she told him before hurrying away.

Chad, for his part, could only stand there in shock for a while before reaffirming his thoughts that she most definitely was something…

**xXx**

As noon approached, Ichigo could be found sitting on a cliffside, the extensive back-gardens and training-grounds of the Nagaken Estate at his back, and beyond those, the manor itself. It was beautiful, huge, and almost painfully empty…

They had all arrived there that morning, shortly after Unohana Retsu had declared them all fit enough to leave; at that point only Ichigo had been in any condition at all, still a bit sore and drained, Orihime too still felt somewhat drained, but nothing serious. Karin had taken control as soon as they had arrived, introducing herself as Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin and claiming to be the retainer of the House, standing in for the future heir until he was ready to take his place. Of course she'd been talking about him, it had been decided that since he hadn't had to reveal his birthright up till then, they would keep things that way for as long as they could. Even without revealing the truth about their father Karin could easily claim the place of retainer through her past life; the problem in the end had been to convince the Elders that she wasn't going to be taking the place of Head again.

Thankfully, the Nagaken Council was formed by only three Elders, an old woman called Nagaken Kasumi, who was Isshin's aunt, sister of his father; and two distant old cousins: Nagaken Hiroshi and Nagaken Satoru, they belonged to a minor line that could never hope to inherit anything but still had some respect due to being part of the clan. The rest of the members of the clan were three cousins, all descended from the two men since Kasumi had never married, and all but one unseated officers in the Gotei 13.

It had been obvious from the moment of their arrival that they hadn't liked the group of humans, or the power Karin had immediately made use of; after all the years that had passed they'd grown complacent and used to their own power, to being without a Head, even a retainer was above them, and that didn't sit well at all.

So Ichigo was out there, pretty much brooding, while his friends took walks around the Seireitei. Even that hadn't been to his liking, the last thing he wanted was to have to see the looks of confusion, fear, anger, or even disgust, coming from every shinigami that saw him and his nakama.

"I know we are human, I know we're out of the norm…" Ichigo said out-loud bitterly. "But do they really have to be like that?"

*Remember Ichigo, it's human to fear anything that's different from what we consider normal.* Zangetsu said from inside his mind. *The shinigami's attitude, even those showing disgust and anger, they are just forms of that fear for the abnormal.*

"Yeah Ossan, you just called me and my nakama freaks, thanks a lot." Ichigo said in a very bored and sarcastic tone.

Even Shiro laughed inside their mind.

*You know that wasn't what I meant, Ichigo.* Zangetsu pointed out in a no-nonsense tone.

"I know old-man. It's just…" Ichigo sighed tiredly. "I just wish we could go home, back to Karakura already."

*Is that what you really want, aibou?* This time, surprisingly, it was Shiro doing the questioning. *What about the little snow-princess?*

Snow-princess, it was what Shiro had taken to calling Rukia, that 'twin' of his really couldn't just call someone by their own name…

"I honestly don't know Shiro." Ichigo said with a sigh. "I know we came here for her, to save her, to get her back. But she's finally connecting to her brother, I could see it in her eyes when I saw her this morning. How could I even think about taking that from her?"

It was true, Rukia had gone to see them when they had left the 4th Division, they'd talked about a lot of things and she was able to reassure them all that she was alright, and no one was giving her any grief about what had happened, even if most still didn't understand why she'd first been sentenced to death and then just left alone. The most important part was when she'd spoken about spending time with her Nii-sama, learning the truth about her past; there had been such happiness and hope in her eyes and in her voice. Ichigo understood, she was finally getting the kind of attention and, in a way, affection, from her brother that she'd always craved, how could he take that from her?

"Brooding, Ichigo-dono?" A female voice asked out of the blue.

Ichigo had to force himself to stay in place, he'd just been about to jump up and unsheathe his zanpakutou in one move. Curse his instincts, but after nearly dying less than a week before he was really no fan of surprises. He'd been so deep in thought he hadn't sensed the reiatsu of the person approaching.

Nagaken Kasumi was a woman with blue-gray eyes and ashen-black long hair in an elaborate twist down her back, who looked to be in her fifties, more or less, though it was obvious she must be centuries if not millennia old. She had reiryoku, but having never been trained to use it, or control it, most of it had gone dormant. Actually, from what Ichigo remembered being told, Karin had been the first Nagaken lady to ever become a shinigami.

"Good morning Kasumi-dono." Ichigo forced himself to remember to use proper suffixes, something he'd never done before. "I didn't expect to see you out here. Oh, and my name is Ichigo please, no –dono needed. After all, I'm no one important."

"I beg to differ." Kasumi replied easily. "But since you're really not the first person to not want to be addressed in such a way…I understand that. Going back to your brooding, it was something your father used to do a lot, you know?"

This time Ichigo nearly fell off the cliff in shock.

"Excuse me…what…?" He asked.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Kasumi asked with a smile. "The trace of Isshin's reiatsu in you is enough to give you away, at least to me, as his aunt and the one who raised him I probably knew him better than anyone…" she shook her head. "I don't know how it happened but I know it to be true, you are, indeed, Isshin's son. And Karin-san, the new Karin, is your sister, as is the young girl with the chestnut hair."

"Yuzu." Ichigo gave the name almost unthinkingly.

"Yes." Kasumi nodded. "So, will you tell me what has you brooding, nephew?"

Ichigo just sighed, it was obvious the woman knew the truth, and she wasn't about to let it go, so after a few seconds he answered:

"I'm just wondering about what to do now." He declared. "It's obvious we're going back to Karakura…but with what happened last week…" he shook his head. "I'm not stupid, I know that even when we didn't actually declare war on the traitors they will most likely come after us at some point, either to try and sway us to their side or simply to destroy us; and when that happens it's going to be war, because we're not just gonna give up. I don't want Karakura to become a battle-field, but we can't exactly take the battle to them, it would be too risky, not just for us Nakama, but if they decided to attack the town while we're gone…" he shook his head again. "And then there's Rukia…"

"Rukia…" Kasumi repeated, interested. "I'm guessing you're talking about Kuchiki Rukia, the adopted sister of Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Yes." Ichigo nodded. "She's the whole reason we infiltrated Seireitei in the first place. We came to save her."

"You care for her." It wasn't a question. "Maybe even more than you do the rest of your group, those you call Nakama…"

"She's Nakama as well." Ichigo pointed out, evading her statements. "And how can I possibly hold a girl I've only known for a handful of months, dearer than I do those who've been by my side for years…"

"Don't ask the Heart for reasons, for it shall give you none." Kasumi half-quoted with a soft smile. "There's nothing wrong with it, you know."

Ichigo didn't answer, simply shook his head and got on his feet.

"I'm sorry, Kasumi-dono, but a meeting was arranged for all of us and I gotta get moving less I'll be late." Ichigo declared.

"You know, you can call me oba-san, Ichigo-san." Kasumi pointed out. "After all, that's what I am, your aunt."

Ichigo took a moment to consider; he'd had such a small family for so long, only his father and sisters, the idea of a aunt was strange to him…

"I'll try, Kasumi-d…Kasumi-oba-san." Ichigo nodded after a while.

Kasumi nodded, watching as he vanished into shunpo.

She'd been honest when saying she could feel a part of Isshin in him, and she was the only one who knew. Still, that didn't mean she understood why they were doing the things they were: having Karin act as a retainer instead of letting him take his rightful place, keeping a secret the fact that Isshin was alive…there was obviously a lot she didn't know, the woman just hoped one day they would trust her.

She'd been so lonely in the years since Isshin's disappearance and presumed death and Karin's own death during a mission a few years later. She herself had never married, never had any family of her own, not being allowed to be with the man she truly loved she'd refused to take any other for a husband; a decision Isshin had allowed to stand even against the Elders who insisted it was her duty to give an heir to her line. When Isshin and Karin had died she had thought that was it, the other cousins had nowhere near the power a true Nagaken ought to have, and the family would die out…and yet, Isshin now turned out to be alive, and not only that, Karin too was back, and Isshin turned out not to be dead… Extraordinary things were happening and Kasumi could only wonder as to the cause of them all, it was obviously something just as extraordinary and exceptional. She just hoped it wouldn't be too bad…

**xXx**

Yuzu had been wandering around Seireitei for a while, surprisingly alone. Usually one of her siblings would make sure to be with her at all times, or even one of the other Nakama, but either they didn't think there was any danger or they were just too fixated upon their own troubles to think of following her around. The chestnut-haired girl didn't mind, in fact she rather liked it, it made her feel a bit better, stronger, more independent.

"Kurosaki Yuzu-san!" A voice called her suddenly.

She couldn't help the small smile that adorned her lips as she turned to see the shinigami approaching her, certainly the only one who was doing that rather than back away.

"Hey Hanatarou-san, how are you?" She asked with a soft smile.

"Just fine Yuzu-san." He assured her. "I just…well, I saw you walking by and thought to come and say hello."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Yuzu assured him. "I hope you haven't been having trouble."

She briefly turned her attention to the tense looks most of the shinigami were directing, not only at her, but now at both of them.

"Oh no, I'm fine." Hanatarou assured her, and then added in a whisper. "No one knows what I did, except Ukitake-taichou, Kyouraku-taichou and Ise-fukutaichou; and they all told Unohana-taichou that they'd needed my assistance with something during the time I was absent, so I had no trouble at all."

Yuzu nodded, satisfied. She had a feeling that even if Unohana had known the truth, she still wouldn't have punished Hanatarou for it, maybe reprimanded him at most; she seemed to be a fair and kind woman, and not one who would punish someone just for wanting to help when he noticed something was wrong.

"I heard what you did." Hanatarou told her out of the blue.

"What I did?" Yuzu was actually confused at that.

"How you saved Hitsugaya-taichou when he was nearly killed." Hanatarou elaborated. "Kotetsu-fukutaichou says only a true genius in healing-kidou could have done what you did and saved his life after he was so badly injured."

Yuzu actually blushed and looked down, she knew she hadn't done any of it because she wanted to be praised, or admired, or anything of the sort, she'd only wanted to help. Still, it felt good to be recognized; at the same time, she realized the credit wasn't just hers.

"It's all thanks to you." She told Hanatarou with a bright smile.

"But…but I didn't do anything!" Hanatarou was quite surprised at her words.

"You taught me healing kidou." Yuzu reminded him. "If it hadn't been for you I would have been unable to do anything at all, for Hitsugaya-san, or even for my own nakama."

"But…butbut…" Hanatarou seemed to have trouble finding out what to say. "But I only taught you the bare basics. What you did in the Chambers…you're a genius!"

"Thank you." She inclined her head at him. "But even the greatest genius will be for nothing without the proper guidance. It was you who gave me that guidance."

"Eh…well…" Hanatarou began rubbing the back of his neck and walking backwards awkwardly. "It was nothing…really…Ah!"

He interrupted his own stutter when suddenly crashing a rather hard surface. And his awkwardness turned to panic when he realized it hadn't been a wall he crashed into but a body, of a shinigami…someone he knew pretty well actually, an unseated member of the 11th Division, and he was surrounded by at least half a dozen of his companions.

"Hanatarou-san, are you alright?" Yuzu asked, in a worried tone.

Hanatarou was just about to answer, but he was interrupted by the other shinigami.

"Who do you think you are, getting in our way?" He demanded of Hanatarou.

"He's just a pussy of the 4th Division." Another said from a side. "I've seen him before. Just a stupid coward…"

"Hey!" Yuzu called as she approached them. "He's not a coward, and he didn't run into you. It was an accident!"

"What would you know, brat?" Another of the shinigami asked.

Yuzu actually froze in place. While she'd begun to grow used to the mixed looks of fear and anger coming from practically everyone around her, she hadn't been quite expecting that.

"It's alright Yuzu-san, please, you do not need to get involved." Hanatarou told her.

Even as he said that, the same shinigami he'd bumped into: Hotohori Fumio, took a hold of his collar angrily.

"You shut your tramp, idiot." He told him. "We of the 11th Division have no need for rats and cowards…like all of those from your division are…healers…" he snorted. "They're all good for nothing, just cannon-fodder…"

Yuzu's eyes narrowed at that, seeing that big shinigami manhandling someone she considered a friend, and then insulting healers in general…she really didn't like it.

"Let him go!" She yelled at the shinigami.

With a flick of her wrist what look like a small whitish flash left her fingers, it was like an extremely watered-down version of the Hadou # 4: Byakurai. It didn't do more than give the tall, broad shouldered shinigami a small shock in his hand, still, it was enough to make him let go of Hanatarou, which was all she wanted.

"Little bitch!" The shinigami insulted as he shook his hand.

"Why don't you take on someone your own size?" She asked, getting angry for the first time in a long while. "You…you…big brute!"

It wasn't exactly an insult, even if, coming from her, it was a lot; the other shinigami actually chuckled at her, but the one she'd hurt couldn't let the insult pass.

Hanatarou could read what was about to happen a second before it did, but since he'd been thrown unceremoniously against an alley wall, he couldn't move in time to do anything.

"Yuzu-san!" He barely managed to call.

Yuzu too could see what the man was planning and went into shunpo a fraction of a second before the shinigami reached the spot where she'd been; while she pretty much 'appeared' a foot or so away.

"Wench!" The shinigami spat at her. "Fight me!"

"I don't like fighting." Yuzu answered simply.

That didn't seem to be enough, the man moved against her again, fist extended as if wanting to punch her, but before he could she'd shunpoed to the side. The same thing repeated three times before the big shinigami overreached and fell down.

"Bitch!" The man cursed her again. "Using shunpo instead of fighting like a warrior! What division are you from? Another pansy from the 4th?"

"I'm not a shinigami." Yuzu stated calmly.

It was until then that the group of shinigami watching the exchange actually noticed she really wasn't wearing a shihakusho but a black yukata.

"You…are one of the ryoka?!" One of the shinigami exclaimed in sudden realization.

Yuzu sighed and closed her eyes briefly; did they have to keep calling them by that name, they were no invaders, or strangers, anymore, were they?

"You…You disgraced our division!" One of the shinigami cried out. "We will bring you down to restore our honor!"

Yuzu's eyes widened as she saw at least half of the shinigami, and the 'big brute' prepared to move against her; she honestly had no idea what had brought on their sudden anger.

Hanatarou had finally managed to rush onto his feet and to her side, he was trembling slightly even as he held the hilt of his own zanpakutou; he hated fighting, and he didn't have that much confidence on his own skills, but he couldn't let Yuzu be hurt just for trying to help him against a bunch of immature battle-loving bastards of the 11th Squad.

"What the hell is going on here?!" A thick, strong voice called from a side-alley.

Hanatarou paled instantly, having recognized both the voice and the reiatsu immediately; Yuzu thought both were familiar but couldn't place them immediately, until the owner stepped into the same alley where they all stood: it was Zaraki Kenpachi.

"Za…Zaraki-taichou…" Hanatarou mumbled in shock.

Yuzu's eyes widened as she realized why the voice and reiatsu were familiar.

"I asked what the hell is going on here?!" Kenpachi demanded in the same tone.

Still no answer, and then Kenpachi's eyes finally landed on Hanatarou and Yuzu, and lingered on the young girl.

"You are one of the ryoka, aren't you?" He asked seriously.

"We rather prefer the term Nakama." Yuzu pointed out. "And yes I am, Kurosaki Yuzu is my name, pleased to meet you."

Hanatarou couldn't help but face-fault, she was standing before a man who was perhaps the most feared captain in the whole Gotei 13; whose mere aura was enough to put fear in practically everyone who met him. Even in that moment Hanatarou couldn't help how nervous and afraid the reiatsu surrounding the man made him feel, and yet Yuzu stood straight and spoke directly at him, as if it were nothing.

"I fought a Kurosaki…" Kenpachi said thoughtfully. "I fought him, and he defeated me."

"That would be nii-san." Yuzu nodded calmly.

"Where is he?" Kenpachi asked immediately. "I want to fight him again."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Zaraki-san. He's busy right now, and we'll be leaving soon." Yuzu pointed out. "Besides, why should he fight you again? We're not enemies."

"I loved fighting him!" Kenpachi stated with a mad-grin. "I wanna do it again!"

Yuzu shook her head, she really didn't like people who would fight just because; it had been bad enough when her brother would get in fights with thugs, but at least back then it was the others initiating them, Ichigo and at times Chad, would only defend themselves and each other. What that man, and what the others behind him wanted was something else entirely.

"Fighting unnecessarily is stupid." Yuzu deadpanned.

Growls could be heard from the other shinigami, and Kenpachi's reiatsu flared at those words. In a second Hanatarou was holding his throat, panting, the rest of the shinigami weren't really much better; and yet Yuzu still remained unaffected.

"How curious…" Kenpachi commented as he watched her attentively. "You're still standing."

Yuzu's eyes narrowed, the only reason she remained unaffected was that she'd made her own reiatsu into a kind of shield and tightly enveloped herself in it, it would break if she so much as moved from where she was in that moment, but until then her own compressed reiatsu was enough to keep her safe.

"Interesting." Kenpachi continued. "So, it was your brother that defeated me…I remember his name: Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Yes." Yuzu answered simply.

"And Ikkaku fought another Kurosaki." Kenpachi remembered right then.

"My twin sister, Karin." Yuzu explained. "And my other nakama defeated Abarai Renji and the other two shinigami that were with you."

"What about you?" Kenpachi really wanted to know if she was as good.

"I don't like fighting, but I'm pretty decent at kidou." Yuzu said unashamed. "I knocked out anyone who got too close."

The flare of Kenpachi's reiatsu disappeared abruptly and he began laughing.

Behind him Yuzu could notice the other shinigami watching her with a mix of confusion and barely contained anger; it was then that she realized why she found half of them so familiar, she'd knocked them out with kidou that day.

"You're alright, Kurosaki Yuzu." Kenpachi decided, still laughing, he turned to the other shinigami. "No one is to touch her, or any of the other r…Nakama, got it?"

"Yes Zaraki-taichou!" All shinigami called in unison.

It was obvious they didn't like it, but they respected and admired their captain too much to talk against him.

With that Kenpachi left, probably on his way to find someone else to fight.

Hanatarou, finally recovered, could only watch the chestnut-haired honey-eyed girl with a mix of awe and shock; he could hardly believe it, but it seemed that Kurosaki Yuzu had just earned Zaraki Kenpachi's respect…

**xXx**

Karin arrived to the 10th Division Headquarters with just about an hour or so to spare before the meeting that had been called, a meeting which all the highest members of the Gotei 13, as well as all of the Nakama, were supposed to attend. Karin had a very good idea of the topics that would be touched in that meeting, beginning with her group's infiltration of the Seireitei and finishing with her past life and her duty…and it was exactly about that last part that she had to talk with Toushirou, there were some things he needed to understand and accept before they were revealed in that meeting.

"Karin?!" The two in the office asked, confused.

For all answer Karin turned and locked the door she had just walked through, before securing all other doors and windows.

"Can one of you put up a privacy kidou?" She asked. "I'm sorry but my control over my reiatsu is still too tenuous for something like that."

"Bakudo 45, Kumori Kaikan." Toushirou called immediately.

The whole room seemed to suddenly be enveloped in clouds. It wasn't unbreakable but the best they could do for privacy without Orihime's help.

"What is going on Karin?" Toushirou wanted to know. "Your actions and your call for privacy tells me it's something important and delicate…"

"You have no idea how much." Karin replied, then sighed. "Look, Toushirou-kun, I know you're still reeling about the revelations of the last couple of days, with me being back and knowing who your parents are…"

"And the fact that you knew all along and never told me." Toushirou added calmly.

"It wasn't my secret to share." Karin pointed out just as calmly. "And it was also an accident even I found out. Kitsune…if he hadn't insisted that Rangiku-san talk to you about it I would never have said anything about it."

"Why do you still call him by that nickname, as if he's your best-friend?" Toushirou demanded, losing his patience. "He's a traitor!"

"It's complicated." Karin pointed out. "But he still is, and will always remain my best friend."

"Karin-san…" Rangiku whispered, half confused, half-hopeful.

Karin groaned, realizing that in her rush of explaining everything she'd said more than she should have. Well, she'd never agreed with Gin keeping such secrets especially from his own family…she just hoped he wouldn't hate her too much.

"Look, yes, Gin is a traitor as far as the Gotei 13 is concerned." Karin qualified. "But there's a lot more going on here. This isn't about the Gotei, this isn't even about Soul Society. This is about the future of all the worlds."

"All the worlds?" The other two shinigami gasped.

"You weren't at Soukyoku Hill that day, but Aizen made his intentions pretty clear." Karin said. "He wishes to become the next Spirit King. And I have no idea how he gained his knowledge, but he knows that right now he has a small window of opportunity."

"How is that even possible?" Toushirou wanted to know. "The King…he has been in the throne for at least a thousand years."

"True." Karin nodded. "You already know we shinigami can live for many years, even millennia, just look at Yamamoto-soutaichou, or even Ukitake-taichou and Kyouraku-taichou, that's even truer for the Spirit King; but neither us, nor him, are absolutely immortal. A time comes when a King begins to weaken, and then a successor is born; when the time is right the King will step down from the throne and leave it to his successor. However, things didn't go as they should have, the heir was born late, the King is already too weak to fight for his throne. While he will not die until a new King is crowned, he does not have the power anymore to stop someone with a false claim who may be able to get there. It's the reason why so very few people even know how to get into the Royal Dimension. So right now, Aizen needs to be stopped, he cannot be allowed to step into the Royal Dimension, not until the next King is ready to ascend; once that happens, the Heir will be able to put Aizen in his place. Until then…we're all in great risk…"

Rangiku was gaping, shocked at everything that had just been revealed to her, and especially when an even bigger realization hit her.

"Gin knew…" She gasped.

"Yes." Karin didn't doubt as she answered. "Gin has known about Aizen's plans…well, not even I know for how long. But from the very beginning he's done his best to get close to Aizen, to learn his secrets, his weaknesses…"

"An assassination-suicide mission." Toushirou finished for her.

"Pretty much." Karin nodded with a sigh. "I tried to convince him it was a bad idea but…he would just do anything for you, for both of you…"

"He has tried to kill me…" Toushirou pointed out.

"If he wanted you dead, you would be dead." Karin deadpanned. "You know, the day I died, Aizen sent him to kill me. And instead of doing that, he tried to get me to kill him. He couldn't go against Aizen's orders, not when he was threatening you; and no, Aizen doesn't know that Gin is your father, but he knows that for some reason Gin cares about you almost as much as he does about Rangiku-san. And since I was his best-friend, he was unwilling to kill me, so he would rather die…" she sighed. "The arrival of a horde of hollows interrupted our discussion about who should die, and in the end it was I who fell, not by his sword, but by a hamen's; I died to protect him." She shook her head. "He was in a far better position to protect you, and to bring Aizen down, I knew it was the right thing to do."

By that point Rangiku was sitting against the back of her favorite couch, legs bent and head buried in her knees, her sobs could barely be heard.

Toushirou, on the other hand, just kept shaking his head over and over, refusing to believe what he was being told, despite how true it all sounded…

"I know how it all sounds." Karin said, pressing her temples in an attempt to relieve the headache caused by the conflicting emotions around her. "Toushirou-kun, I know you don't trust Gin-kun, you never have, but…"

"He let you die!" Toushirou roared unexpectedly. "That morning, I knew something was wrong, I could sense it inside. And then he arrived, with you dead in his arms. You were dead, and he was just fine! That wasn't fair!"

"Life or death, nothing is fair…" Karin deadpanned with a sigh. "What counts is that I'm back now, and I'm not leaving without a fight."

"On that front…" Rangiku called in a hesitant voice. "You haven't explained yet how it is that you could reincarnate yet keep your memories."

The strawberry-blonde was trying her best to keep her mind in the present; as happy as she was to know Gin wasn't evil, if she thought too much about it she would begin worrying about what could happen to him in Hueco Mundo, or if Aizen were to discover him…she would have time to fret over that at a later time.

"Yes I know, we got distracted with the matter of my bankai and what happened to Tori-chan when I died." Karin nodded. "But I actually did begin explaining it last time. I have a mission, a destiny if you will. As Nagaken Karin I died without fulfilling it, so when being reborn as Kurosaki Karin I was allowed to remember, so I knew what I was supposed to do."

"Is it coincidence that you were named the same both times?" Toushirou asked suddenly.

"Not really, at least I don't think so." Karin shook her head. "Nii-sama is now my oyaji. I think he's known, or at least suspected the truth about me from the very day I was born, that's why he named me Karin."

"Your…" Rangiku's eyes widened instantly. "Isshin-taichou is alive?!"

"Yes." Karin nodded. "Thanks to Urahara-san he survived what happened to him 35 years ago. After some time he met my mother, a human named Kurosaki Masaki; he fell in love with her, they married, and the rest is history."

"About your destiny…" Toushirou said very seriously. "Does it have something to do with how you know everything about the Spirit King, and his successor?"

Karin smiled, she knew Toushirou would be able to make the connection.

"Yes." Karin nodded. "I am a Celestial, one of the Royal Guardians. My mission is to find the Royal Heir and to guard the throne until he is ready to ascend to his rightful place."

"You said it was important that I…we knew things." Toushirou said, eyes narrowing. "Why? Why are you telling us this?"

"Why don't you ask Ryuu-san?" Karin asked calmly.

Toushirou's eyes went blank for almost a full minute, and when they refocused he was pale in confusion and surprise.

"I…I am…" Toushirou couldn't even bring himself to say it.

"Yes." Karin nodded. "You're the other Royal Guardian, my partner. It's always been like this, the phoenix and the dragon. And even if technically Tenreikou no longer exists, her power is still a part of me."

Once again Rangiku was gaping, her son one of the Royal Guardians…

"So, what do we do now?" Toushirou asked, doing his best to push his emotions aside, at least for the time being.

"Now we go for that meeting and hope things don't go too bad." Karin declared with a smirk.

That was going to be one interesting meeting indeed!


	13. and More Meetings

There are people who've been wondering how some things came to happen. Particularly how Ichigo's powers manifested without Rukia to kick-start them. How Orihime and Chad developed their own without the Hougyoku. That, and several others things are explained in this chapter, as we finally get (most) of the story of what happened to make this verse so different from canon. Some things will be explained later on, but I do believe that this will help most of you understand some things better.

I loved writing this chapter. So many things I always wanted Ichigo and the others to say to the Seireitei...

Someone mentioned they expected Ichigo to be better/stronger /something else... I imagine some probably wanted him to win the fight against Byakuya... I considered it, and threw the idea away immediately. Why? Well, truth is I love the Soul Society arc, so much, and I wanted to use most of it, so for that to be possible Ichigo and Uryuu had to lose that fight. Also, I think it's important, the different between Ichigo fighting with the power he borrowed from Rukia, and with his own; the difference between Uryuu just defending himself and actually fighting.

* * *

**Chapter 13. …and More Meetings **

_The Nakama were all together once again inside one of Orihime's shields to discuss a few details on their plan, they were leaving for Soul Society the following day and they had to make sure everyone understood everything. _

"_So, about your status as a noble…" Uryuu commented turning to Ichigo. _

"_We will leave that matter in the air unless there's no other choice." Ichigo declared in a confident tone. "Since Karin is already planning on revealing herself as the reincarnation of Nagaken Karin for a variety of reasons, she will act as retainer for the clan, claiming that she's waiting for the heir to step-up. I'm sure she won't have any trouble once they know who she is, and I've been told in the past they respected her enough that they won't make any undue questions." He sighed. "If possible I won't reveal myself as the heir until much later." _

"_What if it isn't possible?" Tatsuki inquired. _

"_Then I'll do what I must." Ichigo answered simply. _

_They all nodded, that part had been expected. _

"_Eh…About Karin's situation." Orihime commented. "Kurosaki-san doesn't know, does he?" _

"_No, he doesn't." It was Karin herself who answered. "We…I decided not to tell him until we get back. While I believe he already knows, or at least strongly suspects…since that's really the only reason I can think of for him to have given me the same name…it's still going to be a rather delicate talk, which I rather not have right now." _

_It was obvious Isshin was going to have a lot of questions, mainly in regards to her death in her previous life and how it was possible for her to have been reincarnated and still remember the past, and Karin would rather not say anything until she had seen Gin, Toushirou and Rangiku and talked about a few things with them. She also wanted to wait for Aizen to reveal himself, just in case he had spies around, it was better if he didn't know certain things ahead of time, especially ones as important as her return and her duty. _

"_However, there's one more thing regarding me, and my past life, that we need to discuss." The raven-haired reincarnated shinigami declared. _

"_What is that?" Chad asked, interested. _

"_The whole reason I was allowed to keep my memories after being reincarnated as a human is because I have a mission." Karin declared with no hesitation. "I am one of the two Royal Guardians, also known as Celestials. What that means is that I've been chosen to guard the True Heaven and its throne until the King's successor is ready to ascend to the throne." _

_There were gasps from everyone, particularly Uryuu, who understood more than the others the significance of there being the need for an heir. _

"_That's the main reason why I'll be revealing my past-life." Karin continued. "According to what Urahara Kisuke has told us, and what we've all been able to deduce from that, Aizen is probably going to try and interfere with that at some point, I cannot let it happen. And I will have to let others know just who I am so they won't try to get in my way." _

"_I see." Uryuu nodded. "What about your partner?" _

"_I'll meet up with him in Seireitei, he's a shinigami as well, obviously." Karin answered. "It's possible he doesn't yet know of his duty, that depends on if Ryuu-kun has told him anything, and if he even believed it. In any case, he won't be revealing himself." _

"_Why not?" Tatsuki asked, knowing that was important. _

"_I remember one of my talks with Kitsune." Karin said thoughtfully. "We mentioned sleeper-cells, there are several people in Soul Society, even among the highest ranks of the shinigami who, either knowingly or unknowingly serve Aizen. You can be sure that by the time our little 'rescue mission' is over he'll know about me, but as long as he doesn't know about my partner we stand a chance of surprising him. As long as Aizen doesn't know the identity of the second Celestial we'll have a trump card." _

"_You know who at least a few of those sleepers are, don't you?" Mizuiro sated, not asked. _

"_A few, though they're mostly unimportant." Karin said honestly. "The only important one I don't actually know if she's a sleeper, a willing ally of Aizen, or is too brainwashed… in any case, she would be a security risk." _

_It pained her to talk that way about her sempai, especially knowing how much she meant for Toushirou, but until she knew for sure on what side Hinamori Momo stood there was no way to trust her with such information. She just hoped Toushirou would see it that way too, least they all end up paying for it. _

Karin stood right outside of the entrance to the 1st Division Meeting Hall, Toushirou and Rangiku had just gone in and she knew that she was expected to go in with the other Nakama once Yamamoto announced them. As she watched all the captains and lieutenants pass by, as well as the two seated members of the eleventh that the Nakama had defeated, she could only think that it might actually be a good thing that Momo was in that comma, since she still didn't know where her sempai's true loyalties lay.

Rukia was also there, she had arrived with her brother and had stayed behind, since she wasn't even a seated officer; something she'd recently discovered had been due to her brother's meddling, and was a way of protecting her by keeping her from a position that would require she do more dangerous missions…In any case, that day she wasn't going as a shinigami of the Gotei, but as Nakama, something that had actually been Byakuya's idea. He felt everyone might need a reminder of what had truly happened.

A short flare in Yamamoto's reiatsu was the signal and the great doors to the meeting hall immediately opened. Ichigo stood at the front of the group, with Uryuu and Rukia flanking him on either side, Chad and Orihime stood in a second line, and the twins in the third.

"What are the ryoka doing in this meeting?" Omaeda practically snarled.

He was a really sore loser, after his battle with Chad. Sui-Feng didn't seem to like it either, though she kept quiet, probably due to the presence to a particular and unexpected person in the room: against a wall stood Shihouin Yoruichi.

The Nakama didn't comment on her presence, they'd barely seen the woman since being taken to the 4th Division after the battle at Soukyoku Hill. Uryuu had seen her twice, checking up on them during their stay in the 'hospital', and Chad had seen her pass by when he was on his way to thank Isane, but that was it.

The moment they reached what was the end of the lines for the captains Orihime and Chad moved to stand at Uryuu's side while the twins moved to stand at Rukia's, so in the end they all stood in one line, facing Yamamoto.

"We rather prefer the term Nakama, if you don't mind." Uryuu commented calmly.

"And why must everyone insist on the term ryoka?" Ichigo asked with a shake of his head. "I think we've proven already we're no rebels, or invaders, and we're certainly not evil. Neither Soul Society nor the Gotei was ever our enemy…"

"You disrupted the peace, the order, the law!" Sui-Feng snapped at him.

"What peace?" Ichigo hissed. "A peace achieved by three wolves in sheep's clothing walking among your own? What order? The one where you didn't realize the true enemy was among you? And law…the same one that would have had an innocent woman executed? That would have rewarded her original sacrifice with not only death but utter annihilation? If so, then yes, I'm most glad we disrupted all that!"

"Easy Ichigo…" Rukia whispered, laying a hand on her forearm. "We're not here to fight. And they will never understand us if we don't explain. We are out of the norm, and they need to see that. You need to explain them that."

"What is an unseated shinigami doing here?" Komamura asked with a huff. "Even with the r…the humans present, she is not one of them, neither is she a high ranking shinigami."

"Currently Kuchiki Rukia isn't attending this meeting as a shinigami of the Gotei 13." Byakuya stated in complete calm.

"She may not be human, but she's still one of us." Orihime declared in a serene voice.

"She's Nakama." Yuzu added from the back of the group.

"Don't you get it?" Karin inquired. "This was never about humans, or shinigami. We are all Nakama, regardless of race, or origin, or power. That's what brought us here to save Rukia-san. For us, her name, her powers, her duty, her place of origin, all those matter little. What matters is that a few months ago, when she could have seen just a group of humans with odd powers, she instead saw us, the true us, and she chose to accept us. In turn we have accepted her, and have made her one of us."

"What we did a week ago at Soukyoku Hill, it's not something we would have done for just anyone." Ichigo pointed out. "But we did it for her and we would do it again. For us, she's just Rukia, one of our nakama."

"How can…such loyalty among mere humans…it's just not possible." Sasakibe Choujiro, the 1st Division fukutaichou insisted.

"If you keep judging us as you would any human we'll never get out of here." Uryuu said tiredly. "In first place, we're not just humans, none of us; second, even if we're technically still human in the sense that we're alive…well, most of us, that doesn't mean you shinigami are superior." His eyes glinted as he added with a proud tone. "Our victories against several of your own comrades, most of them standing in this very room, should prove it."

It was true: two seated shinigami, seven lieutenants and a couple of captains, they had defeated them all (the battle with Byakuya had technically never finished).

Mutters began immediately at the reminder of the loss quite a few of those present had suffered at the hands of those who were supposed to be 'mere humans'. However, before things could get too out of control Yamamoto used his cane/sealed-zanpakutou to bang against the hardwood floor and call everyone's attention.

"This meeting will now come to order." He declared in a no-nonsense tone. "As must be obvious the main topic will be the group of former-ryoka who've chosen to call themselves Nakama, which includes the shinigami Kuchiki Rukia." He turned to the group in question. "Who among you is leader?"

There was no hesitation as almost all of them gave a step back, Ichigo barely managing to stop Uryuu from doing the same in the last second.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere." Ichigo told him strongly.

Uryuu just rolled his eyes slightly but held his ground at Ichigo's side; it was not like he wasn't already, unofficially, the 'second-in-command' the display was just making it a bit more obvious to the people who hadn't known them for long.

It didn't go unnoticed how immediate the Nakama's reaction had been, their belief so strong that they hadn't hesitated at all; the fact that they had chosen the 'shinigami daiko' to be their leader, and he in turn had insisted on having a Quincy as his second…on one hand, it had a certain logic, after all, it had been those two and the petite raven-haired girl the only ones to fight captain-level shinigami, and only the two boys had won their battles. But still.

"Introduce yourselves." Yamamoto instructed.

It was obvious neither boy liked having anyone ordering him around, but if they were going to at least try to form a cordial relationship with the shinigami, they could let it pass, at least for the time being. Eventually Yamamoto, and everyone else in the Gotei, would understand that the Nakama didn't answer to them, but they would leave that for later.

"Ishida Uryuu, son of Ishida Ryuuken, grandson of Ishida Souken, heir of the Ishida Quincy Line, the last known Quincy Lineage." Uryuu introduced himself with the same pride as he had in Soukyoku Hill. "I'm also Nakama, and apparently second-in-command now."

"Apparently?" Shunsui wasn't expecting that.

"We hadn't exactly made decisions on leadership before today." Ichigo admitted with a shrug.

"But the way they all deferred to you, not just today but…always." Juushirou in particular could remember a certain meeting in his office, days before.

"It's just natural." Orihime said as she shrugged. "They were the first of us to display any powers, and learn to use them, and even now they and Karin-san are probably the most powerful. They also understand more about the spiritual ways than most of us. So it was logical, at the same time it was just instinctual."

The others just nodded, in complete agreement. Even for the more strong-willed and stubborn people, like Tatsuki and Karin, and even Uryuu himself, it had always been natural to follow Ichigo's leadership, with Uryuu's constant advice.

Ichigo took a deep breath, knowing it was his turn, while he had introduced himself before, he had always left a good deal off, he couldn't do that in that moment. Even when they weren't planning to have him take the place of the Nagaken Head of Clan just yet, or even as official heir; he, and all the Nakama, knew they needed to make the leaders of the Gotei understand he wasn't a mere shinigami daiko, he hadn't gained his powers through chance, they were a part of him, they ran in his blood…

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he began. "Son of Kurosaki Isshin and Masaki, shinketsu shinigami. My zanpakutou is Zangetsu, and I've been hearing his voice since I was nine, and using a part of his power since I was fifteen; though I didn't know his name, or who he was until two weeks before coming to Soul Society." He smirked. "It also appears I've been unanimously chosen to act as leader of the Nakama so…that's that."

The rush of gasps and whispers was even bigger than with Uryuu's introduction. Disbelief at his claim of being a shinketsu, wonder at his father's name, shock at the fact that he'd been hearing his zanpakutou's voice for so long, and especially at the fact that he'd had power before even meeting Rukia and being leant hers.

"You cannot possibly be a shinketsu!" Sui-Feng hissed louder than all the others.

"Please…" Ichigo drawled. "You're seeing it, and yet you still won't believe it. You've seen my power, even right now you must be able to feel it…after all, I know my control is far from perfect, even if it isn't as abysmal as it used to be a few years ago…" he shook his head. "The power I have now is mine, Rukia's was torn from me forcefully by her brother weeks ago. The only reason a technically-still-living soul like me could possibly have the kind of power I do, is because it's in the blood, it's in my blood…"

"Your father…" Shunsui mumbled, in half-shock.

"I'm not willing to talk about oyaji right now." Ichigo interrupted him as diplomatically as he could. "And really, he isn't a part of this, not right now anyway. This is about us Nakama…"

"You say you've been hearing your zanpakutou since you were nine," Unohana commented thoughtfully. "That must be…seven, eight years?"

"Eight." Ichigo clarified. "I guess I was already ten by the time I actually began hearing him, though the reason was an event almost a month before. And I just turned eighteen…" he pondered on that for a moment. "Well, I think I actually was unconscious on my birthday." He chuckled to himself.

"So you claim you've been hearing your zanpakutou for eight years?" Komamura snorted. "It's not even possible for a living soul to be a shinigami…"

"Yet here I am, am I not?" Ichigo snorted. "I am living, my chain of fate wasn't cut, not even after Byakuya-san destroyed my connection to the powers Rukia lent me. So, technically, I'm still a living soul, as are every single one of us, except Rukia of course." He took a deep breath so as not to lose what little patience he had left. "And I repeat, I've been hearing Zangetsu-ossan for years! If you don't believe me…well, I really don't gi…care!"

He had been about to curse, but a touch from Rukia's hand on his back had reminded him what she had told him near the beginning of the meeting, and he'd managed to calm himself just enough to remain civil.

"Can you please explain that event you say you believe caused you to begin hearing your zanpakutou?" Juushirou asked cordially.

Ichigo actually froze at that, he hadn't been counting on being asked that particular question.

Karin herself suddenly looked like she'd been slapped, and she brought a hand to her temple, the rest of the Nakama internally winced, wondering how bad Ichigo's feelings were to cause such a visible reaction in her…

However, before anyone else could say or do anything Rukia broke formation and went to embrace Ichigo from the front, she was so petite her head barely reached the middle of his chest, but still, she held on. Almost automatically the orange-haired young man wound an arm around her back, holding onto her tightly, as if his life, or his sanity, depended on it: the other hand he held to his side, clenched in a fist.

"I'm here Ichigo…" Rukia whispered as she held onto him as tightly as he did onto her.

"Kurosaki…" Juushirou muttered quietly.

With the scene, and the way Ichigo's reiatsu swirled tightly around him they could all see the question wasn't a good one, it was a wonder that Rukia seemed to remain unaffected by the barely controlled reiatsu. It also reminded everyone briefly of some of the more strange events that had taken place in Soukyoku Hill.

"Eight years ago…" Ichigo began speaking after what seemed like forever. "I could see spirits, I've always been able to do that actually, but back then…back then I couldn't differentiate those living from those already dead…I made a horrible, horrible mistake, running after a girl I thought was about to fall into the overflowing river…she turned out to be a lure…I didn't realize what was going on until it was already too late…a hollow attacked me, and my mother sacrificed her life to save mine." He closed his eyes tightly, trying with all his will to regain control over himself, and his emotions. "It was about a month after that, that I began hearing voices in my head, I even saw him in my dreams at times. A mature looking man with dark ragged looking hair, dark glasses and wearing a tattered long jacket, the same that I wear on bankai. He refused to tell me his name, so I began calling him Ossan…" he took a deep breath and went on. "Five years later the same hollow that had killed my mother returned while I was with my family visiting her grave…I still had no idea what I was seeing, I had no recollection over how okaa-san had died, but I knew it wasn't good so I lead him away, to the riverside… What I know of what happened there is only because I've been told by other people, since I have no conscious memories of it. I know Ossan told me his name, I know I fought the hollow, and I lost…I nearly died actually…I had never used any power before that, and for months afterwards I didn't even know I had used them…a few months later I manifested a reishi blade, it looks very much like Zangetsu's sealed form actually, for the first time. Since then I've had power. Though, like I said before, it wasn't until Rukia's powers were forcefully taken from me than Ossan actually told me his name again and I became truly a shinigami."

Ichigo sighed as he finished, he hadn't been planning on saying that much, but in the end decided it would save him the questions.

The orange-haired shinketsu tightened his hold on the petite shinigami briefly, silent thanks for being there when he had to relieve such terrible memories.

"How do you even know it was the same hollow who attacked your mother, and then you?" Iba asked, curious. "That it was even a hollow at all?"

"Tou-san…" Uryuu explained calmly. "My father is a doctor. It was he who saw to Ichigo on both occasions."

"He saved my life the second time." Ichigo added. "If it hadn't been for him I would have died or I would have become hollow bait…"

Uryuu and Chad both flinched, the mere idea reminded them of what had happened with a certain parakeet…it wasn't a nice memory.

"So, let me see if I understood this, you're capable of calling on shinigami powers in your human form?" Nanao seemed truly surprised at that.

"Yes." Ichigo nodded. "It's no comparison to my actual shinigami powers of course, but it was enough for the first two years and a half or so…"

Silence reigned for a short while as everyone finished processing everything that had been said. The fact that the orange-haired daiko had been through so much since being a kid…and as far as some of the shinigami were concerned, he was still pretty much a child…was it any wonder than he'd been so unwilling to let Rukia go? He'd been unable to stop Byakuya and Renji from taking her, but he'd never doubted on going after her, on saving her. He had wanted to do it, and he had gained the power necessary to make it possible. It was shocking, awe inspiring…and even a bit terrifying…

After a full minutes Ichigo finally let go of Rukia, which she took as a single to give him a reassuring touch for a moment before letting go and returning to her spot.

"Thank you Rukia…" He whispered in a low, feeling voice.

The obsidian haired shinigami just smiled at him.

"Very well." Yamamoto declared. "Now you are to introduce each of your…nakama and explain what you all did during the week you were in Seireitei."

Knowing how tired Ichigo still was after his recount, Uryuu decided to take the lead:

"Exactly two weeks ago, my nakama and I, accompanied by Shihouin Yoruichi slipped into Soul Society with some help from Urahara Kisuke." Uryuu informed everyone present. "Our motives were simple and direct, rescue Rukia-san and get back to Karakura Town. At the same time, we'd been informed by Urahara Kisuke on…certain events that took place here a century ago, and his beliefs on who was truly behind the attempt to have Rukia-san executed. It might be, in part, why he was so insistent on having Yoruichi-san accompanying us. To be honest, we didn't consider it our business, we don't care about inner conflicts of the shinigami or Seireitei; we're still living humans after all; though, at the same time, Rukia-san being Nakama, the risk to her life wasn't something we could just let slip. So we came to save her, and agreed with Urahara on pushing Aizen to reveal himself as a traitor if the opportunity arose. In the end that wasn't exactly necessary, he did it all by himself." He snorted. "So we got into Soul Society, and then slipped into Seireitei without being noticed…"

"And how exactly did you do that?" Sui-Feng demanded.

She really didn't like it when there were security risks…especially one that was big enough to let a deserter and six humans slip through.

"Clan secret." Karin declared stoically.

And before the captain could insist on the matter, Uryuu kept talking.

"We got inside and we sent that message." He stated. "We knew it might be a better idea to remain under the radar, but in the end decided that it was better if we made our intentions clear from the very beginning, that it might help us stay clear from Aizen's actions…" he shook his head. "Didn't exactly work out, we were still blamed for his death, even though neither of us had seen the man before what happened in Soukyoku Hill…" he sighed. "In any case, we had a fight just the day after slipping in. We were all forced to fight, one way or the other. When those fights were over we went into hiding, changing places until three days before the execution, when Yoruichi-san guided us to a better hideout, where we stayed and trained for the remaining time. Then, on the specific day we reached the Senzaikyuu around the time Rukia-san was to be escorted out. We knocked out the guards and took their places, escorting her ourselves to Soukyoku-Hill, where you all know what happened."

Yes, they all knew, even those who hadn't been actually present had heard already.

"You have still to explain the battles each of you fought." Sasakibe pointed out.

He held a notepad in hand and was recording everything that was being said, at least until a more official record could be made.

Uryuu's eyes narrowed, so much that was being demanded of them, he didn't like it.

"Do you ever tell someone not from your group, a potential opponent, what you can and cannot do?" Ichigo demanded.

By that point he had recovered, and he was really beginning to tire of people thinking they had any authority whatsoever over him, or the rest of the Nakama.

Several of the shinigami began bristling at his words, in particular those from the 2nd, 7th and 9th divisions, people who either didn't know them, or simply looked down on them for being 'human'. Ichigo hated it, and decided that he better drive the point home already.

"Understand this." He declared in a cold, authoritative voice. "Like you've been so quick to point out, we're not shinigami; even Karin and I aren't part of your Gotei, and Rukia, being an unseated officer, is normally unnoticed by all of you. So, we really don't answer to you, not to the lieutenants, the captains, or even the Commander! The only reason we're answering your questions, the only reason we're even here is as a courtesy. We realize that even when we don't really care about your conflict against the traitors and Hueco Mundo, we might end up being pulled into it; so we can see the wisdom in settling a somewhat civil and pleasant working-relationship. However, do not mistake that for us allowing you any authority over any of us. If you ask for us, for our help, we will answer, or at least try; but you will never get to order us around. That we won't allow!"

The rest of the shinigami were just opening their mouths to begin their complaints when Yamamoto banged his cane/zanpakutou on the floor.

"Very well, Kurosaki Ichigo." Yamamoto agreed, to everyone's surprise. "Tell us then, what are you willing to share of your actions, as well as those of your nakama, since your entrance into Soul Society two weeks ago?"

Recognizing the opportunity for what it was, Ichigo turned a quick look to the others to gain their approval, and once with it, he turned back to the front.

"Like we've said time and time again, we never considered the Gotei 13 as our enemy." Ichigo explained in a very serious voice. "That, however, doesn't mean we weren't willing to fight those we had to in order to reach our goal. It just means that we weren't exactly willing to leave anyone dead or permanently injured, and weren't looking for fights either. During the whole week we slipped around Seireitei we only got involved in two fights: the first the day after we got in, and the other that day on Soukyoku Hill." He thought of something before adding. "To address the matter of Aizen's fake murder, we weren't even around when it happened. Even when we did hear the scream of the one who found him, we didn't even know what had happened until later, when Yoruichi-san found out and told us."

"Where were you when Hinamori Momo found what was supposed to be the body of Aizen Sousuke?" Renji asked, curious.

"Busy." Ichigo answered simply, expressionlessly.

Juushirou actually smiled, realizing that the young man wasn't willing to reveal the fact that they had met before; just as none of them had spoke a thing about Yamada Hanatarou's own involvement; they were all so loyal…even to those not part of their closely-knitted group.

"They were with us, Yama-jii." Shunsui said as he pushed his hat up.

He'd seen the expression in Juushirou's eyes and as thankful as he too was for the measure of loyalty the boy he was showing, he knew it was better to be honest.

Ichigo's head actually snapped to the side, having not expected that, but the two captains just smiled at him.

"Explain yourself now Shunsui." Yamamoto demanded.

"We met the Nakama three days before Kuchiki-san was to be executed." Shunsui declared. "Juushirou and I talked to them, and they explained to us how they just wanted to get their friend, or rather their nakama, and leave. They even warned us that there was an enemy around and things weren't what they seemed. On hindsight it seems pretty obvious right now."

"You're saying that two captains of the Gotei met with the ryoka before the disaster at Soukyoku Hill and instead of arresting them just…had a chat with them?!" Sui-Feng growled.

"More or less, yes." Shunsui answered shamelessly.

"This whole matter could have been avoided if you had done your job properly!" Sui-Feng snapped at the elder captain.

"Sui-Feng-taichou." Unohana called in a chiding tone. "You would do well to remember to respect your elders, despite holding the same rank, both Shunsui and Juushirou have been captains for much longer; if for no other reason than that, they deserve respect. With regards of their actions on that day, I'm sure they must have had a good reason."

Sui-Feng actually looked ashamed at those words, but was still very angry at the situation. She really couldn't understand how so many high-ranking shinigami could be so willing to overlook the blatant breaking of laws the ryoka had done, and now even two captains! Had the Gotei really fallen that far?

From among all of those present, a certain long-haired young woman could only watch the small captain in silence, her eyes filled by the deepest sadness anyone had ever seen in her eyes, as if something in the shinigami's attitude pained her inside her own soul…

"We knew they weren't enemies." Juushirou tried to explain. "All the really wanted was to get Rukia-san back. And I myself disagreed with her punishment, even before knowing that she had only bequeathed her powers to a human to save him, his family and her own life…" the man sighed almost tiredly. "It's true that now we know that sentence was of Aizen's doing, but to think that we were just allowing it to happen…were we really so blinded by our own power, our own positions that we couldn't see that something was so absolutely wrong?"

A tear actually fell down Rukia's eyes at those words, while she'd already heard before how her captain had felt about her situation, to hear him say those things, and heard the regret in his voice. It made her feel wanted, accepted…it wasn't something she felt very often.

Ichigo even went as far as bowing his head when the aged white-haired captain turned his way, showing his respect for the man; one of the few who had earned it.

"In regards to the fighting abilities of my nakama." Ichigo decided to get back to the main topic. "I won't go into details, but I'll let you know things that should be obvious already. Sado Yasutora: with the power to cover his right arm in reishi-armor, he fought and defeated Ayasegawa and Omaeda, as well as knocking out Sasakibe and Kotetsu; most of those during the battle at Soukyoku Hill. Inoue Orihime: with the ability to create shields that can heal, protect and attack fought first Kusajishi and managed to defeat her; days later she knocked out Ise before defeating the Kurotsuchi woman in a short battle and then kept all the defeated lieutenants imprisoned in one of her shields. She also healed them after they'd been blown up by the psycho you have for 12th Division Captain…" he practically growled that part.

"But they're human." Hisagi complained, speaking for the first time. "Even the shinigami and quincy I understand, but for normal humans to have powers…"

"They developed their powers through the years, neither of them has had them for more than three years, which means that they're still developing." Uryuu pointed down. "About how they can have them, Karakura is the Juureichi, with enough reiatsu everything is possible."

Though truth is that juureichi or not, Ichigo's own leaking reiatsu had been more than enough.

"We've said this before." Ichigo stated. "Their powers are the manifestation of their souls, of their will to protect, to heal, to fight. The stronger the will, the stronger the power…"

Which is why some of them had their doubts if their powers actually had a limit…just how far could sheer will take someone?

"Also, they aren't the only ones." Ichigo added almost as an afterthought. "There are four more Nakama who stayed back in Karakura when we came to save Rukia. Though from all of them only one has any active power, and it's not fully developed: Arisawa Tatsuki is her name and she can envelope her body in an off-white aura which makes her several times stronger as well as able to cut with the side of her hand or her leg, as if her body were a living blade…" he shook his head then moved on. "Ishida Uryuu, his powers should be obvious; he defeated Abarai Renji during our first fight and then the Kurotsuchi-psycho on Soukyoku Hill."

A few shinigami were still frozen on the fact that there were actually more humans with abilities than just those standing there before them, even if only one more seemed to have an active power; the fact that the other said the powers were still developing suggested that even the three who in that moment could do little more than see the spiritual would not remain that way forever, eventually they would have powers too.

"How is it that Abarai reported having no trouble defeating the Quincy after their fight in the Material World, and yet was defeated once in Seireitei?" Komamura wanted to know. "While shinigami are expected to be at least five times more powerful due to not having a limiter in Soul Society, the same isn't true for the Quincy."

"I've said this before." Uryuu stated expressionlessly. "When I met him and Kuchiki Byakuya in Karakura I wasn't trying to kill them. We had known that at some point shinigami would go collect Rukia-san, but when they arrived, she knew who they were, I wasn't willing to kill or permanently harm someone dear to one I call nakama, so I wasn't fighting as seriously as I did once here in Seireitei. At that point, though I still wasn't trying to kill, I had no qualms about doing what was necessary to both defeat an opponent and prove that I'm no weak man."

"You're a Quincy." Kira pointed out, speaking for the first time since he was there. "Doesn't that mean any of your arrows could have destroyed him?"

"Usually that would be true." Uryuu admitted. "However, I'm different from my ancestors in a very particular way…" he raised his arm to a side, materializing his bow, then created an arrow to go with it…a white arrow. "This arrow, isn't the executing arrow quincies have used for centuries. This, is a purifying arrow, my own creation…it's the equivalent of a shinigami's zanpakutou when on a hollow…not actually sure what that would mean for a shinigami to be honest…haven't needed to test it for that yet…"

The shinigami could only watch the white arrow in shock, it was something they had never imagined possible, especially not after what had happened centuries before…

"I know about the war between Shinigami and Quincy." Uryuu stated solemnly. "And while a part of me hates what happened, another part understands why it was necessary at the time. This white arrow means that I can fight hollows with no risk to the balance. You shinigami have no need to do anything against Quincy anymore, and you won't for a long time, as you can be sure when the lineage continues I will make sure this knowledge is passed on." With that said, he dispersed both bow and arrow.

Uryuu had considered bringing up the matter of Kurotsuchi Mayuri, but in the end decided it wasn't worth it, at least not for the time being. If the man…monster, tried anything against him, or any of the Nakama…then Uryuu would destroy him and be done with it.

"Very well." Ichigo called attention back to himself. "Kurosaki Yuzu is one of my younger twin sisters, she's been called a kidou-prodigy by a few people. Rukia gave her some basic training when she was still in Karakura, which had since been expanded on by a few other people. She didn't actually fight anyone directly, though she knocked out a number of shinigami with kidou while the rest of us focused on our battles; the day disaster stroke she followed my other sister into the Chambers of 46 for a number of reasons and was the one who treated Hitsugaya Toushirou initially."

Of course, once in the 4th Division the young captain had been treated by other healers, especially Isane and Unohana themselves; but still, no one could fail to notice to whom it was that the turquoise-eyed shinigami actually owed his life.

"About me…" Ichigo finally said. "Like I said, I am a shinketsu shinigami, you've seen me fight, you know I fought Zaraki Kenpachi and managed to defeat him…though it was a very close call in the end; I also fought Kuchiki Byakuya, though our fight was interrupted by Aizen, whom I also fought and was harshly defeated by. You know my zanpakutou is Zangetsu, most have seen me fight…I don't know what else on that front."

"What about your bankai?" Byakuya asked, very interested.

"Well, his name is Tensa Zangetsu and…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "To be honest there's not much I could say even if I'd wanted, most saw how I got Zangetsu's cloak and my blade turned into a daito; to be honest I don't really know the details of it, I have only used it once and that was under duress."

"What about your training to obtain it?" Ikkaku asked, very interested on that part.

Ichigo sighed, he knew what was coming was only going to cause even more trouble, but it just couldn't be helped…

"What training?" He asked rhetorically. "Yoruichi offered me the use of some dangerous tool created by Urahara to try and obtain bankai in three days before the execution, but when it was explained to me that I would have to make Ossan submit I refused to do it."

The disbelief was almost tangible all around him. While most could possibly understand doubting using a dangerous tool for anything, the fact that Ichigo hadn't done it because he didn't want to make his zanpakutou submit…

"What?" Renji asked sardonically. "Afraid you wouldn't have been able to defeat him?"

"It's not like that." Ichigo said shaking his head without rising to the bait. "It's not a fear. It's not about not being able to do something, but rather not wanting to."

"Why would you not want to do it?" Ikkaku asked, confused. "You have to win battles in order to become more powerful."

"That has never been my style." Ichigo explained calmly. "I don't fight just because, it's not a thrill to me. I fight to protect, not just for the sake of it. I began using the powers I originally had to protect, so what happened to me wouldn't happen to anyone else; it was the same when I accepted Rukia's powers, and then when I first called on my own."

"But everyone knows you have to fight your zanpakutou to become stronger!" Renji insisted.

"And I already told you I've known Ossan since I was nine!" Ichigo snapped, finally losing his patience on the matter. "To me he's not a zanpakutou, he's not just my power, or a tool, or anything along those lines. He's my friend, and my partner, a part of my own soul. I could never even try to undermine him, or make him submit. I respect him too much for that."

*Thank you, Ichigo…* Zangetsu whispered inside his own mind.

*I'll assume you were including me on that speech, Aibou…* Shiro commented.

*Of course, I was referring to both of you, Ossan, Shiro.* Ichigo reassured them mentally. *It's just that I really don't think it's a good idea to mention you just yet Shiro. Especially after Yoruichi's reaction to your mask.*

*True, true…* Shiro agreed with a sigh.

*We'll need to talk about your bankai later Ichigo, there's much you need to know, and train.* Zangetsu informed him. *For now, open your eyes, you're being called.*

"Amazing, he can communicate with his zanpakutou so easily…" A voice was commenting.

"How can you know it's that?" Kira asked, curious.

"For the way his reiatsu seemed to curl upon itself, like his focus." Juushirou explained to those who didn't know, then turned to Ichigo. "I imagine Zangetsu had something to tell you."

"Just thanking me about my comments." Ichigo said simply. "And telling me that we'll talk about my bankai later."

There was general amazement at the fact that he'd really been talking to his zanpakutou without needing Jinzen. It was obvious then to everyone present that he was really close to his zanpakutou, and that, in turn, explained why he was so unwilling to go through bankai-training. Though it still didn't explain how he had managed to achieve that power anyway…

"If you didn't make your zanpakutou submit how do you even have bankai?" Hisagi asked.

*Is alright if I answer that, Ossan?* Ichigo asked, not wanting to share his zanpakutou's secrets in case he didn't want it.

*You may tell them, Ichigo.* Zangetsu assured him. *Just knowing that trust is needed won't actually allow that trust to exist. They will need much more for that…*

"It's the trust." Ichigo said out-loud as his eyes cleared.

"Trust?" No one seemed to understand that.

"I trust Zangetsu-ossan with all I am, and he trusts me the same way." Ichigo tried to explain. "I proved it by offering all I have, all I am during our fight with Byakuya-san; and in turn, when I truly needed it, Ossan too offered me his whole power. So, it's all about the trust. He says it's complicated, that even if I tell you, you might not understand, it's not easy to trust another being, even one who's in fact a part of your own soul, with everything you are…"

"I have a question, Kurosaki." Shunsui commented suddenly. "Have you ever synched with your zanpakutou?"

"Yes, twice." Ichigo answered honestly. "First when fighting Kenpachi, and then against Byakuya-san, before I actually got bankai."

The silence was deafening, and neither of the Nakama understood the reason.

"That's impossible." Komamura snorted eventually. "The brat doesn't know what he's talking about. There's no way he could have truly synched with his zanpakutou! The last person to be able to do that…"

"Was I." Yamamoto finished to everyone's shock. "Though it happened a very long time ago, more than a thousand years, and I haven't done it since. It's not something to be done lightly, since both shinigami and zanpakutou run the risk of losing themselves or each other in the synchronization. Also, if the shinigami were to ever truly give up all control of his own reiatsu he would surely die."

Ichigo briefly considered telling him that wasn't an absolute, since he was still alive even after doing exactly that; and yet decided it might not be a good idea, he had already called enough attention upon himself…

"Actually Yamamoto-soutaichou." Shockingly, it was Karin who spoke then. "I have to say you're wrong about at least one of those things. Even before Ichigo you weren't the last person to have totally synched with your zanpakutou…I was."

That instantly called the attention of everyone present to her.

"If it's alright, I'll handle my introduction myself." Karin said as she stepped forward. "My name is Kurosaki Karin, I'm Ichigo's younger sister and Yuzu's twin, shinketsu shinigami as well. I fought and defeated Madarame shortly after entering Seireitei, and then went looking for Hitsugaya-taichou on the day of the execution; I passed close to where Matsumoto-fukutaichou and Kira-fukutaichou were fighting, but sensing that something was wrong with Hitsugaya I guided my sister to the Chambers of 46. We both smelled the blood of the slaughtered Central, but only I saw them; then we went on deeper, until we found the badly wounded Toushirou-kun. I had been able to sense Ichimaru's and Aizen's reiatsu right before entering the room, so I knew they were responsible. My sister stayed behind to try and save Toushirou-kun while I shunpoed to Soukyoku Hill, getting there just in time to stop Aizen from killing my brother. I fought him to the best of my abilities, including using bankai for the first time…which means no control whatsoever…I still lost. However, some may remember that upon the traitor's leaving, I revealed something else." She took a deep breath and straightened up before continuing. "I am the reincarnation of Nagaken Karin, former Head of the Nagaken Clan, prodigy, captain candidate…and Royal Guardian…"

The silence was so thick it could have probably been cut by the blade of any of those present.

"Royal…Guardian…?" Isane finally said, confused. "What's that?"

"Royal Guardian…" Juushirou repeated, eyes wide in surprise. "A Celestial…"

"The short explanation is that every several thousand years a new Spirit King ascends to power, when the old one has chosen to pass on." Karin gave them a summarized version of things. "The Heir is born like a New Soul and must grow and mature into their powers until the day comes for the Ascension. From the time said Heir is born to the day of the Ascension, a Royal Guardian is chosen and sent to guard the worlds, the Heir, and the entrance to True Heaven. Because during that time the current Spirit King is already too weak to fight for his own throne, and the future one hasn't yet claimed his right. Aizen somehow knows this, so he pretends to claim the throne himself before the rightful Heir ascends. I won't allow that." She shook her head strongly. "Aizen had me killed in my last life, because he didn't like the influence I seemed to have over a few people, he considered me a danger. And yet, because I have a destiny to fulfill as a Celestial I was sent back and allowed to recover my memories recently. Aizen knows this, he knows who and what I am, he also knows I know where the rightful Heir is, and that if I can I will make sure the Heir is ready before he can do anything to claim the throne."

"Where is the heir?" Sui-Feng asked.

Karin simply tightened her lips close in a show of silence.

"You should allow us to do this, girl." Omaeda stated. "We are more powerful than you and have a better chance of being able to protect the royal heir!"

Karin actually laughed at that.

"You have no idea." She said, turning suddenly cold. "I fought Aizen one on one, even if I lost, with a barely in control bankai, the first time I used it since being reincarnated, three weeks after remembering who I was and recalling my powers. You, who've been a shinigami for centuries, lost against Sado-san, who, even while being very powerful by himself, still isn't on my level now that I have bankai again. You stand no chance against me, or against Aizen!"

Omaeda was fuming, as was Sui-Feng, but before either could say anything Yamamoto spoke:

"Kurosaki-Nagaken-dono's duty as both retainer of the Noble House of Nagaken and a Royal Guardian will not be questioned by anyone." He ordered. "She will be allowed to do her duties and either share or keep information as she sees fit. On this matter, she outranks each and every one of you, as she is technically a member of the Konoe Shidan; while she may not exactly outrank me, I cannot command her either. Is that understood?"

"Yes Soutaichou!" The response was general, even if many did not agree.

"Excuse me, Kurosaki-Nagaken-dono…" Nanao began.

"Just Karin is alright." Karin assured her.

"Karin-dono…" Nanao insisted. "You said something about you having synced with your zanpakutou before…"

Karin sighed, she had forgotten about that.

"Right." Karin nodded. "It happened in my past life, the day I first used bankai in an actual battle. The day I died, I was in bankai and fully synced with Eishugo Tenreikou when I was murdered. Which caused a rather particular reaction when I was reincarnated. Tenreikou as such no longer exists." She made a show of her empty hands. "You may have noticed I don't have a zanpakutou on me; and I believe Madarame-san noticed that my sealed zanpakutou appeared in my hand during our fight, even when before I had nothing…that's, again, because Tenreikou no longer exists as a separate spirit. She and I are one, I fused with the powers of my own zanpakutou. What all that means aside from the fact that I have to consciously materialize my zanpakutou when I want to use it…I have no idea."

Yet again, disbelief; but after so many revelations it seemed the shinigami were beginning to tire of asking questions that would receive no answers.

Nanao actually looked almost regretful that she'd even asked the question, since she had ended up even more confused than before.

Yamamoto had to wonder if it had all been worth it. While the meeting had served its basic purpose, for the Gotei to know at least the basics of the Nakama, to know they were allies, and to accept in particular Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin's position and her future-actions. However, they had all ended so confused about so many things: humans with powers that defied nature, a shinigami who had attained bankai without going through the training, another one who had no zanpakutou spirit and yet could call on a zanpakutou's powers, the upcoming ascendance of a new Spirit King…and so much more…They just might have ended with more questions than answers after all that…

**xXx**

The next morning, the Nakama were having breakfast in one of the less formal dinning rooms of the Nagaken Main House when, unexpectedly, one of the shogi side-doors opened abruptly.

"Kurosaki-Nagaken-sama!" They heard the person call in a very nervous, almost-too-high-pitched female voice.

Kneeling at the door, with her hands to her sides and her head nearly touching the ground was a young woman in a servant beige-colored yukata, with tanned skin, the end of a long reddish-black braid peeking from beneath a long white-scarf, and a low reiatsu signature.

"What's the meaning of this?" Karin asked authoritatively, yet with some hesitance…

The one time she could remember a servant to have barged into the dinning room during a private meal like that had been when they went to inform her and her nii-sama their father had died while on a mission…

"Kurosaki-Nagaken-sama, I have an urgent message." The servant declared, head still down.

"Well, then deliver the message." Karin ordered.

"A situation has arisen, it involves Kuchiki Rukia-dono." The servant stated.

"Rukia?!" Ichigo was instantly on his feet, not even noticing the apprehension in his own voice. "What's happened? Is she alright? Is she in danger?"

"Ichigo, you need to calm down." Uryuu said, laying a hand on his nakama. "Let the lady explain everything first."

Uryuu could only think that after so much had happened…did they not deserve a break? After almost being executed, why did Rukia have to be in trouble again? It really wasn't fair to her, or to Ichigo…one or both of them just might snap if things didn't calm down sometime soon.

"An extraordinary meeting of the Kuchiki Elders was called very early this morning." The servant informed as fast and formally as she could, head still down. "The main topic of the discussion was Kuchiki Rukia-dono herself."

Just that was enough for the Nakama to know that whatever had happened, or probably was still happening on that meeting couldn't be good.

"While they've been informed that Rukia-dono is innocent of any and all crimes, and that her supposed execution wasn't really ordered by the law, the Elders still see the whole chain of events as a stain on the Kuchiki Honor." The servant continued.

Ichigo grumbled under his breath, he'd said to Byakuya, he didn't understand and would never understand all that about Clan Honor and such…but he knew that if it caused Rukia any more grief…even the respect he'd come to have for Byakuya wouldn't be able to stop him.

"They've decided that the only way to regain the honor lost is to create an alliance with a respectable noble clan." The servant took a deep breath before sealing the deal. "They're planning on marrying Rukia-dono to Murata Keitaro, the 2nd son of the Murata Clan Head!"

In an instant all Nakama were on their feet, their reiatsu flaring in a mix of indignity and disbelief. At the same time, it was taking Uryuu's and Chad's joint efforts to keep Ichigo from storming the Kuchiki Manor in fury.

"Ichi-nii, you need to calm down!" Yuzu yelled at her brother.

"Ichigo!" Karin snapped, and slapped her brother. "Come back to your senses!"

"Karin…" Ichigo whispered, barely managing to gain control of himself. "How dare they…? How dare they treat Rukia as merchandise?! I won't allow it!"

"We won't allow it." Karin corrected as calmly as she could. "There's one thing we can do Ichigo, and we will even be playing with their rules in such a way they can't possibly oppose us." She breathed deeply and finished. "The question is: what are you willing to do to keep Rukia from marrying that other noble?"

"Whatever I have to." Ichigo replied, no hesitation at all.

"Very well." Karin nodded. "Then follow me."

"Where are we going?" Ichigo inquired, even as he left the dinning room behind her.

"To see our own Elders." Karin answered simply. "We have to do this right…"

Ichigo had no idea what Karin was talking about exactly, but he trusted her. So he would follow her, and then together they would save Rukia…again.

* * *

So... a bit of a cliffy... remember that if you kill me you won't find out how this turns out.

Anyone wanna guess what our fav siblings are going to do next?

See ya in a week!


	14. Burdens to Bear

Most of those who left comments/reviews on the last chapter seem to have correctly guessed what's coming. Awesome! Virtual cookies (shaped like Chappy and Ambassador Seaweed!) to you all!

As for why I've chosen to go down this route... I've never seen it done (not saying no one has done it, I just haven't read such a fic... not this early on, at least) and I wanted to shake things up a little. Also, it seemed like a good way to kickstart things!

Someone calls this particular development an excuse for Ichiruki. Maybe? Not sure what one would consider an excuse. The way I see it, the chemistry is there, like it was in canon, though it hasn't been as obvious because Ichigo and Rukia haven't spent as much time just the two of them, they're not alone this time around. Though I did try to hint at the connection, especially back in Memories. Granted, once again, it wasn't just the two of them, but still!

So... on with the Ichiruki!

* * *

**Chapter 14. Burdens to Bear **

Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu marched into the Kuchiki Manor after announcing themselves with as much dignity as they could. They were all wearing kimonos, showing their position and the formality of the event, though Ichigo's was plain black and as much as a shihakusho as he could find, he was also wearing a royal-blue thin sash; since they weren't making his position totally public he couldn't wear the royal blue wide-obi that signaled him as the Head of the Nagaken Clan. Karin was wearing a dark-red kimono with black birds, a huge contrast to her royal-blue thin obi, and had a sapphire pendant with the kanji for the Nagaken Clan hanging from her neck signaled her as the retainer for the aforementioned Clan. Yuzu, for her part was wearing an amber colored kimono with what looked like white and yellow dandelions on it, yet again a blue sash finished her attire. Also, regardless of the formal clothing, Ichigo was still carrying his sealed zanpakutou on his back.

They followed a servant to the entrance of a meeting room, from where they could hear heated voices arguing.

"Kuchiki Rukia will marry Murata Keitaro!" One man was saying a strong, commanding voice. "The arrangements have already been made."

"I'm sorry to say that, if that is the case, the arrangements will have to be unmade, honorable councilman." That was Byakuya, speaking with a healthy dose of anger and sarcasm. "I never authorized for my sister to marry that man."

"Your input wasn't asked on this matter, Byakuya-dono." A councilwoman spoke in what obviously was false politeness. "This marriage is for the good of the Kuchiki Clan. That girl would do well in remembering all the kindness that has been shown to her thus far, and feel grateful that we have arranged such a convenient match for her."

"That match is only convenient for you." Byakuya replied. "I know the Murata Clan, very few of them have ever had enough reiatsu to become shinigami, most work in other crafts, particularly as merchants. They will never allow a wife of the clan to hold a position that could be seen as higher as that of her husband. They will never allow Rukia to remain a shinigami."

"She will be at the house, as is the duty of every well-educated wife…" Yet another councilwoman began speaking.

It was at that point that Ichigo loss what little control he had over his reiatsu, even if just briefly. Still, the flare-up was enough to interrupt the discussion going on inside and no one would have been surprised to learn at least half of people inside that room were left gasping for breath at the weight of Ichigo's reiatsu.

"I have to say that, in the end, it matters little." Byakuya declared, a certain tint of satisfaction in his voice. "Other arrangements have already been made in regards to my sister's future."

The doors were opened wide in that moment, right in time for the three Kurosakis to watch the quiet satisfaction in Byakuya's eyes, as he otherwise remained expressionless; as well as the equally quiet confusion and surprise in Rukia's own expression and the general displeasure in practically everyone else in the room; with the exception of one man, who looked a bit old, dressed in clothes that resembled a shinigami shihakusho…

"Who dares interrupt a private meeting of the Kuchiki Council?" The councilman the siblings had first heard asked in a pompous tone.

"We're here, Kuchiki Byakuya-dono." Karin called ignoring the man completely.

"They are not interrupting anything, councilman." Byakuya corrected. "For it was I who called them here. Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, retainer of the Nagaken Clan, and her escorts: Kurosaki Ichigo and Kurosaki Yuzu."

The three siblings bowed in silence, though Ichigo barely even remembered to do so. And it was that in that moment Ichigo was growing angrier by the second as he saw Rukia. She was dressed in a formal kimono as well, though much more elaborate that the ones his sisters were wearing, the top layer was white, with elegant and intricate embroidery of sakura petals, and the neckline was a scarlet red. Also, she was not carrying her zanpakutou, or anything to signal her as a shinigami. Whoever had dressed her like that was trying to sell her, like some bride in ancient times…Ichigo really hated the Kuchiki Clan in that moment.

Kuchiki Byakuya could see the barely reigned in reiatsu as it swirled slightly around Kurosaki Ichigo and knew it was better to settle matters soon, before things got worse. Truth be told, he had never called on the siblings, he didn't even know how they had found out what was going on when he himself hadn't had the slightest idea before being called to that meeting. In any case Yuzu had called ahead using Tenteikura so he had known they were coming, and what their intentions were, that had made it relatively easy to pretend it had been planned. It would also serve to make the Elders wonder how he had been able to plan for something he hadn't been informed of beforehand…those meddling old men and women needed to learn not to try to control his life, or his sister's anymore!

"I thought the main branch of the Nagaken Clan was extinct…" A voice commented in the back. "For there to be a retainer…"

"I am here representing the interest of the Nagaken Heir who, for reasons you need not concern yourselves with, cannot be here himself." Karin stated blankly.

That was a blatant lie, but only the Kurosakis knew. Byakuya suspected a few things, but since he didn't actually know anything it was really a case of 'plausible deniability'.

"What is the meaning of this, Kuchiki Byakuya?" Another councilman asked. "Why have you called members of other clan to a meeting that pertains only to ours?"

"I was explaining to you earlier that my sister could not marry Murata Keitaro." Byakuya explained stoically. "Here is the reason. Your arrangement will not stand, since other arrangements were previously made, with a Clan that far outranks the Murata in every way." He turned to Karin. "Kurosaki-Nagaken-dono?"

Karin gave a signal to Yuzu, who immediately took a scroll out of one of her sleeves. She had offered to act as a high-ranking messenger since each of her siblings already had their part to play in the act they were putting on. But before she could give a single step Ichigo stopped her with an arm before her.

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu whispered, confused.

"Ichigo, what do you think you're doing?" Karin hissed under her breath.

"No, Yuzu, Karin." Ichigo shook his head slightly. "Not like this. Just look at Rukia, that bunch of stuck-up asses, all they're doing is taking her choices from her. I'm not going to be the same as them. If we do this…it's gotta be her choice."

Karin sighed, she should have known something like that would happen.

"Kuchiki Byakuya-dono, as Head of the Kuchiki Clan, I, Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, in my duty as retainer of the Nagaken Clan, ask that you allow your sister, Kuchiki Rukia-dono, to approach us; for it is my brother's, Kurosaki Ichigo's, desire to speak to her before any deal is finalized." Karin said in a very formal and elaborate way.

Byakuya didn't answer Karin's speech directly, instead simply turning to his left, where his sister sat and nodded. When the governess that had been tailing her tried to follow Byakuya stopped her, what was happening was of Rukia's concern, not anyone else's. He'd come to realize in the last couple of hours that he couldn't fully trust his own staff, not if they would keep things from him even when He and no other was the Head of the Clan.

It took a bit of time for Rukia to make her way around the table and down the few steps to get to the entrance where the three Kurosakis were still standing, especially since the multi-layered kimono she was wearing, and the rather small shoes made it hard for her to walk.

Noticing all that only made Ichigo bristle even more.

Once she got to them Karin offered Rukia her hand, which she took and bowed to in a show of respect; then Karin bowed herself to Rukia, before finally pulling her to Ichigo and Yuzu.

"Ichigo? Karin? Yuzu?" Rukia asked in a whisper. "What is going on?"

"Calm down Rukia-san." Karin whispered in as soothing a manner as she could. "We're here to help you, I promise."

"How can you possibly help me?" Rukia wanted to know. "The Elders have already made up their mind. Nothing Nii-sama has said in the last hour and a half has been enough to make them desist. What can you do that Nii-sama can't?"

"It's not like he can't, not exactly, more like it's something he cannot do on his own." Karin explained. "Hence us being here. Ichigo…"

Rukia's attention immediately turned to him.

Ichigo, for his part, was trying to catch his breath; at first all he'd noticed was the way the Clan seemed to want to sell Rukia, and how they had dressed her in such clothes for that very reason; but it wasn't until he had her standing right in front of him that he realized just how beautiful she looked in that moment…

"Ichigo!" Karin hissed at her brother.

"I need to ask you a question Rukia." Ichigo stated, returning to his senses, and then thought it better. "but first, I want you to summon your zanpakutou."

"What?" Rukia didn't understand what that had to do with anything.

"Summon your zanpakutou." Ichigo insisted. "Do it Rukia."

"What should I do that for?" Rukia hissed back. "How do you even expect me to do it? I don't have that kind of power!"

"Yes you do." Ichigo insisted. "You can do it. You could after having spent months cut off from your own power, weeks wearing that stupid suppressor, and a week inside that damned white tower. If you could find the power to do it then, you can do it now."

"Maybe that's true." Rukia admitted, though she still sounded very unsure. "In any case, what has my zanpakutou got to do with anything?"

"I need to ask you a question." Ichigo repeated. "But I won't ask it to a porcelain doll, or a damsel in distress, I want to ask that question to a shinigami; so show me you're one and summon your zanpakutou already!"

Karin couldn't help but smile slightly to herself, it was just like her brother to focus so much in something that would appear so trivial to most. Only for him it wasn't, because he was a warrior, and he understood the value of being one. It's why he wouldn't ask the question to Rukia as she was in that moment, because he didn't want the Rukia that her Clan would sell to some noble to be a 'wife' and a trophy, no, he wanted the warrior he had met in Karakura, who had nearly died fighting to protect them all even before knowing them, who had kept on fighting hollows even when having no powers, who had been willing to die to protect all the Nakama and their secrets; whom they had all risked so much for…

Byakuya himself seemed quite satisfied with what he was hearing as well. The thing he'd liked the least when hearing just who the Elders expected his sister to marry was knowing that they would take away her passion, her dreams; Ichigo and the others wouldn't do that, because they had met her as a shinigami and they respected her as such. Yes, even a half-human as Kurosaki Ichigo deserved his sister more than any noble he knew…

The rest of those present who had actually heard the exchange practically snorted in disbelief at the whole thing. In their minds there was no way that a 'Rukongai rat', mere adopted noble, who wasn't even a seated officer, could have enough power to actually summon her zanpakutou; they didn't know what had happened in Soukyoku Hill, or the fact that the only reason Rukia wasn't a seated officer was because Byakuya had blocked her from being promoted in an attempt to keep her safe, by making it so she wouldn't be given too dangerous assignments.

Moved by Ichigo's belief in her, which was much greater than hers in herself, Rukia raised her right hand above her hand and called in a similar way as she had once before:

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

Once again it was like a small snowstorm formed right around Rukia, and the snow and ice gathered together to form the beautiful, pristine white blade with a long ribbon hanging from the hilt and twirling gracefully around its wielder.

The gasps were quite loud from almost everyone in the room. Except for two particular people, who only watched the scene with obvious pride.

"There." Rukia declared with great satisfaction, holding Shirayuki by her side. "I have my zanpakutou, I am a shinigami. Ask your question!"

Ichigo took a deep breath, his hands were sweating, he was feeling so nervous, and he just had no idea why! Or so he claimed…

"Will you stay forever with me?" He asked almost in a rush.

"What?" Rukia was in shock, not quite sure she was hearing what she'd first thought.

Ichigo took another deep breath as he reminded himself that this was Rukia he was talking to, his nakama, someone dear to him, there was nothing to be afraid of.

"I know this isn't usually how it's done." Ichigo said softly. "And I hope Byakuya-san will forgive the breach in protocol, but I truly believe it should be your decision, and no one else's." he looked her straight in the eyes, taking her free hand in his before adding. "I am asking you, Kuchiki Rukia, if you would consent to being my wife?"

Rukia was in absolute shock, her mind blank, not knowing what to do, how to answer that. Was it his idea? Was it his choice? Or was he only offering to marry her to save her from the arranged marriage to another man? Did her brother really approve? Did her clan approve? What did he even have to offer that might make the Kuchiki Clan accept their marriage instead of marrying her off to Murata?

The Kuchiki Elders didn't seem to have the same problem with speechlessness as the young woman, since they all immediately began expressing their complaints and absolute refusal of the union, loudly.

Byakuya could barely contain his own chuckle of amusement, he could really count on the Kurosakis to create chaos wherever they went…his eyes then met those of the aged and wise man sitting on the opposite end of the table: his grandfather, head of the Kuchiki Council, and former Head of the Kuchiki Clan: Kuchiki Ginrei…

There was a glint of amusement in the old man's eyes as well. While he was very much a stickler for the rules, he also believed that everyone deserved to be happy. He had disapproved of his grandson's marriage with Hisana, not because of her origins, but because he could see that his grandson was marrying her for the wrong reasons; he was doing things for her and not for himself, never thinking about his own happiness. In regards to Rukia's adoption, he had nothing against her, the man had only feared that after so many years of living in Inuzuri the girl might not adapt to being a noble, he had also had his doubts on her treatment from several of the more hard-headed members of the Clan; on the first matter, he'd been pleasantly surprised to see how well Rukia took to being part of the Clan, even if a part of him had been sad to see the cheerful and innocent young girl vanish bit by bit as she became more like a 'noble lady' as time passed, and of course, her treatment from certain members of the clan was less than stellar…the current situation proving that fact beyond any shadow of doubt. Ginrei was sure that even if the surprising plan Byakuya and the representatives of the Nagaken Clan seemed to have concocted at some point worked, his grandson would still make sure to punish the insubordination that had caused the whole situation to happen in the first place.

"Silence!" Ginrei ordered after judging it was enough.

The man didn't shout, he didn't need to, there was enough raw power, enough authority in his voice that everyone took notice; even the Kurosakis.

"It almost creeps me out how he can do that." Karin whispered under her breath. "Always has and probably always will."

Yes, she quite remembered Kuchiki Ginrei, both from the time she'd been simply the little sister of the Head of Clan, but especially she remembered him from the time after she had assumed leadership of the Nagaken Clan.

"That ryoka isn't eligible for a match with a noble lady of the Kuchiki Clan, whether the lady in question is adopted or not." One of the councilwomen said in a derisive tone.

"For your information lady, I am a shinketsu shinigami." Ichigo deadpanned, and before he could be questioned he added. "And the circumstances of that are Clan Secret."

They of course knew what that meant, he would not speak about it, and no one could make him, not without the approval of the one who had made it clan-secret in the first place, and a representative of the clan keeping the secret (if they were different people).

"As of this morning Kurosaki Ichigo has been officially inducted into the Nagaken Clan." Karin informed all of those present in a dispassionate tone.

That caused yet another round of whispers. Even an adopted member of the Nagaken Clan held far more weight than a born one of the Murata Clan; after all, regardless of the size, the Nagaken Clan was still one of the Four Great Families, the greatest of them all in fact…

Yuzu took the chance of everyone busy with the whispers to finally approach Byakuya and hand him the scroll she'd been keeping; it was the formal offer for the union through marriage of the two clans; their Aunt Kasumi had helped them get it done and make it official right before they'd gotten on their way to the Kuchiki Estate.

"You're…a noble now?" Rukia had a hard time grasping everything.

She could hardly believe that Ichigo was going through so much trouble just for her. Granted, he'd already done a lot to save her from execution, but this was different, this was forever!

"I have already made my choices, now it's time you make yours." Ichigo told her solemnly. "Whatever your answer is, know this Rukia, I will never allow anyone to force you to do anything: whether it is getting married, remaining or leaving your life as a shinigami, nothing at all." He sighed and smiled at her sadly. "I know who you are, Kuchiki Rukia, I accept you that way, as a woman, as a shinigami, as everything you are. I know what I'm asking you is insane, especially in such short notice; but I knew it was now or never, and you know how I am, once I know what I want nothing will stop me from giving everything I can to achieve it. You know where I stand Rukia, the rest is up to you. Like I said, I won't force you on anything. The decision is yours…"

The silence seemed to last forever, even the elders had quieted, knowing how important the whole situation was. While normally the decision wouldn't be up to the girl in question, they seemed to be able to realize the young man would do things the way he wanted, and suddenly the whole situation was too convenient for them to risk ruining it.

"Answer him Rukia." Byakuya almost ordered suddenly.

The noble had noticed how Ichigo's reiatsu began reflecting his anxiety, and he wondered if his sister really was immune to the changes in his aura, or she was just too focused on her own thoughts to notice anything.

"Yes." Rukia finally answered after what seemed like forever, first a bit hesitant, then with more confidence. "Yes Ichigo, I will be your wife."

**xXx**

The union was celebrated two weeks later; a simple san-san-kudo ceremony in the presence of the Nakama, the elders of both clans and a handful of friends from the Gotei 13. After that a formal dinner was arranged, still in the Kuchiki Manor, since Byakuya had insisted on honoring his sister in every way possible the day of her wedding. Since Ichigo knew how important it was, not just for Byakuya but for Rukia, he didn't complain.

During the ceremony there was a traditional exchange of gifts between the bride and groom, during which Ichigo gifted Rukia with a kanzashi: it was a bira-bira made of pure silver, once the pin was on her hair from it hung a red silk-ribbon that held several white and black pearls; he also gave her a royal-blue sash to wear always, as it would signal her as a member of the Nagaken Clan. Rukia, for her part, gave Ichigo a pair of tekkou, like the ones her brother wore, and she had taken to wearing since making peace with Byakuya (though hers were longer than her brother's), except Ichigo's were black in color; on a more personal level, she gave him a platinum locket which inside held a lock of her own hair.

If the Nakama thought it was insane or anything that the two were getting married so soon, especially after only knowing each other for a handful of months, they didn't say anything. They just smiled and congratulated the couple on their union. Karin was even heard muttering about how they were going to have trouble controlling their father once he learnt that Ichigo and Rukia had gotten married, especially without him present.

The whole event was considerably small since, as far as most of those in attendance were concerned, it involved only two adopted members of Noble Clans; even if they had status due to their positions, it wasn't the same as if they had been actual children of their clans. Of course, not all people knew everything…

When the dinner party began clearing, Byakuya unexpectedly asked the Kurosakis, now including his sister, to follow him. They walked a little while but eventually reached what was obviously a private office, one that wasn't Byakuya's.

The moment Rukia saw the old man sitting in a comfortable chair in the back of the room she bowed to him. It was so fast Karin barely managed to discreetly stop her from bowing all the way, she was no longer just an adopted child of the Kuchiki Clan, she was the wife of a member of another, even higher Noble Clan. While she was still expected to show respect to someone like Byakuya and Ginrei, it wasn't to the same level.

"Kuchiki Ginrei-dono." Karin greeted formally, standing in front of the others.

"Nagaken Karin-dono." Ginrei addressed her by her old name. "It does an old heart good to see a soul as bright as yours back in this world."

"You honor me, Ginrei-dono." Karin smiled softly.

She remembered the man, had known him practically her whole previous life. He was a good friend of her Aunt Kasumi, an honorable, respected and powerful former shinigami and captain, and not the kind of noble who used to look down on everyone else. He was also one of the few who hadn't looked on in disapproval when she was made Head of the Nagaken Clan after her brother's disappearance. Karin had always respected him a lot.

After a silent signal from Ginrei, Byakuya indicated the others to take a seat and silently went to take a place on a comfortable chair at his grandfather's right; it took a second for the others to react, but soon Karin and Yuzu took places on a couch at his left, while Ichigo and Rukia did the same in another one right across from him.

Once they were all comfortable, Ginrei wordlessly placed a piece of paper he'd been holding on the center of the table. Karin was the first to realize what it was and she gasped.

"A…an alliance between the Houses of Kuchiki and Nagaken." She said, eyes turning to Ginrei instantly. "But for something like this to be possible Rukia-san would have to be…"

"She would have to be a blood member of the Main Line of the Kuchiki Clan." Ginrei finished for her in a solemn tone. "And she is."

That took all the Kurosakis by surprise, especially Rukia. As far as she was concerned she was just a commoner who had been lucky enough to be adopted by Byakuya; how could she possibly be a blood member of the Clan? And of the main line?

"My son…Soujun…he wasn't a good man." Ginrei admitted in a low, almost grieving voice.

Rukia's brows furrowed, she knew who Kuchiki Soujun was, Byakuya's father, Ginrei's only son, he'd died before becoming Head of Clan, which is why the title had gone straight to Byakuya; and why Ginrei had even stayed in power for so long. Still, Rukia had never met the man, he was already dead by the time she was adopted. Everything she'd heard about him said he was a powerful shinigami, lieutenant, handsome, always smiling, kind and well-loved by most who knew him. And yet…to hear Ginrei, his own father, say he wasn't a good man…

"It is true." Byakuya stated in a blank tone. "My father wasn't a loyal man, to his wife or to the Gotei; he was a disgrace to the Kuchiki name."

And the reason why things seemed to be so hard for Byakuya at times, the Elders remembered Soujun, and too many of them feared that Byakuya might end up being the same way.

"The story of Kuchiki Soujun is long and filled with disgraces." Byakuya continued, keeping himself mostly blank in voice and expression. "However, the important part here is his unfaithfulness to my mother. Her name was Kuchiki Shiori, even before marrying; she was the only daughter of a minor Kuchiki Line and theirs was an arranged marriage. My mother was very beautiful, but her reiryoku very little, she only managed to give birth to one son, me, and even after that she was left very weak. So much that my father began seeking 'entertainment' elsewhere. He had a number of mistresses, in both the Soul Society and the Material World; but two in particular turned out to be strong and compatible enough to give him children. In particular, one of his mistresses in the Human World was strong enough, and stayed with him enough to give him two children, two daughters…"

Suddenly realizing where it was all going Karin slapped her hand against her mouth to keep the gasp from escaping.

It was obvious that Byakuya could no longer speak, so Ginrei took over the story instead:

"My son had wanted to remarry since learning that Shiori wouldn't give him another child." The aged man explained. "But since his wife still lived, and she was still Lady Kuchiki, he was not allowed to. Instead he took mistresses, and showed his disdain towards his own wife by making little effort in keeping his affairs a secret. Shiori's own sickly state only got worse when she learnt that a human woman had been able to do what she could not, give her husband two children. It didn't matter that neither of those girls, or the one born in Soul Society would ever be considered a part of the Clan, or even that two of them were technically human, there was still a sense of failure for Shiori." He sighed and shook his head. "The situation only got worse when rumors of a possible new civil war arouse, and Soujun was found to be one of the instigators. When he realized someone had turned him in he immediately made arrangements to erase all trace of his involvement in the matter, and somehow that included getting rid of his human mistress and their children. By the time I got to the house it was already too late. The older woman had been brutally murdered, and apparently some poison had been used on her eldest daughter; then she'd been pushed out of a second floor window while trying to run away, with her baby sister in her arms, the fall killed them both instantly."

Tears began silently falling down Rukia's eyes as Ichigo held her tightly against his chest, they'd both finally understood the purpose of the story they were being told.

"With the evidence vanished Soujun retained his ranks and position." Ginrei continued in a bitter tone. "He kept trying to convince the Elders to let him marry again, especially when a decade later Shiori finally died, but I refused to allow it, and five years later he himself died, during a mission to Hueco Mundo. It didn't matter that he was never formally accused of anything, several of the Elders and I always knew Soujun was guilty of many crimes. And that had affected Byakuya terribly…"

Yes it had, and Ginrei regretted that more than anything else. His grandson was a model noble, shinigami and Clan Head, and yet he couldn't catch a break, the Elders just kept pushing and pushing, waiting for him to make a mistake so they could accuse him of being the same as his father. Even when he was more like Ginrei, or Shiori than he ever was like Soujun. The Elders just wouldn't leave it alone, it was their way of at least trying to hold onto some kind of power, some kind of authority over Byakuya, even when they had no right to any at all.

"I found Hisana many years later in Rukongai and from the moment I first saw her I knew who she was." Byakuya continued. "The hint of blue in her eyes, the black beneath her ashen hair, and even some of her features were clearly those of my father. I saw her in Inuzuri, I saw the life she had, and knew it was not the life she deserved. I knew that the Elders would never allow for her to be brought into the Clan, and we still didn't know who exactly had been sent to kill her and her family in the human world, what if they tried to kill her again? So instead I offered her the chance to become a Kuchiki by marrying me. At first she denied me, saying it wasn't worth it, that she wasn't worth it, sick as she was. But I was insistent. Then she learnt that my Clan was pressuring me to take a wife, and I wasn't interested so she finally accepted. She became my wife, and in doing so we kept the Elders shut, and I could give her what she deserved. At the same time we began looking for her sister, for Rukia…" his eyes met those of his sister as he explained. "Hisana didn't leave you because she didn't want you Rukia, she did it to protect you. The same assassins who poisoned her when she was still human, taking most of her reiatsu and making it so she didn't actually have any spiritual abilities once in Soul Society, found her again in Rukongai, and they used the same poison against her yet again, it's what made her sick. Hisana abandoned you hoping it would keep you safe from them, believing that if you weren't with her the assassins wouldn't find you. You were a baby, and she hoped that someone would have mercy on you and look after you, and that you may have the life she couldn't have. By the time I found you it was already too late, you never got to meet each other again, and I couldn't tell you just how brave Hisana had been, because we still didn't know what had been of those assassins. It was also why I had to use a promise to Hisana as an excuse to adopt you, I couldn't tell anyone that you were, truly, a daughter of the Kuchiki Clan, in case you were attacked again. So I had to let everyone believe you were just a commoner, and I couldn't step in every time they looked down on you or talked to you with disdain. I could only stand there and watch, and realize how strong you were, how much of a Kuchiki you were as you moved past it all and became one great woman and shinigami; as you became my pride."

"Nii-sama…" Rukia whispered in a broken voice.

She wanted nothing more than to embrace her brother, thank him over and over again for all the things he'd done for her, but she knew it wasn't proper, so she allowed her new husband to hold her in place. She also wished she could have met her sister, that she could thank Hisana for all she had done for her, even in abandoning her as a baby, all the older girl had wanted to do was protect her…if it weren't for Hisana Rukia wouldn't have any reiryoku, she probably wouldn't even be alive.

"What happened with the assassins?" Karin wanted to know.

"They eventually made their appearance." Ginrei stated. "I don't know if they somehow found out who Rukia truly was, or if someone else hired them because they thought Rukia's position as Byakuya's sister was threatening; but they made several attempts against her life. All of which were thwarted, the assassins caught and executed. It took a while but eventually we tracked those responsible and had them killed as well. However, we never found any member of the Kuchiki Clan who might have been involved…"

"Which doesn't necessarily mean there were none, just that they were hiding particularly well." Ichigo finished, understanding the danger.

"Yes." Ginrei nodded grimly.

"It's one of the reasons I didn't reveal the truth of Rukia's parentage even after we were sure all of the assassins had been dealt with." Byakuya added. "I also knew that if the Elders were to know the truth, it would only put more pressure on her. I decided she was having a hard enough time already. However that morning, two weeks ago…I came so close with breaking my own vow and telling the Elders who exactly they were trying to sell."

"While they could have married off any minor lady of the Kuchiki Clan, they couldn't do the same about a potential Heiress, especially not when what they were trying to do was to marry her off to another clan." Karin said, understanding. "It's the same reason why the Elders could never make me marry in my last life."

"Yes." Byakuya nodded, he remembered that time well. "However, Yuzu-san's message stopped me just in time, and instead I decided to let you handle it."

"So that's how you knew what they were going to do." Ginrei commented, he'd been wondering just how his grandson had been so prepared.

"I was willing to reveal Rukia's parentage to protect her, though at the same time I know that in the end she would have just been used as leverage against me; the Elders would have taken the chance to force one of us to marry and sire an heir." Byakuya pointed out. "Yuzu-san's warning that she and her siblings were on their way and the arrangements that had been made already on their part allowed Rukia to be protected both from the arranged marriage and the Elders and still remain in a relatively comfortable position. Even if Kurosaki Ichigo is just an adopted member of the Nagaken Clan, I know he will keep her safe."

"With my life if need be." Ichigo replied instantly.

Then, as he met his sisters' eyes, everyone watching them knew something was going on, it was like the three could have a full conversation without saying a word.

"Karin…" Eventually it was Ichigo who broke the silence.

"It's up to you Ichigo." Karin finally declared. "You know I support you whatever choice you make. Both Yuzu and I do."

Ichigo nodded with a smile at his sister before turning to the Kuchiki men.

"You being so honest with us, warrants us being the same." Ichigo declared seriously as he signaled to the paper still on the table. "While it is true Karin could sign that paper as retainer of the Nagaken Clan and form a considerably strong alliance with the Kuchiki Clan, I have a better offer." He took a deep breath and revealed himself. "I will sign it."

"You?" Ginrei wasn't sure he understood correctly.

It was confusing, as far as the two Kuchiki men were concerned, how could an adopted son of a clan have more standing than a retainer in place of the heir?

"Nii-sama isn't dead." Karin stepped in.

"Isshin?" Byakuya asked, suddenly beginning to connect the dots that had been provided during the meeting weeks before.

"He didn't die." Karin insisted seriously. "There was an attempt on his life, courtesy of Aizen. He lost all his shinigami powers for a while, but he didn't die. He spent a few years on the World of the Living, where he eventually met a woman called Kurosaki Masaki, he fell in love with her, and it was because of that love that even when he regained his shinigami powers he chose not to return to Seireitei. He married Kurosaki Masaki, taking her family name to hide who he truly was. And she gave him three children, of whom I'm the second." She chuckled slightly. "It seems like a big cosmic joke, for me to have become my own Nii-sama's daughter…in any case, I was not the firstborn…"

"I am." Ichigo spoke seriously. "My birth-name is actually Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo. I am the rightful heir of Nagaken Isshin, and as such the next Nagaken Clan Head."

"So it is you Karin is acting as retainer for." Byakuya realized.

"Yes." Ichigo nodded.

"Does anyone in the Nagaken Clan know?" Ginrei wanted to know.

"Kasumi-oba-sama." Karin answered. "She knew who we were from the very beginning. She was my strongest supporter when I announced I would act as retainer. She's also the one who helped us make the arrangements for Ichigo's and Rukia's marriage."

Byakuya and Ginrei nodded, suddenly things made a lot more sense. It also meant that Rukia was even more protected, since her husband was not an adopted member of the Nagaken Clan, but a blood member of it, and not only that, but the heir!

"Who exactly knows the truth about your parentage?" Byakuya asked, signaling to all three siblings in general.

"Aside from those in this room right now?" Karin asked, and then without waiting went on. "The other Nakama who came with us to Soul Society, and Kasumi-oba-sama. We expect to share the information with the Nakama still in Karakura, and our father, who might want to share it with his friends of the Urahara-Shouten. But that will be it. The vast majority of people in both words will continue believing that I am just the reincarnation of Nagaken Karin, now acting as retainer for the Clan, and my siblings have been adopted by the same Clan, something that isn't hard to believe considering the prowess they have shown thus far, Ichigo as a shinigami and Yuzu as a kidou expert. Eventually the whole truth will be made public knowledge, but we don't know when exactly."

Rukia for her part was having a hard time processing everything. For many years she'd known that one day she would marry, most likely someone not of her choice, which seemed to become evident when she was informed of the arrangement for her union with Murata Keitaro; she'd been surprised when being made another offer, this time for her to marry Ichigo, who had suddenly been inducted into a Noble Clan, the Nagaken Clan. She had accepted the union to Ichigo deciding that even if it wasn't exactly something they had chosen, she knew him, accepted him and cared for him, and it was the same from him to her; Ichigo would never want her to be someone she wasn't, and neither would she; Rukia could think of far worse people to end up sharing eternity with.

And yet, as overwhelming as the whole situation had been when the initial arrangements were made, now she was being told that her new husband wasn't just a human and adopted member of the Nagaken Clan, no, he was in fact a born shinigami and the for-the-most-part unknown Heir of the family! The future Clan Head! She, who she just learnt was in fact a Kuchiki Lady by blood instead of just by adoption as she'd always believed, was married to a half-human shinketsu shinigami who was in fact the heir of the Nagaken Clan; to the man that would one day lead the highest of all the Noble Clans in Seireitei!

The young woman was almost dizzy with the realization of it all. And with the fact that before that day he hadn't told her anything of it…

"I know what you're thinking Rukia…" He whispered into her hair as he held her tightly. "I want you to know I am sorry. I wasn't keeping this from you because I didn't want you to know, but because I thought we had time. I thought we would get back to Karakura and then I could explain who I was, who my father was supposed to be. However, the Kuchiki Elders kind' a forced our hand. I hope you do not regret accepting to become my wife…"

"No, I don't." Rukia assured him with a sigh. "But we will be talking more about this. No more secrets Ichigo."

"No more secrets." He promised her.

If he'd just known how complicated that promise would end up being…

"Are you happy Rukia?" Byakuya's unexpected question took her by surprise.

"Nii-sama…?" She asked, not quite knowing what else to say.

"Since the first moment I saw you at the Academy, all I've wanted was for you to be happy." Byakuya explained. "All I've done has been in attempt you give you what I could never give your sister. I know I've failed in many ways, your near execution just being one example. But I hope you will be happy now…"

Rukia couldn't hold herself back anymore, in an instant she had vanished from Ichigo's arms and had pretty much thrown herself into Byakuya's.

For the longest time it seemed like the noble didn't know what to do, even as his sister, still in her elegant wedding kimono held onto him for all she was worth.

"I am happy, very happy Nii-sama." She assured him in a slightly broken voice. "You are my dear brother and I would not change that for anything. I don't think you've failed at anything. You always cared for me, always did what you could, and for that I will be forever thankful. I love you Nii-sama…"

"As I love you Rukia…" He whispered as he finally gave in and hugged her.

"Such are the burdens we bear…" Karin half-quoted under her breath in a solemn voice. "But as long as we have others to share them with, may they not be as heavy…"

Close to her, Kuchiki Ginrei, the only one to really hear and understand her words, could only nod solemnly. Such heavy burdens his grandson had been forced to carry his whole life, because he had a mother who fell ill after giving birth to just one child, because he had a father who could not be faithful, because he had an uncle who was a traitor and an aunt who committed suicide rather than face the world after her husband fell from grace. The sins of so many people had fallen upon Byakuya's shoulders when he'd still been so young, and he'd done his best to bear them, most of the time on his own.

Rukia too had been forced to carry heavy burdens, the sins of her parents; the first of which had caused her death in the Living World when just an infant, she'd also been forced to grow up on her own in one of the worst districts of Rukongai when her sister decided she brought more danger than safety with her; forced to go from free commoner to tied-down noble in an attempt of her own brother to care for and protect her; kept from realizing her true potential by the same brother trying to protect her; nearly killed by a madman in a crazy quest for power and a position never meant for him; and then nearly married off to a man who wanted nothing more than a trophy wife, and who would never see Rukia's true value. Even in that moment, married to Kurosaki Ichigo, a man who knew her value, who accepted her true self, there was no way of knowing if they would be able to make each other truly happy. Only time could tell.

Yes, such are the burdens those closest to him bore, Ginrei knew, and he had no doubt the three heirs of the Nagaken Clan had their own; he could only hope that they would remain a tight group, as they did in that moment, and that they, along with the Nagaken's and his granddaughter's nakama, might be able to move forward and to find true happiness.

**xXx**

One week later the Nakama, in their usual clothes, were standing on Soukyoku Hill yet again, though this time waiting for the final preparations to be finished so they could travel back to the Material World.

Rukia of course was going too, she had been given authority equivalent to a fukutaichou and was to act as liaison between the Nakama and the Gotei 13, at least until the conflict with Aizen ended, when most people expected more permanent arrangements to be made; for the same reason she'd also been granted the power to open official Senkaimons when needed.

Only those who'd been present at the ceremony were aware of the fact that Ichigo and Rukia were married; though it was public knowledge that he'd been 'adopted' by the Nagaken Clan. This to give him a bit of more authority, and in her case so the sleeper cells wouldn't inform of her change of status to Aizen, putting her in even more danger; though even that didn't stop them from wearing the gifts from their union.

All the Nakama had been gifted with small badges that had the symbol for the Gotei 13 on one side and the kanji for Nakama in the other, signaling them as allies of Seireitei; Ichigo had also been handed enough for those who remained in Karakura. Also, Ichigo and Uryuu had been given denreishinki similar to Rukia's, to aid them in their duties. Karin had rejected being given the same considerations, and when not doing her duties as Retainer of the Nagaken Clan she preferred to be seen as any other Nakama and had no trouble following Ichigo's, Uryuu's, or even Rukia's orders.

The tight-knitted group had had lunch together that morning in a private dining room of the Nagaken Main House. Byakuya and Ginrei had been invited to eat with them, and others like Hanatarou, Kasumi and Yoruichi were there as well.

In case of the shy shinigami, the Nakama had wanted to show their appreciation in some way, even if no one but them and four other high-ranked shinigami knew that he'd been involved at all with them and their 'infiltration'. Hanatarou had felt very embarrassed at the attention, but had still thanked everyone profusely for the honor and promised to do his best to always be there to help. Karin had the suspicion that all the time he seemed to spend with Yuzu may just be improving his confidence.

Chad himself had been a bit late, as he'd been visiting the 4th Division, again…it had become something pretty normal in the weeks since their leaving of the place, even if no one knew exactly what made him go there so often.

Yoruichi was present, even when she had never stayed with the other Nakama there, she knew of the marriage between Ichigo and Rukia because she'd been present at the wedding, as the only heiress of the Shihouin Clan. She knew there were a lot of secrets being kept from her, but chose not to press the teens too much and instead hoped that they would be honest with her eventually; she'd seen how fast they'd all closed up to Kisuke after realizing that much of what was happening was, directly or indirectly, his fault; and the hurt in the Kurosakis eyes after confirming the truth their father had kept a secret for so long; she really didn't want to end up being considered in the same level.

Byakuya had, with a very satisfied expression, informed everyone that those responsible for nearly marrying Rukia off without his consent or even his input had been 'properly dealt with' already. No one had even though of stopping him after they were informed of the alliance the Kuchiki Clan now had, thanks greatly to the match between Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia; something that would have never been possibly if certain people had gotten what they wanted and married Rukia to the second son of the minor noble Murata Clan. Yes, they had nothing to complain about after that.

And so it was about an hour after noon that the Nakama and those closest to them arrived together to Soukyoku Hill and waited for the Senkaimon to be opened.

It was a great surprise for them when, shortly before the wait was over, all of those who had been at the meeting weeks before showed up at the Hill to see them off. Especially when Yamamoto called them close:

"I know the decision you've made with regards to Aizen and the other two traitors." The aged shinigami declared. "As I also know that if he were to attack the Material World you would be the first to act."

They all nodded in unison.

"As you all know by now all of you are the only high-ranked warriors who haven't seen Aizen's shikai, and therefore cannot be tricked by his illusions." Yamamoto continued. "Which is why I'm giving you this,"

With a signal to Juushirou, who had been standing behind the Captain-Commander in waiting, Yamamoto took from him a long, folded, piece of white cloth and handed it formally and silently to Ichigo, who took it with a mix of confusion and apprehension.

The orange haired shinketsu's anxiety proved right when, upon unfurling the cloth, it turned out to be a sleeveless haori in his size, just like all the captains' haoris he'd seen, except that instead of a number, that one had the kanji for Nakama inside the rhombus of the Gotei. Ichigo was as good as being promoted to a captain, at least as far as authority was concerned, and they all understood that.

"Why?" Ichigo asked, holding the haori tightly in his hands.

"Like Yama-jii just explained, all of you are our best chance against Aizen." Juushirou said solemnly. "Whether you choose to consider him your enemy now, or wait until he's gone after you. I think we all know such a confrontation is inevitable. Whether because of you, or because of the Juureichi…it just can't be helped."

They all nodded grimly, that they knew those were facts didn't mean they had to like them.

"The rest of the shinigami will need to see proof of the authority you now hold, in particular in such a situation where a battle might take place and you might be the only ones knowing what is really going on." Juushirou added, just as grimly. "That's what that haori represents. You, of course, won't be expected to attend meeting or fill paperwork, this is just a formality for, let's say, just in case…"

Once again, they all nodded. They knew the time would come, sooner or later, and it was good to see precautions had been taken.

"The gate is ready." A shinigami informed them right then.

"Very well." Ichigo nodded, finally putting on the haori. "Let's do this."

His nakama just smiled and went to stand at his flanks, they knew that even if he didn't really show it, he liked the recognition.

The gate was opened and everyone waved goodbye one last time.

"Here we go." Ichigo said with a smile. "Nakama!"

"Nakama!" They all cried out in one voice.

And without further ado, they were on their way, back home…

* * *

And with this we finish the rewrite of the Soul Society Arc! It seemed to last forever! Really, between this arc and the intro we're more than a fourth into this fic!

Of course, the fic itself is far from over. I know some of you have already guessed some of the things coming the Nakama's way, but I can promise you there's no way you could ever guess everything (you can try, I'd love to see what you all think). Hope you'll enjoy!

See ya next week!


	15. Matters of the Body and the Soul

Sorry for the late hour, I'd almost totally forgotten I needed to update this! If I normally forget what day I'm living in, the quarantine is making it worse!

Something I forgot to point out last chapter. Regarding the haori and band the Nakama were gifted. They're important, they're about recognition. You must know that, in canon Ichigo and the others were barely little more than reluctant allies to Seireitei and the Gotei, this time it's different. And the haori and the band are a symbol of that, they show that the shinigami are taking them seriously. (also, the fic poster is meant to be the back of Ichigo's haori).

For those who wanted to see Isshin's reaction to a few things... here you go! Enjoy! This is mostly a transition chapter as we get everyone back to Karakura and prepare for what's coming next.

Also, for those who wanted to see more of Tatsuki, this is just the beginning!

* * *

**Chapter 15. Matters of the Body and the Soul **

After a 'less than stellar' fall that required ample use of kidou, shunpo, hirenkyaku and Santen Kesshun, the group formed by seven Nakama and a black cat managed to land at the entrance of the Urahara Shouten, where they could feel the rest of the Nakama and certain family members waiting for them inside.

The moment they stepped into the sitting room they could see Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru in casual clothes, waiting; Keigo was arguing about something with Jinta, while Mizuiro talked about food with Tessai; while Chizuru kept saying things that would make Tatsuki hit her on the back of the head; Ururu could only watch the scene in silence while Urahara chuckled in the back of his fan; Isshin and Ryuuken, in opposite sides of the room, just drinking some tea.

"We're back and the mission was a success, on all accounts." Ichigo announced half formally the moment they all cleared the door.

"That is good to hear." Ryuuken commented in the same tone. "I imagine you showed to all shinigami your pride?"

"We did, shishou." Ichigo nodded. "And…"

"The man who dared insult our pride, and our family paid for it, dearly." Uryuu added stoically, he didn't like remembering Mayuri.

"Is he still alive?" Ryuuken asked, interested.

"Yes." Uryuu admitted, wondering if he should have killed him anyway. "A mercy I granted, not to him, but to his daughter, who pleaded on his behalf."

"I see." Ryuuken nodded thoughtfully. "Does she know such a mercy won't be repeated if her 'father' repeats the offense, or if he dares commit it in my presence?"

"I'm sure she understands." Uryuu nodded, he had made sure to explain it to her.

"Very well." Ryuuken nodded, satisfied. "Then tell me the name of this man."

"He is no man…" Orihime muttered under her breath, turning her head away.

The Nakama who had stayed behind looked at Orihime in surprise, there was a bitterness in her voice they had never heard before, and she'd never interrupted a half-formal exchange between the senior Ishida and either Uryuu or Ichigo.

"Orihime is right." Ichigo added. "He may be a shinigami, and a captain at that, but that…he is no man."

"A monster is what he is." Uryuu concluded. "And the name is Kurotsuchi Mayuri."

There was a low grunt in the back as Kisuke understood, at least superficially, the teens' attitudes; he may not have known what Kurotsuchi did, but he knew enough of the psychotic bastard to understand just what he was capable of.

"Enough of the formal-crap." Isshin declared as he jumped onto his feet. "My precious children are finally back!"

He rushed to them, bent on hugging them half-to-death, but before he could get close enough Karin and Ichigo had dealt a punch-kick combo at him, sending him crashing against a nearby wall painfully (and miraculously it was against and not through).

"Was that really necessary, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, half-worried about the man.

"Rukia-chan!" Isshin called dramatically as he jumped back onto his feet. "My newest daughter is defending me from my ungrateful son!"

He rushed to hug her only to yet again be stopped by a kick from Ichigo, this one strong enough to send him through a nearby shouji door and into the next room.

Rukia blinked, she hadn't been expecting that.

"Idiot oyaji…" Karin muttered under her breath.

"Not even an hour we've been back and you're already trying to scare Rukia away…" Ichigo practically growled, then softened his voice as he turned to Tessai and lowered his head slightly. "I'm sorry about the door, Tessai-san."

"It's quite alright, Kurosaki-san." Tessai assured him with a nod. "Nothing that cannot be easily fixed. Soon we'll have it as good as new again."

Ichigo simply nodded wordlessly.

"Ah!" Isshin called dramatically as he got back up again, this time slowly. "Masaki! My third daughter doesn't love me!"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"My son didn't even have the decency to invite me to his own wedding!" Isshin added in the same exaggeratedly dramatic tone.

Ichigo's eyes flashed, he had been right.

"Yoruichi-san…" He began in a low growl.

However, right at that point he was interrupted by the shocked shouts and gasps from all of his other Nakama in the room.

"What?!"

"You're married?!" Tatsuki practically screeched.

"How can Ichigo have possibly married before me?!" Keigo wailed.

"How is that even possible?" Chizuru was in absolute shock.

"Congratulations Ichigo-san, Rukia-san." Mizuiro nodded at both of them.

"Thank you, Mizuiro-san." Rukia smiled at him.

"Yes I'm married…we're married." Ichigo groaned as he dropped to the floor. "Now shut your traps, all of you, and let me explain."

And so, he explained. Everything that had happened from the moment that servant had interrupted their breakfast to tell them the Kuchiki Elders were planning something. To the ceremony at the Kuchiki Estate. The only thing that was left un-mentioned was the fact that Rukia was a blood-Kuchiki, since those were family secrets and would remain that way. Still, everyone present did know Ichigo was heir of the Nagaken Clan and would take the place as the next Clan Head…eventually.

"So, it's just an arranged marriage." Tatsuki summarized in the end. "Something done out of convenience and nothing else."

Ichigo frowned slightly, he didn't exactly like the way Tatsuki describe it, but at the same time couldn't deny that had been pretty much the idea, so all he could do was nod.

At his side Rukia just sighed, eyes cast down.

"What has me confused." Mizuiro commented thoughtfully. "Is how that servant knew what the Kuchiki Elders were planning."

Silence fell instantly. For a second it looked like Ichigo was going to say something, until he realized how right Mizuiro was.

"I…" He muttered, eyes wide in shock. "I have no idea."

"Neither do I." Several of the others admitted.

"How could she have found out?" Rukia asked out-loud. "Not even Nii-sama knew what the Elders had planned before the meeting began. That's why he was so surprised you were so well-prepared for everything!"

"Didn't anyone thought to question her knowledge back then?" Isshin asked, suddenly uncharacteristically serious.

Truth is, no one liked the idea of someone, whether it may be a servant or anyone else, knowing things they shouldn't know.

"Things were…complicated." Uryuu tried to justify. "When Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu left the dining room they went straight to make arrangements. We saw them again an hour or so later, and they spent the next weeks going from one meeting to another as everything was arranged, their adoption into the Nagaken Clan, the formal kimonos we all wore to the ceremony, and a lot other things. I don't think they had a lot of free time those two weeks."

"No, we didn't." Yuzu admitted, it had really been exhausting.

"I don't remember her." Karin admitted, she'd been frowning for minutes by then.

"What?" Several of the Nakama wondered what she meant.

"I've been trying, very hard, but I don't remember ever seeing her in my other life." Karin admitted. "If she's really who she said she was…then she's been serving the Nagaken Clan for less than twenty-five years. And that's strange in and of itself, why would the Clan hire any more servants when they have even less people living there than they did back then?"

The petite girl shook her head, it didn't make any sense.

"You think she might have been faking it when she appeared dressed like a servant?" Ichigo asked, he didn't like that.

"Maybe, I don't know." Karin admitted. "It's been a very long time. She might be a servant, that still doesn't explain what she was doing working for the Nagaken Clan…" she sighed. "I could feel her reiatsu. It was very tightly controlled, but it was there."

"Why would someone with reiryoku be a servant and not a shinigami?" Uryuu asked in turn.

"Maybe she doesn't have enough power to be a shinigami?" Orihime suggested.

"No." Karin shook her head, biting her lip at the same time. "She had enough education in the spiritual arts to keep her reiatsu under control. If she'd been taught…anything, she most certainly has enough reiryoku. Which brings back the question: Why is she a servant instead of a shinigami, or anything else, really?"

"Maybe we should send a message to Kasumi-oba-san." Ichigo suggested, brows furrowed. "Just to make sure she's not a risk."

Karin nodded quietly, it was the best they could do at the time.

Rukia had kept quiet during the whole exchange. She'd never seen the servant in question, not in the whole week she'd spent in the Nagaken Main House after her marriage to Ichigo; and since she hadn't been there the morning everything had happened, she knew nothing of the situation, or the woman.

"I don't see what's so great about being a shinigami?" Tatsuki muttered.

Several of those presents turned to look at her like she was crazy; and it seemed that way, especially considering that almost half of those present were shinigami, former shinigami, or at least part shinigami.

"Oh, I have nothing against any of you, current or former shinigami." Tatsuki clarified. "I just don't see what's so great about being one."

No one had an answer to that. It's not like any of them had ever considered being a shinigami as something great. For most of them it was simply a part of who they were, and that was it. However, Tatsuki's words, it almost seemed like she didn't like the idea of being a shinigami herself…though there was no way of knowing what made her think that…

"There's something that's been bothering me…" Chizuru said suddenly.

Everyone turned to her right then.

"What is it?" Ichigo finally asked when it seemed like the girl wouldn't talk.

"Karin-chan…" Chizuru said, turning to the younger girl. "A little while ago you…you talked about another life…" her eyes half-closed in confusion. "What does that mean? Are you talking about…past lives?"

Karin sighed, she could see out of the corner of her eyes how Isshin…her Nii-sama…her oyaji, stiffened instantly. She'd known the topic would come up eventually, but at the same time she'd hoped they might get the chance to talk privately…it seemed it wasn't meant to be so. Well…maybe it would even be better that way.

"Reincarnation is a natural thing, Chizuru-san." Karin assured her softly. "Every human that lives in this world passes on to Soul Society and, eventually, upon dying there, is reborn in the Living World. There are certain exceptions, of course, the so-called New Souls, born to particularly strong spirits, since only those powerful can actually get pregnant and give birth in Soul Society. That's how the Noble Clans are formed, with the exception of those who are adopted into it, most of the members are New Souls…" she sighed. "I was a New Soul too, in my last life. This is just my second, actually my first as a human…" she shook her head. "While reincarnation is natural, what isn't is remembering a previous life. Most of the time, humans who get to Soul Society will begin forgetting things of their time in the Living World, the more traumatic their life was, the faster they forget, the only thing that may prevent that is if they have enough reiryoku, and a strong enough will, when they choose to hold onto the memories…still, aside from me I've never known anyone to reincarnate into the Human World and remember their previous life. I can only do that because the circumstances of my reincarnation were very…particular."

Unknown to Karin, or to all of those attentively listening to her recount, there was one particular person in the back shaking her head silently, a lone tear running down her delicate cheek as she kept her face hidden behind a curtain of hair…

'You're wrong…' she was sobbing inside her own mind, careful to keep her grief and despair concealed from Karin's empathy. 'You're not the only one who remembers…I do too. I remember, so much…friendship, love, war, grief, pain, despair…I remember…'

"Karin…" A voice whispered in a broken voice.

Instantly everyone, even those still trying to process everything Karin had just said, and what she hadn't, moved aside so the person to speak could stare at the petite girl directly. It was Isshin, and in that moment he looked so different from usual it almost scared those who had known him for the last fifteen years or so. The man…was utterly broken.

"Karin-imouto…" Isshin whispered in the say voice.

"Yes…" Karin knew how crucial her answer was, even as she said the words that would seal everything. "It's me, Nii-sama…"

"Karin-chan…" Isshin whispered as he got close enough to caress Karin's cheek. "My baby sister…you're back…you're really back."

"I am." Was all Karin said.

Tears were beginning to pool behind her eyes, though she refused to let them fall.

"Why, why is he reacting like this?" Rukia asked, confused.

She'd been told how Karin was the reincarnation of her own aunt, in a way. How she'd gone from being Isshin's sister to being his daughter; but that didn't explain why the man was reacting so strongly…

By that point the man was on his knees, his arms tightly around his own daughter's waist, holding her and crying into her shoulder like his life depended on it.

"I was born…many, many years after Nii-sama…" Karin explained, adopting the tone she only used when acting the part of her past life. "I was a surprise, after so many years that Hahahue and Chichihue had been trying to have more children, finally I was born. My mother died very shortly after my birth, some healers say giving birth to me had taken all the strength she'd left, so she'd only lived long enough to give me my name and make sure I would be well looked after. Karin, a summer forest, the place she loved the most…" she shook her head. "I know Chichihue loved me, even if he never said so. I think it was painful to him, looking at me, since I looked so much like Haha…In any case, Ishiin-nii-sama was always there for me. While the servants made sure I was well fed, well dressed and was never fully alone; Nii-sama made sure I knew I was loved. There was such difference in ages between him and I, that at times it felt like he was more my father than my older brother…" she sighed sadly. "The day came when Chichihue died, during a long-term mission to Hueco Mundo, I don't know what happened really, that I was never told. I was still considerably young back then. A servant interrupted our breakfast, the one time in the week I could have breakfast with my brother, since most of the time he'd to get to the 10th Division barracks too early…the servant arrived and informed us Chichihue's team had just gotten back, and that my own father had been killed in action. I'm quite sure Nii-sama got the whole story; he was a lieutenant already by then, I never knew, never asked either, I guess that I'd gotten to know him so little during my life than he was more of an idea than an actual part of it."

"Chichihue loved you, imouto, never doubt that." Isshin mumbled in a hoarse voice against her own neck.

"He never showed it." Karin pointed out emotionlessly. "At least not like you do."

"You may have forgotten some details, with all the time that's been." Isshin pointed out. "The servant that arrived that day, he didn't tell us that Chichihue was already dead, but that he was dying. When I got to the 4th he was still alive. He lived long enough to say goodbye, and he asked me to look after you. He knew…he knew he was never a proper father to you, and he wanted me to make sure I would always care for and protect you…"

Karin nodded stoically, doing her best to keep her emotions at bay. It wasn't like suddenly knowing her past-life's father was truly loved her changed anything; she had a new father, a new family, and she was happy with her current life, still, it felt good to know…

**xXx**

Eventually Karin and Isshin both calmed down enough. The group didn't want to split just yet and several of the boys ended up being sent for take-out so they could all eat together in the Shouten before going to their respective homes.

Those who had stayed back were still waiting when the Nakama's brand-new badges began sounding the alarm that a hollow was in the vicinity. Karin was just about to get out of her body again when Tatsuki jumped to her feet.

"It's my turn." She announced as she jumped to her feet, then she turned to Karin to explain. "In your absence we've been taking turns. This one's mine." She turned to the other side. "Hey Geta-boushi! I need a little help here!"

"Tatsuki wha…" Karin didn't even get to finish her question.

Right then Kisuke arrived from behind Tatsuki and touched the tip of his cane to the back of the girl's head, pushing her soul forward and outside of her own body.

"Tatsuki-san!" Yuzu cried out in shock.

Ururu was there just in time to catch Tatsuki's empty body, while the black-blue spiky haired girl disappeared in what as well might have been shunpo.

"Just what is going on here?" Rukia asked, bewildered by the whole thing.

"Arisawa-san has spent the last several weeks training very hard." Urahara explained. "Ever since you sent her that message, saying everything was alright she began coming here to use the training grounds. She pushed herself so hard that her powers seemed to grow exponentially, and soon her physical body began having trouble with it."

"If it's her power shouldn't her body be able to deal with it?" Karin asked, confused.

"If she were maybe like Sado-san or Inoue-san, maybe." Kisuke nodded. "But her power is more spiritual. It's very much like Yoruichi's shunko actually…"

"There's no way that girl can use shunko Kisuke!" Yoruichi interrupted him with a snap. "A human would never be able to do it, their bodies wouldn't be able to take it."

"Which is precisely the reason why, as you were able to see, I pushed her out of it before she went to take care of the hollow." Kisuke pointed out. "And while I said it's very much like yours, it's not entirely so."

"What's the difference?" Yoruichi was still doubtful, but very interested nonetheless.

"Your shunko hits, and with enough power can tear apart." Kisuke reminded her. "Arisawa-san obviously doesn't have the raw power needed to tear apart a creature, yet; but she can do something else, she can envelope her spiritual self in reiatsu and then use it like a blade."

Yoruichi's eyes widened, she wanted to say such a thing was impossible, but had really no way to prove if it was or not.

"Crisis averted." A voice announced right then.

They all turned to see the returned Tatsuki, and for the first time were able to truly see her. She wasn't wearing a shihakusho, neither was she wearing the clothes her human body had had; instead she wore what looked like a slightly short yukata (as it only reached below her knees), it was of the darkest gray with an ivory colored dragon curling around her form, the yukata was a bit loose on her, allowing the slightest bit of a bare shoulder to be seen; her feet were bandaged and she wore no shoes, and what could be seen of her arms (to right below her elbows) was bandaged as well. Some could notice that the bandages on her left hand seemed to have been a bit damaged recently.

"Did your technique backfire on you again, Arisawa-san?" Tessai asked, worriedly.

"Not exactly." Tatsuki grimaced.

In an instant Yuzu was by her side and using healing kidou on Tatsuki's hand, as well as a couple minor scrapes on her neck and arm.

"I overcharged one of my attacks." Tatsuki admitted with a sigh. "The hollow was tricky, if pretty weak, I began losing my temper since I wanted to just kill it and be done with it and so, when I finally caught him unaware I ended up using too much reiatsu."

"You need to be more careful, Arisawa-san." Tessai pointed out. "Especially because there might not always be someone nearby to heal you before you have to return to your body, and if you have to return to it when injured it would complicate things."

Tatsuki nodded solemnly in his direction.

"Talking about precautions to take for when I'm on my own." She said turning to Kisuke. "What about my gikongan, Geta-boushi?"

"Still working on it, Arisawa-san." Kisuke assured her while covering his smile with his fan. "I've also decided to work on others for Kuchiki-san and Kurosaki-Nagaken-san if that's alright with them." He turned to the girls in question. "Unless you tell me you would prefer a more traditional gikon."

Rukia sighed, had she been asked that question a couple of months before she would have immediately replied she wanted Chappy, but she had become more sensible since. She, of course, still loved the rabbit character to pieces, but where her gigai was concerned she decided it might be better if it had a more-apt mod-soul inside when she wasn't in it.

"A battle mod-soul just might be what I need." Rukia admitted. "If what we fear does come to pass at some point."

She was referring, of course, to open war against Aizen with Karakura as battle-ground.

"Just fine with me, Geta-boushi." Karin nodded her agreement.

"Very well." Kisuke nodded, more to himself than the others. "I promise to have the mod-souls ready for you in a week at the most."

"They better not be crazy perverts like Kon, Geta-boushi!" Tatsuki reminded him strongly.

Kisuke just chuckled.

"There's something that's been bothering me, Tatsuki-san." Yuzu commented out-of-the-blue.

"What is it, Yuzu-chan?" Tatsuki immediately turned to smile at the soft-spoken girl.

"Well, you're obviously not a shinigami, and yet you seem to need to get out of your body for your abilities to work correctly." Yuzu commented. "Why is that?"

While Yuzu knew she herself wasn't a full shinigami, since she had no zanpakutou, she was still very good at kidou and shunpo, and had a basic grasp of hakuda and hohou. Tatsuki was obviously very good at hakuda and hohou, and seemed to have done something similar to shunpo; yet she knew no kidou or had a zanpakutou, and her ability, while similar to an ability Yoruichi had, was not exactly that.

"No idea." Tatsuki deadpanned. "We discovered about two weeks ago that my own powers were working against me. At first they were just scratches and bruises, but soon enough I would walk out of my training with torn muscles and cuts that required serious kidou to be healed. The worst came when practicing a cutting kick I somehow ended up cutting my own foot open. It took Tessai-san a very long time to heal me enough for the cut to stop bleeding and close, and still I couldn't walk for a couple of days, and kept limping for almost the rest of the week. It then occurred to Geta-boushi that my power was in fact in my spirit and not in my physical body; he tried his theory by pushing me out of my body and…voilá."

"What about your clothes?" Rukia asked.

"Yet again, no idea." Tatsuki said again. "As beautiful as the yukata is, I own nothing like it. And if you look at it carefully, it seems to be a bit old, worn, and not quite my size. What the reasons for any of those things are I truly have no idea."

"What's the possibility of her being another reincarnation?" Chizuru asked unexpectedly.

"Not impossible." Karin admitted. "It might explain both her powers and her clothing; as well as the apparent distaste for shinigami…"

"I've told you all already, I have nothing against shinigami…" and yet Tatsuki had to stop to think twice about it. "At least I don't think so, not really. I just don't see what the big deal is. That's all. Really!"

In the back of the room Orihime just watched Tatsuki with a critical eye, through the whole discussion on Tatsuki's powers and condition she hadn't said a single thing, instead she had just watched and pondered. Why did Tatsuki seemed so familiar to her? Not in the sense of the girl who had been there for her, to protect her, for over five years, or the girl who had taught her martial arts and been her best friend for so long. It was something more, something the orange-red haired girl couldn't quite put her finger on…Maybe she would remember eventually? She sure hoped so, had a feeling it was important…

Without a single word more Tatsuki finally went back into her body, and shortly afterwards the boys were back with dinner for everyone. A meal they all thoroughly enjoyed, as well as the company, in particular that of those closest to them, and of those that hadn't been able to be there for the past five weeks.

**xXx**

Eventually the food was consumed and the Nakama decided in was time to make their ways home. Those who lived on similar directions made their way together, all agreeing to meet the next morning at Chad's home, it was time for yet another 'visit', though this time to honor Chad's abuelo. With that particular visit things were different, as his grave was back in Mexico and, even with the powers they all had, it just wasn't possible for them to visit the actual grave. So instead they would all visit Chad's apartment and honor the man on a small altar Chad arranged for that very purpose. It seemed like a lucky coincidence that they had gotten back to Karakura just in time…

Chad's abuelo was cause for certain particular traditions in the group, not only on his death anniversary, but there was also the fact that despite it not being a Japanese tradition, the Nakama had taken on celebrating what Chad called 'Día de Muertos', on the 2nd of November, the half Mexican had explained that it was a day meant to honor dead loved ones. It seemed strangely fitting in their minds, especially after they had gotten to see the actual afterlife; which actually had disappointed most of them so, it really was nothing like the heaven so many humans still believed in…

Ryuuken and Uryuu were the last to get on their way, aside from the Kurosakis. And right when they were about to take their leave, they were called back.

"Ah…Kuchiki-san…or should it be Kurosaki-san?" Kisuke asked.

The teens would have actually reacted to the half joke if they hadn't realized how serious the shopkeeper and former shinigami was being all of a sudden.

"Since I doubt either of us have any intention of announcing our marriage, Kuchiki will suffice." Rukia declared simply.

"Very well, Kuchiki-san…" Kisuke nodded.

And then, under all the Kurosaki's suddenly shocked stares, he dropped on both knees, holding his hat on one hand, the other fisted against the ground, his head bowed and his neck bared. It was a gesture of both submission and of penitence, serious enough to leave them all shocked still and speechless.

From a side Yoruichi only side and turned her head to a side, it almost hurt her to see Kisuke prostrate himself like that. And yet she understood why it was necessary, not just for the Kurosakis (Rukia included), but especially for Kisuke himself.

"My sincerest and deepest apologies for all the grief, despair and pain I may have caused through my actions and inactions." Kisuke whispered in a solemn tone. "I hurt you Kuchiki-san, deeply, through no fault of your own, in an attempt to undo a sin of my own making. And in the end, all I managed was to cause you pain, and almost your death, and my sin still ended in the worst possible hands…"

Ichigo sighed. While he himself had warned Kisuke that he better apologize to Rukia for what he'd done, he never expected the man to take it that far. The orange-haired young man didn't trust the former shinigami, probably never would, not completely, but didn't hate him either. He knew things could have been a lot worse without the man's help. If they'd had to depend on Karin, or even worse, Isshin, to open a Senkaimon and get to Seireitei…they still wouldn't have been able to get their human Nakama there…no, things could have definitely been a lot worse. Urahara Kisuke may not be an innocent, not by a long shot, but he was not evil either, just a man, a genius actually, who hadn't measured the consequences of his actions and had made a mistake; a very serious, very dangerous mistake, but in the end, who could assure someone else wouldn't have done it even in the event that he didn't have?

"I forgive you, Urahara Kisuke." Rukia spoke after what seemed like forever, choosing her words carefully. "I forgive your omission, the fact that you made choices for me without my approval or even my knowledge. I do not forgive the actions themselves, because they need not be forgiven."

That fact actually befuddled Urahara, who could only watch the obsidian-haired shinigami, wondering at what may be going through her mind and hoping she might be forthcoming in an explanation without him having to ask.

"You know…" Rukia went on with a sigh and looking up. "If you had just asked me, I would not have refused…"

The admission actually froze everyone present in shock, especially Kisuke and Ichigo. While the first had been expecting accusations, disdain anything but forgiveness; the daiko at least had been expecting the forgiveness part, but certainly not the following confession.

"If you had explained things to me." Rukia elaborated. "About the Hougyoku, and Aizen, and the kind of sacrifice needed to get rid of it. I would not have refused. I would have accepted to do that sacrifice. How could I not? After meeting the Nakama, after learning the kind of people, of heroes, they all are…how could I have done anything else?" she shook her head with another sigh. "So, I need not forgive you for trying to use my soul to vanquish the Hougyoku, I know the kind of grief and pain a mistake can cause. I know I was fortunate to have help in overcoming my own guilt. I hope you will, eventually, find what you need to move on from your own…"

Kisuke lowered his face again, this time not in penitence but in acceptance, and also a bit of gratitude. He'd never been expecting such words from mouth of the one person he'd hurt the most…at least recently. She truly was so very good…a truly pure soul.

"I'm so proud of you midget…" Ichigo whispered into Rukia's hair, hugging her briefly.

"Don't call me midget, strawberry." Rukia hissed back, even as she basked in Ichigo's touch, however brief it might be.

Ichigo just chuckled and, almost without noticing, guided her around so they could begin making their way to the Kurosaki clinic, a pair of softly smiling twins and a still bewildered Isshin following silently after them.

"Oh." Rukia said, suddenly turning over her shoulder, at the still kneeling Kisuke. "And next time Urahara, just ask."

"Such a pure soul…" Tessai commented from the door of the Shouten. "I have no doubt that she and Kurosaki Ichigo will go far…"

"You have no idea how much…" Yoruichi muttered under her breath.

Yoruichi realized there was much she didn't know. The teens didn't trust her enough to tell her even half of what was going on with them, and she could see that. But she wasn't blind, she could see how accepting the 'matriarch' of the Nagaken Clan was of the Kurosaki siblings even before they were all adopted into the Clan, and it wasn't just Karin's doing; she could see how Ichigo carried himself, at times acting all the part of a noble, even if during normal times he was barely respectful at all; Karin knew a lot more than what she said, and even if the rest of the Nakama didn't know everything, they still knew more than Yoruichi; and the power Ichigo had, it was not normal, not even for a shinketsu…she wondered if Kisuke, Isshin, or even Ryuuken realized that?

"It's not only those two, but all of them." Kisuke whispered as he finally got back on his feet. "They may be human, and not yet out of their teens, but they're still powerful, strong-willed and noble to a fault. Nakama indeed…they will all make it far…"

**xXx**

The next day, amidst some traditional Mexican music and food and as many anecdotes as Chad could recall for those present, in particular Rukia, Oscar Joaquin de la Rosa, Chad's abuelo, was fondly remembered.

Rukia in particular couldn't help but wonder if the old man could possibly still be in Soul Society. She knew that even if he was, the chances of finding him were very low, and even if she did it would most likely take her a very long time. Still, she decided she just might try it at some point, if only to give something special to Chad, Spirits knew the young man deserved it after everything he had done and kept on doing. Others like Kurosaki Masaki, Ishida Souken and Inoue Sora would be harder if not impossible. The first was likely to still be in Grand Fisher, since the hollow had yet to be defeated; the second, it actually depended on how much of what Kurotsuchi claimed was true, the old man may not even exist at all anymore; and the third…he'd been a hollow, and for what she knew Ichigo and Uryuu had had trouble with it, since it was the first time they'd actually fought a hollow, Orihime seemed to believe he'd been purified, but had he truly? If so, people who'd been hollows rarely, if ever, remembered their time before Soul Society; and if not, where was he exactly?

Still, the whole talk about their 'dearly departed' had reminded Rukia, yet again of Shiba Kaien, and how she'd finally managed to put that particular ghost to rest shortly after her near-execution, the day before Ichigo and the others were given clean bills of health and left the 4th barracks as a matter of fact:

_Wearing a dark mauve colored yukata with small pale-pink flowers and a cream colored obi with traditional sandals, Rukia made her way at normal pace (no shunpo) to where Shihouin Yoruichi had been able to tell her the Shiba lived. Apparently she was on very good terms with both of the remaining members of the Clan, particularly Kuukaku, Kaien's sister and the current Head of Clan (or she would be, if the Clan hadn't fallen in disgrace). Yoruichi had gone as far as telling Rukia that the preliminary plan for the Nakama's infiltration into Seireitei had them using Kuukaku's cannon to break into the Court from above. The fact that Isshin had revealed himself to his children and the teenagers had ended up using resources of the Nagaken Clan to get past the gates without being stopped or even noticed had made that part of the plan unnecessary, still, the thought had been there, and Kuukaku had even been informed, after the fact, of how things could have gone. The woman apparently had found the entire situation extremely funny, even if she had complained on 'missing the fun'. _

_Still, none of that made Rukia feel any better as she mentally prepared herself to confront her past for the final time. The talk with her nakama at the cemetery on Kurosaki Masaki's anniversary had helped her move past the crushing guilt and self-deprecation that had bound her for so long; but she wouldn't be able to fully move past it all until she had been able to offer her apologies to those she had affected the most through her actions, aside from Kaien himself. She wasn't expecting any forgiveness, just an opportunity to apologize herself and offer her condolences to what remained of her former lieutenant, mentor and idol's family. _

_When she arrived to the place a woman with a prosthetic arm wearing a knee-length skirt and a sleeveless top with a plunging neckline was berating a short man dressed in a kosode and hakama, for something or other. _

_Rukia didn't need to say a word, her presence was felt by the two, the remaining Shibas, almost immediately, and they both turned in her direction. _

"_What business do you have here?" Kuukaku demanded in a surprisingly neutral tone. _

_For a moment Rukia could only sigh, not knowing how exactly to answer that. Did they know who she was? What she was? What she had done? _

"_Didn't you hear my nee-san, girl?" The young man, Ganju, demanded strongly. _

_Rukia didn't answer, just watching Kuukaku in silence as if trying to convey the questions she couldn't voice in just that one look. _

"_I know who you are." Kuukaku answered the unasked question. "Kuchiki Rukia, the shinigami that killed aniki…" _

_The reaction was instantaneous, as Ganju jumped to his feet, as he'd been kneeling and instantly made a move to leap at her, Rukia was so surprised she didn't know what to do. In the end she didn't need to do anything, as Kuukaku extended a hand and stopped her brother mid-move, pushing him back down. _

"_Nee-san?!" The young man complained. _

"_Shut it Ganju." Kuukaku snapped at her younger brother before turning back to Rukia. "Yet again, I ask, what business do you have here?" _

_A bit surprised that the older Shiba had stopped the other one from trying to attack her, Rukia took a deep breath and moved into a deep bow in the direction of both Shibas. _

"_I'm sorry!" She said, her voice ringing with emotion, a mix of guilt and shame, as well as the slightest relief… _

_Both Shibas were absolutely shocked, even as Ganjuu slowly got back on his feet. Neither of them said a word, just allowing Rukia to get it off her chest. _

"_I have always thought that I needed to apologize," Rukia went on, still without straightening. "But I'm a coward so…all I've ever done was run away. That's why it has taken me so long to get here. I just…I didn't know what to do. Until recently…when I realized I just had to do it, I had to come and offer my deepest apologies and my condolences, even though I know I deserve no forgiveness for what happened and…" she finally rose, though her head was still cast down. "I'm sorry…I really am!" _

"_Enough." Kuukaku stopped her with a sigh. _

"_Huh?" Rukia hadn't been expecting that. _

"_That's enough, stop apologizing." Kuukaku said as she turned her back to Rukia with a sigh. _

"_Wha…" Ganju seemed even more shocked by the whole situation than even Rukia. "What do you mean nee-san?! You can't have forgiven this stinky shinigami already!" _

_Rukia winced at the insult, while not a very strong one, her emotions were already in a roller-coaster, which made things all the harder. _

"_Shut up, idiot!" Kuukaku punched Ganjuu on the back of the head before turning back to face the shinigami. "Ukitake told me everything already; shortly after it happened actually. He told me the truth of what transpired that night, sparing me no detail…He made me understand how it had been Kaien's decision to fight that hollow, and on his own, how his death wasn't in any way your fault…and how remorseful and sad you have been since, how you blamed yourself. Therefore, I had already made up my mind a long time ago, that if I ever heard you apologizing to me I'd let everything go. So that's enough." _

"_Thank you." Rukia really could find no other words as she bowed slightly again. _

"_Enough I said!" Kuukaku snapped, this time at her. "Besides, Yoruichi came to see me. She told me what you did. How you bequeathed your powers to a human to save him and his family, how you were going to be executed for doing that, until that same human and his friends saved you last week." The woman sighed. "What you did, was exactly what aniki would have done. You honored his teachings and his memory through your actions. I don't think he would have asked for more…so neither will I." _

_Ganju was obviously shocked at hearing that, having heard nothing of it before. A shinigami who'd made such sacrifices, who had been willing to die for a human? And it was the same shinigami who had killed his beloved older brother? _

"_Thank you." Rukia repeated. _

_Really, what else could she have said? _

"Are you alright, midget?" Ichigo inquired.

The orange haired young man's question broke Rukia out of her thoughts. Things were over for the day and all the Nakama had split to go to their own homes already. Ichigo and Rukia had stopped at a bridge that crossed over the Karasu river as Ichigo himself remembered the past, only apparently Rukia had taken longer than him in her 'trip down memory lane'.

"Yes, fine." She said slowly.

Ichigo knew something was most definitely wrong when she didn't call him strawberry, or at least complain about him calling her midget.

"What are you thinking about now?" Ichigo asked, with considerable softness.

Rukia wondered if she should answer the question, but then she looked at him, at the quiet expectation in his eyes, the desire to help her somehow. And while it was unlikely that he would be able to do anything, something in his face convinced her to be honest.

"I talked to the Shibas." She declared, eyes to the river. "The day before you all left the 4th in fact. I finally went there and confronted my past, my sins…"

"Is this about the man you were forced to kill when he was possessed by that hollow?" Ichigo asked solemnly, remembering the cemetery.

"Yes." Rukia nodded. "Shiba Kaien-dono, he was my fukutaichou; and he was also my first friend in the Gotei 13, the one person who believed in me when even I didn't, my mentor…he helped me finish my education in the shinigami arts, since Nii-sama pulled me out of the Academy when the Kuchiki Clan adopted me, high nobles don't go to the Academy…Karin's case notwithstanding; he also helped me discover Sode no Shirayuki's first two dances. He was my idol, my role model, and, in a way, my platonic love." She sighed. "I don't think I was ever truly in love with him. I mean, he was married, Miyako-dono was the 3rd seat, a woman both beautiful and with incredible power. The two were well-suited together."

"You told us a hollow killed her and her team, and then used her form to attack the rest of the Division." Ichigo remembered.

"Yes." Rukia nodded solemnly. "Kaien-dono went after the hollow to avenge his wife and his men; made that fight one of pride, and it ended up costing him his life…"

Ichigo nodded, he remembered that day, and everything she'd told them.

"Shiba Kuukaku-san, Kaien-dono's sister, she forgave me." Rukia pointed out softly. "Despite all the pain I caused her and her other brother, Ganju-san, she still forgave me."

"She knew you were not to be blamed." Ichigo declared as if it were so simple.

"Ichigo…" Rukia wanted to tell him he didn't understand, that he couldn't and yet…

"I know it's painful for you to think and talk about all this." Ichigo said surprisingly softly. "But what happened wasn't your fault. I know that Shiba Kaien would have never held the whole thing against you." He sighed. "I know because, had I been in his place, I would have preferred for you to kill me rather than allow me to become a complete monster…"

Rukia drowned her own gasp as she covered her mouth with her own hands. From all the things she could have expected from him, that was not one of them. And yet…and yet it was just so Ichigo, to choose death before hurting anyone…

"You really are so alike…" Rukia murmured under her breath. "And not just physically, it seems. Both so strong, in body, and spirit, and will…so strong, and so stupid…"

And it is that no matter how much time passed, once she'd gotten over her own actions that night, she couldn't help but think that it had been stupid for her mentor to make that battle one of pride, if he hadn't, if he had allowed her to help then maybe, just maybe…In any case, what was done was done, and no wishful thinking would ever change the past.

"All we can do now is to move on…" Ichigo declared right then, apparently finishing some kind of speech Rukia had heard nothing of.

"Move on…" She repeated, half-wistfully.

"Yeah." Ichigo smirked then. "Now come on midget, we have a few weeks left of our summer break and we're not going to waste them." He began walking again.

"No, we're not." Rukia agreed, and then thought about something. "And don't call me midget, you giant strawberry!"

A few steps in front of her, Ichigo could only laugh.


	16. The Honorable Dragon

In this chapter we'll get more than half of the Bounts-arc in a summary, because while it was useful to get some things moving forward, I'm not that much of a fan of it. Also, those who've been waiting for Tatsuki to have her moment... here you go!

Also, there's something I was going to comment last chapter and I forgot: regarding Byakuya and the whole incest thing... That one caught even me by surprise. I've actually seen it in a couple of other fics, Hisana and Rukia being his half-sisters, and that being the reason why he marries Hisana, as a way to take them into the family, giving them what they deserve. When I first watched Bleach, (the SS arc, at least) years ago, I remember I didn't get the best impression of Hisana. To this day, I'm very much not a fan of her, or the Byahisa pairing (only one fic with that pairing have I ever read and liked). And that was mainly because, in the episode where Byakuya speaks about her, it was implied that she never loved him. I don't know if that's truly how it goes, if it was a matter of interpretation, or a mistake in the translation. But I was left with the impression that she married Byakuya because it was convenient, but she never truly loved him. I've also read fics where either this is the case, or it is said that because of her sickness she couldn't love him 'like he deserved'. The bottom line, I see the two of them as having been married only in name. Only, I don't fully see Hisana as evil, I see it as them both having made the accord. He wanted to give her what she deserved, as a Kuchiki, and marrying her was also convenient in that it'd get the Elders off his back at least for a while. So Hisana agreed. They were friends, but never lovers, not really. They loved each other, but weren't actually in love with each other, if that makes sense. Of course, each of you're free to interpret their story any way you want, while some more details will be mentioned eventually, a lot will be open to your own imagination.

Having said all that... on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 16. The Honorable Dragon **

The Nakama's return to school hadn't been as peaceful or eventless as they had expected. In fact, it had been all the opposite. First there were Ichigo's strangely changing moods, one moment he was excessively over protective in regards to Rukia, going as far as nearly growling at anyone other than a Nakama who approached her, others he seemed to not care at all. Tatsuki's own moods seemed a bit volatile, especially when shinigami from the Gotei 13 were mentioned, though not even she knew the cause. Orihime was strangely melancholic most of the time, and when she wasn't she kept glancing at Tatsuki with a mix of confusion and suspicion that no one understood. Rukia would take turns fingering the hairclip which imitated the kanzashi Ichigo had given her as wedding present, and a white-gold cuff-bracelet with intricate cherry blossoms, plum blossoms and snowflakes engraved (representing the three Kuchikis) that Byakuya had given her as a wedding gift; she was at times happy and at times exasperated at Ichigo's protectiveness, as well as some times upset and sometimes uncaring of when he showed no emotion at all. Uryuu found himself doubting the decision he'd made at Soukyoku Hill of leaving Kurotsuchi alive, frequently afraid of what the man might attempt against either him or one of his nakama, and how it would partly his fault if such a thing happened for not having stopped the man in time. Chad could only watch his friends, feeling helpless at not knowing what to do to aid them, and at the same time wondering if 'going back to their routines' wasn't in fact more complicated than the time they'd spent in Soul Society after the conflict against the shinigami was over. Karin was of two minds regarding her own situation, wishing she could go back to how easy things used to be before Rukia and Soul Society, and at the same time thankful that she had people like Toushirou and Rangiku back in her life; wanting to go and get rid of Aizen already while at the same time fearful that she might not gain enough control of her own power in time to truly be able to face the man-monster. Yuzu was the only who didn't seem to have been affected by the recent events, though she still felt a certain pain at seeing everyone else in their respective conditions and not being able to help, but truth be told, she didn't even really understand most of the things the others seemed to be going through. Chizuru, Keigo and Mizuiro had no idea what was going on and could only wonder if things would ever go back to how they'd been…

Then, Urahara had gone and messed things up even more. With his own so-called games, in which he actually involved the rest of the people in the Shouten, and even his three newest gikon, which had been created for Karin, Rukia and Tatsuki to use: Nova, Ririn and Kai.

It had taken no time at all for the Nakama to realize that the so-called threats were bluffs. The labyrinth in the museum had been nothing but illusions, and that the one behind it all was someone they knew pretty well already.

The moment they had gotten to the 'misty' training grounds beneath the shouten most of the Nakama had made sure to take down the three 'attackers' easily enough before Ichigo had gone straight after Urahara. However, Rukia happened to get there first, and she kicked the former shinigami in the shin with enough force to nearly break his leg.

"What did I say to you the last time?!" She demanded furiously. "Next time, ask! Whatever the hell is going on, didn't you think to ask for our help instead of trying to drive us crazy with a bunch of stupid tests?"

"You underestimated us all, painfully so." Uryuu said sardonically. "I mean, really, a room in a museum where the ground falls apart? Even if you could have made such modifications on private property, several of us have abilities that allow us to Stand On Air!"

"Trying to plant an impostor among us?" Ichigo drawled then. "Please! Even if we hadn't been such a tight team for nearly three years there was just no way we could have fallen for that! Even with my less-than-stellar control I can know when the aura I'm feeling is that of one of my nakama, or a Gikongan!"

"Yes, we know they're gikongan." Tatsuki clarified, seeing the stupefied expression in the shopkeeper's face. "And I have a feeling they're actually Our gikongan…"

They all turned to look at the three females in the temporary gigais, neither looked like much, but the Nakama had already had the chance to see them in action: Kai was actually an older model, the same generation as Kon, and the body she inhabited would automatically gain superhuman strength in the limbs; the other two had been recently created by Urahara and had more elaborate abilities: Nova could teleport short distances through what seemed like black holes, while Ririn could create illusions.

Also, as they would learn in the next hours, both Nova and Ririn could track down the new enemies that had appeared: the Bounts.

**xXx**

The Nakama first encounter with the Bount was less than stellar. Chad and Orihime had arrived too late to a warehouse to stop a male Bount from consuming the soul of a man; while Ichigo had been unable to defeat a female Bount and her doll made of fire and stone. If it hadn't been for Rukia's timely arrival things might have been a lot worse, but when the obsidian haired shinigami was about to unleash her shikai, the male Bount Chad and Orihime had seen earlier arrived and took the female away.

The second fight hadn't gone any better than the first, especially when Uryuu was taken by surprise and abducted. In the end it turned out that the female Bount Souma Yoshino wasn't really evil, at least not to the degree the rest of the Bounts were, and she helped the quincy some, eventually getting him to a hospital.

Ryuuken had blown a gasket, though only the Nakama, who knew him so well, realized how affected he'd been by the whole situation. He was especially angry at the doctors and nurses of the shift who were unable to tell him who had delivered his son to the hospital, when, how and why. All the doctors knew was that a woman had left him there and that the teenager had a concussion and a twisted arm.

After getting most of the Nakama to Karakura General, Uryuu informed them that, according to Yoshino, there was a man called Kariya Jin who had broken the ancient laws of the Bount and began consuming living souls, others had followed him and they were all getting more powerful than ever. Those actions of theirs would have the side-effect of creating a connection to the 'World of Death' which in turn would create a huge imbalance in the worlds, besides being extremely dangerous, as hollows would be able to get to the Human World, much faster than shinigami could. Also, somehow, Uryuu himself was the main target of the Bounts, for being a Quincy, though not even the woman knew why exactly, or if she did, she hadn't said. Ichigo could see there was something else bothering his friend, something aside from the fact that he'd been taken captive, but had no idea what it may be.

Ryuuken decided to keep his distance from the situation, unless things got out of control, Uryuu had made sure the Bount-woman believed he was the only Quincy, it would be too risky for the innocent, normal humans if Dr. Ishida Ryuuken were to become a target.

Then, to make matters even worse, the hospital was attacked anyway, by a pair of Bount twins whose doll could control water.

It took a great effort for the Nakama who had been guarding Uryuu: Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Tatsuki and Chad, to get out of the hospital without innocents getting hurt, but in the end they ended up in an even worse situation when they realized outside it was raining…

"What do we do now?" Orihime asked, fearful.

"Run." Ichigo ordered, to everyone's surprise. "We cannot fight here. Innocents could get hurt!" he turned to Chad. "Can you keep carrying Uryuu?"

Chad nodded right away and they all set off running.

It took them a while, but eventually they reached a construction site where they would go sometimes to train, before Urahara had offered his place. There they set down Uryuu who could only curse under his breath that his concussion and the fever he had didn't allow him to focus enough to use his powers.

"Orihime." Ichigo called seriously. "I want you to use Souten Kisshun, seal yourself with Tatsuki and Uryuu so those Bounts cannot hurt you."

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki and Uryuu complained at the same time.

"I know what you're capable of Tatsuki." Ichigo assured her. "But hits and cuts aren't gonna be enough against this enemy. The same goes for you Uryuu, even if you could use your abilities, they wouldn't work for this. Rukia, Chad and I will handle it."

Still a bit reluctant Orihime called on her shield, which she usually used for healing, and enveloped herself, Tatsuki and Uryuu in it, making sure to seal the dome completely so no water could get in.

Her determination and character were tested just a few minutes later, when even Rukia freely using shikai didn't seem to be enough, it seemed like the water turning to ice didn't stop the Bounts from being able to manipulate it, and eventually the ice would begin to melt. Soon all three fighters were on their knees, the water had gotten into them, and the Bounts were threatening to use it to tear them apart.

"No!" Orihime cried out in panic, raising a hand to her temple.

"No." Tatsuki stopped. "Orihime, you cannot do anything."

"But…Tatsuki-chan…" Orihime was suffering, very much.

"I know how much it hurts, but if you lose focus even for a second the shield will come down. And what good will we be then?" Tatsuki asked somewhat bitterly. "I too wish we could do something, but right now all we can do is follow his orders…"

Orihime nodded, it hurt her not to even try to help her nakama, but Tatsuki was right, Ichigo had asked something of them, and if she tried to help others, Uryuu would be at risk. She had to hope, believe her nakama would make it alright.

Ichigo was in pain, and it was more than just the water burning his lungs, the particles threatening to tear his body into pieces; it was seeing Rukia on her knees, clawing at her own neck and chest, trying to take a breath when such a thing was impossible. In that moment he realized there was nothing he wanted more, nothing he would ever want more, than to keep Rukia safe and happy…

"Enmouchou!" A strong voice suddenly called.

The Bount twins had no idea what was going, when suddenly what looked like a child-sized bird made of flames flew straight through the place, it was hot enough to turn all water, and even the ice into steam almost instantly.

"What the hell…" One of the twins called.

"Who's there?!" The other demanded.

"You made a huge mistake," A steeled female voice called. "in messing with my nakama and my family…I'll make you pay."

Ichigo, half-unconscious already, managed to turn around just enough to see no other than Karin standing in the entrance to the building, dressed in her modified shihakusho, zanpakutou in hand in the form of the naginata.

"You cannot defeat us!" The twins called unanimously. "Our dolls will drown you as well! They will drown you all, and then we'll eat your souls."

"As if." Karin scoffed. "For going against those I care for, you'll pay."

The water-dolls went straight at them, but Karin didn't seem the least bit afraid.

"Reihinote Kizu!" She called simply as she began slashing at the water.

Unlike her brother, who's cut seemed to do nothing but separate the water for a very brief time, hers, with the command attached, was enough to vaporize all the water it touched.

"How are you doing that?!" One of the twins demanded.

"Fire is my power." Karin explained simply as she shunpoed until she was just a couple of feet from the Bounts. "Like I said, you made a mistake attacking my nakama." In an instant she had quickly pierced the ground at each of the Bount's feet, then she held her naginata up and called another attack. "Hibashira!"

From the point on the ground where her blade had pierced a column of fire rose; the same kind of fire the bird had been made of, it turned the Bounts into ashes in an instant.

Which in turn freed the nakama, allowing them to cough out all the water in their lungs, and breath once again.

"Rukia…" Ichigo murmured, half-crawling to the other shinigami. "Are you alright?"

Rukia just took hold of his shihakusho while panting, her throat hurt too much for her to talk in that moment; and while she would never admit it, she had been so afraid…all she wanted in that moment was to hold and be held, to anchor herself, to allow herself to believe that they were alright, that they were alive.

"Sh…Rukia…" Ichigo whispered into her hair as he held her tightly. "It's alright, we're all safe now…Karin saved us…We're ok…"

Rukia nodded and buried her head in his chest. For a moment, just for one moment, she wanted to bask in that warmth, in that safety only Ichigo could give her.

"Thank you…Karin-chan…" Ichigo whispered softly to his sister.

Karin nodded, she was just happy she'd gotten there in time. If she had been even a minute later…she didn't even want to think about that.

**xXx**

What no one was expecting was for Uryuu to leave the penthouse where he lived with his father to go looking for Yoshino as soon as he was better. And even worse, to later go and get captured, along with the woman, by the other Bounts!

Ichigo, Rukia, Tatsuki, Chad and Orihime had gone to get Uryuu back; with some effort managing to convince Karin and Yuzu to stay behind just in case. It hadn't gone well. Chad and Orihime had gotten lost in the woods surrounding the Bount manor, Ichigo had been unable to keep up against the Bount Utagawa Ryo; and when Rukia and Tatsuki had met the former-shinigami Ichinose Maki, things hadn't gone very well on their end either. Tatsuki had been knocked out, before Rukia and Ichinose had clashed.

It was sensing the danger Rukia was in that finally gave Ichigo the push he needed, he enveloped himself in reiatsu and managed to counter Utagawa's attack. Only for their battle to be interrupted when the Bount, instead of continuing his attack against him had turned against his own leader.

It hadn't worked. Ichinose had abandoned his fight with Rukia and gone to kill Utagawa when the Bount tried to go against Kariya. Ichigo could only watch in confusion, wondering what was going on. Why had one of the Bounts tried to attack their so-called leader? Why was a shinigami helping the Bounts?

That battle had ended up being even worse than the one against Utagawa, and the worst part came when Kariya moved against him. Thanks to Shiro Ichigo managed to survive, but it was still a very bad situation.

In the end they only managed to all make it out of that manor alive because Karin got tired of waiting and attacked the manor in that very moment; then she, Yoruichi and Yuzu helped everyone get out in the chaos created by the fire Karin herself started. They even managed to take Yoshino with them in the confusion.

Once back at the Shouten Tessai, Yuzu and Hanatarou could work on the injured, in particular Uryuu and Yoshino. The others meanwhile discovered that Hanatarou had arrived to Karakura along with Renji, they were supposed to act as backup for the Nakama, as well as give them what new information they had thus far. It wasn't good, they still had no idea what the Bounts were planning exactly, aside from consuming more living-human souls; though most have begun thinking that Kariya wanted to get to Hueco Mundo, judging from what Yoshino had told Uryuu before. In any case, Renji informed that things would get worse, more living humans would be attacked very soon. It most definitely was not good. Not at all.

Their efforts seemed to be for naught in the end. Yoshino decided to confront Kariya, ended being killed, and her essence was used by Kariya to create the Bittos, which would latter allow him, and all the other Bount, to consume pure souls without having to actually attack the humans themselves, since the insect-like dolls would do it for them. So, Yoshino died, Kariya got what he wanted; and Karakura seemed to be in more danger than ever before.

On that night, Ichigo went looking for Uryuu, deciding they had all let the quincy 'have time to himself' for too long. If they didn't confront him soon things would get worse. It took a while, but eventually Ichigo managed to track Uryuu to a roof, on a half-destroyed building, the place where Yoshino had lived, the place where Koga had kidnapped the two of them from several days before…

For several seconds Ichigo stood behind a metal base that held tanks of water, just watching the person he would arguably call his best friend, sitting on the edge of the roof, silently watching the clouded sky.

"I know you're there, Ichigo." Uryuu said out-loud after a while.

Ichigo didn't answer, simply went to sit beside Uryuu, something not so easy with the long haori he still wore over his shihakusho.

"So, the others sent you?" Uryuu asked eventually.

"As if." Ichigo snorted. "I sent myself." He shook his head. "I realize you're grieving for the death of Yoshino, even if I have no idea of why exactly that is…Anyway, you do know that pulling yourself from everyone won't solve anything right?"

Uryuu sighed, trust Ichigo to tell him that precisely.

"I know it sounds a bit hypocritical coming from me." Ichigo knew what he was thinking. "But it's precisely because I've been there that I know, pulling away doesn't work. You just end up hurting everyone. And…"

"She liked me…" Uryuu blurted out unexpectedly.

Ichigo blinked, as his brain forgot what he'd been trying to say, to instead try and process what Uryuu had just told him.

"She told me I reminded her of the one man she ever truly loved…" Uryuu elaborated. "Ishida Herrmann…the first Quincy of the Ishida line…Yoshino said I look exactly like him, it's what convinced her to turn her back on Kariya and help me instead; it was also what gave her the motivation to fight Kariya in the end…even when she knew it was likely to mean her death…"

"Uryuu…" Ichigo really didn't know what to say to that.

"I think a part of her actually thought I was him, Herrmann I mean." Uryuu said with a sigh. "That maybe he'd been reincarnated in me or something like that…"

"It's not impossible you know? I mean, there's Karin…and who knows who else?"

"If I truly am Herrmann, then it would just have made her torture all the worse. For her to have fallen in love with the same man twice, and to be rejected twice…"

"How do you know Herrmann didn't love her?"

"Because if he had, I wouldn't be here. Besides, she always said she'd loved him, but never said anything about him corresponding that love…"

Ichigo really didn't know what to say to that. It's not like it was Uryuu's, or Herrmann's fault (whether they were the same person or not), who they loved, or if they couldn't share the feelings someone else had for them. Still, it explained why his friend was in such a funk; if Yoshino had really done what she did for him…then it was no surprise that Uryuu felt so responsible for the whole thing.

"The word eternal exists for those with a limited life…" Uryuu said bitterly.

"Eh?" Ichigo was confused yet again, where had that come from.

"She told me that." Uryuu explained. "When we talked about her past. About how Kariya had tricked her into believing they loved each other; and how she later fell in love with Herrmann. She told me how she stopped believing in 'happily ever afters' and eternal love."

"Isn't that a bit…I don't know, cynic?" Ichigo asked slowly. "I mean, one, or two failures don't amount for the whole world, or all time…"

"She was immortal, Ichigo." Uryuu reminded her. "She lived for centuries, and the two times she thought she'd found love…it was for naught. And in the end she died in the arms of the descendant of one man who couldn't love her, by the hand of a man who all along only wanted to use her." He shook his head. "I think she had more than enough reason to be more than a bit 'cynic' as you put it."

"Maybe." Ichigo admitted. "But, if you really begin to believe things are as she says, then what hope is there for the rest of the world? If she, who had centuries, couldn't find love, what of us mere mortals who at most will have a century or so?"

"You do realize that being a shinigami, and a shinketsu doesn't exactly qualify as being a 'mere mortal', right?"

"True." Ichigo admitted. "But like you said, I'm a shinigami, I'm more likely to die than even 'mere mortals'…"

"Now you're just being morbid."

"Maybe, maybe not. After fighting Kariya, after feeling just how powerful he is, and realizing he wants even more power…I doubt he's the only one out there more powerful than I. There probably will always be people, mortal or immortal, more powerful than I. What happens when I get into a fight I can't win? A fight I can't walk out of?"

Uryuu had to silently admit he didn't have an answer to that.

"But you at least have a chance of finding someone worth being with." Uryuu pointed out after a long silence. "Or are you going to tell me that your marriage to Rukia is really nothing more than convenience?"

"My marriage to Rukia…" Ichigo repeated, covering his face in one hand in a gesture of either tiredness or exasperation. "I honestly don't know…"

**xXx**

After that day, things seemed to just keep getting worse. As the Bitto targeted living humans to collect and purify their souls so the Bounts could drink them. It got to such a point that it was all over the news: the fact that so many people had gone missing in a matter of days, and even those who were found were in the worst kind of commas any hospital had ever seen.

Ryuuken was the only one who realized what happened to those people. Not enough of their souls had been consumed for them to disintegrate; and still they didn't have enough left to actually live. They weren't dead, but not alive either, and there was nothing he, or even Yuzu or Orihime, could do to help them…

The point came when the Nakama decided it was time to fight back and they went out in teams, to hunt down the bitto, and if possible, the Bounts. However, without them realizing, they went from being predators to the prey.

Tatsuki went first, she hadn't actually been able to be with the others before, as busy as she was in her home, making sure that, no matter what happened, her parents wouldn't go out; it had caused a huge fight between them, but as much as they at times didn't seem to care about her, she still didn't want them to die. In the end she'd left Kai in her body with them, just in case something happened.

It had been Tatsuki's intention to meet with one of her Nakama and go from there, but in the way she instead found a boy who was being targeted by the bitto. She knew him well, his name was Minoru, she'd babysat him many times. So without thinking much about it Tatsuki had activated her powers and thrown herself into battle against the horrible dolls.

It seemed to work at first, but eventually there were just too many bitto, and Tatsuki egan wondering if she was going to die…

"Howl, Zabimaru!" A voice called from a side.

Tatsuki turned just in time to see Renji, in his shinigami attire, as he began battling the bitto to protect her and the boy who'd fainted in fright already.

"Abarai?" she asked, confused.

Up until that point she had only seen the read-headed shinigami a couple of times. And always when he was in a gigai and she in her body. She knew he wasn't an enemy, that he was in fact Rukia's childhood friend, Tatsuki still find the idea of trusting him hard after what she knew he'd done to Uryuu and tried to do to Ichigo, and of course the fact that he'd been one of the ones to arrest Rukia and take her back to Soul Society.

"It's alright Arisawa, I'm here to help." He assured her without turning around.

He used his shikai several times to destroy the bitto surrounding them before finally nodding in satisfaction and turning to see her, when he did he suddenly froze in shock.

"Abarai?" Tatsuki asked, confused at his attitude. "Abarai? Renji?!"

She couldn't understand. Why was he looking at her like that? She knew he'd never seen her in spirit-form, but it's not like she looked that different, yes, she was in a yukata, and she at times believed she might look a little bit older, like more mature, but it still wasn't that drastic a difference, was it?

"Sh…Shu?" Renji stuttered suddenly. "Shu-Yung?" he blinked several times, as if trying to convince himself what he was seeing was real. "Shu-Yung, is that you?"

"Eh?" Tatsuki had honestly no idea what he was talking about. "What the hell are you talking about Abarai? Who are you confusing me with?"

There was no time for an answer, as right then over a hundred bitto suddenly flew at them. Tatsuki froze, she knew there was no way they would be able to fight them all. Renji knew it too, so instead he took a hold of Tatsuki, making sure she was covering the unconscious boy at the same time, and then covered their bodies with his.

It began a second later, with half-contained winces and flinches and groans; and then Tatsuki could feel his reiatsu diminish so fast it staggered her.

"Wha…" Tatsuki didn't understand. "What are you doing? Fool! You're gonna get killed!"

Really, why was he protecting her? Why was he risking his own life to protect hers? Was it for that person he had named? That Shu-Yung? Who was she? Why had Renji called her that? She got no answer, instead, Renji eventually collapsed upon her.

"Fool!" Tatsuki practically screeched, losing all composure. "Why the hell did you do that?!"

The martial artist had no idea why the bitto had decided to leave, especially when she and Minoru were still alive, but that didn't matter in that moment. The half-dead and unconscious Abarai Renji did.

"Stupid!" Tatsuki yelled at him. "Don't you dare die on me, you hear?! Don't you dare die!"

It was only fortunate that Jinta arrived right then, Tatsuki made the redheaded boy take hold of Minoru while she herself somehow managed to hold Renji up, then they began moving as fast as they could in the direction of the Shouten, hoping Yuzu, Hanatarou, Tessai, or anyone really would be able to help.

Chad, Nova and Karin had been following Karin's gikon in the girl's own body, trying to track down one of the Bount. They got to the park, where Nova assured them the hollow was, though neither of them could find him. That is, at least, until the hollow decided to attack.

It took the old Bount Sawatari, little time to notice that Karin was, by far, the most powerful of his opponents, so he arranged for a suitable trap and ended up having his doll swallow the petite shinigami. However, what he never expected was for Chad to have such a violent reaction to the event. He didn't know that the half-Mexican man had once promised to always follow Ichigo, and protect whatever the other wanted to protect; Chad doubted there was anything his friend would ever want to protect more than his own sisters, regardless of how powerful each of them had become recently.

Chad's feelings on the matter were so strong his arm evolved, becoming more stylized, and considerably more powerful, then with help from Nova's teleporting abilities they managed to trick Sawatari and his doll into getting close enough for Chad to punch the strange rock-like doll's underbelly with enough force to force it to let Karin go.

The moment the raven-haired shinigami was out and on her feet she showed just how upset she was at having been captured by the doll by silently calling on her zanpakutou, then on her shikai, and then attacking before Sawatari even knew what was going on:

"Enmouchou!" She cried out as she slashed her naginata straight downwards in front of her.

From the vertical line of fire Karin had formed in the air a bird made out of bright live flames came, then it went straight at Sawatari. And no matter how much the old Bount commanded his doll to keep moving, the fire-bird didn't stop until it eventually did reach them, burning both Bount and doll badly.

"Stupid girl!" Sawatari cursed under his breath.

And yet he knew better than to keep the fight going, no matter how much more powerful he may be than before, it still wasn't enough to defeat that shinigami girl, not yet. So he fled.

**xXx**

On another part of town, Ichigo went furious when finding another of his nakama, and one who hadn't even been involved in the conflict up to that point, had been attacked by the bitto. He'd reached the point where he might not recover, and that made him so angry he threw himself at the tall Bount and his metal-doll the moment they appeared.

That same fury blinded him, despite Zangetsu's and Shiro's insistent warnings, to the point where, in a matter of minutes, Ichigo ended up trapped by what looked like a metal spider-web; an opportunity the doll took to hit him again and again, until his shihakusho was half in tatters and he was bleeding freely from cuts all over his torso.

The moment came when the doll, Dalk, took hold of Ichigo's zanpakutou and moved to spear Ichigo through with it.

*Ichigo/Aibou!* The screams came from inside Ichigo himself.

The shinigami daiko didn't move, simply allowing the zanpakutou to run him through. And yet, to both Koga's and Dalk's surprise, no blood came from the wound.

"What the…" It was obvious the doll didn't understand what was happening.

"Shi…ro-nii…san…" Ichigo muttered, half-unconscious already.

*I'm here aibou…nii-san…* Shiro whispered back. *Rest now, I will take care of this.*

"Ok…" Ichigo replied, finally closing his eyes.

It was as if Ichigo's reiatsu disappeared for just an instant. In the next it was rising yet again, though the essence was wrong, and both Koga and Dalk could feel it.

Next they knew, pieces of the metal spider-web were falling away, as the new reiatsu became so strong they could no longer hold the daiko back. A suddenly considerably paler hand took hold of the blade spearing him and pulled it out as if it were no big deal, and it really wasn't, not for him, and then moved to face the enemy.

"How…?" Koga asked, shocked. "How can you have been speared by that blade and yet not bleed from that wound? You should be dead?!"

"Because it's my blade, idiot." Shiro scoffed. "You bastards cannot hurt me with my own zanpakutou. It'll never happen."

"Ah…" Koga nodded in understanding. "And interesting trick. And who are you?"

"Je…" Shiro actually chuckled as he took a stance. "So you realize I'm not Ichigo."

"I thought you were just a shinigami daiko, yet the way you are now…" Koga's brows furrowed slightly. "And your eyes, black with yellow. You may the same body, but you aren't the same individual, are you?"

"And we have a winner!" Shiro cried out sarcastically. "Yes, Ichigo is a shinigami daiko. Me…I am, you could say, his better, darker half…"

"Where is the shinigami?" Dalk wanted to know, frustrated for not being able to kill him.

"Resting." Shiro shrugged. "I told him I would handle this. And we don't really have time. The snow-princess is fighting and we have to get that crybaby to safety too."

Koga could see that despite how much colder, and in a way, darker the new personality, or spirit, or whichever, fighting him was, he still seemed to hold the same basic ideals and loyalties as the shinigami he'd been originally fighting. The Bount really didn't understand what the difference was supposed to be.

He never would. Shiro wasn't like Ichigo, even if he was as loyal as his other half to the Nakama, and his family, he didn't have the compassion, and mercy that Ichigo did. The only reason Koga and Dalk didn't die that night was because they chose to run and Shiro decided not to pursue them, knowing Keigo needed immediate assistance if he was to survive.

"Well, there you go Aibou, the body's all yours." Shiro declared as he closed his eyes.

When the eyes opened again they were no longer the yellow on black, but back to the usual chocolate-brown on white. Ichigo was back, and totally healed, thanks to Shiro's regenerative powers, which had automatically activated when he'd taken over.

"Thank you, Nii-san…" Ichigo whispered softly.

*Thank you, Aibou.* Shiro replied, once more inside his soul. *That was one entertaining fight, even if the damned cowards chose to flee in the end.*

"At least Keigo is still alive." Ichigo declared. "I have to get him to Yuzu and Hanatarou, then go find Rukia and Ririn."

**xXx**

Ururu and Uryuu were the only ones who hadn't gone after any of the Bounts, not even gotten in place to act as backup for someone else; instead they took positions on the rooftop of the highest building they could find in Karakura and, taking advantage of their particular talents to take multiple enemies at once (she with her bazooka, he with the Ginrei Kojaku bow his father had granted him recently), they worked on taking down as many bitto as they could before the Bount realized what was going on and pulled their insect-like dolls back.

They knew it wasn't much action, especially compared with what some of the others were going through, but they were taking advantage of their own abilities to protect the city, the innocent humans, and even their own nakama the best way possible.

**xXx**

In the warehouse area, Rukia and Ririn, who had separated from Ichigo, had met up with Yuzu and Orihime, who had likewise separated from Chad, Karin and Nova in their search for Renji, whose reiatsu they could all feel was dangerously low. What they weren't expected was to be attacked, not by one but two Bount.

At first it was only a woman called Yoshi, with a doll that took the form of a sword and a steel-fan chained together. Orihime had tried to help Rukia fight her, only to discover she couldn't access the second level of her Shun Shun Rikka, and that Tsubaki on the first level just wasn't enough. Yoshi was too fast and her fan/shield to strong.

Things got more complicated when Mabashi arrived with his own doll, a creature that looked like a squirrel dressed as a flower. That particular Bount seemed insane, and almost attacked his own comrade before deciding to just go after half of the Nakama, and leaving the other half to Yoshi.

So Rukia called on her shikai and moved against Yoshi, with Ririn as a backup, using her illusions to allow Rukia more time to use her dances and kidou, and hoping Orihime and Yuzu would be alright with Mabashi meanwhile. What no one could have ever expected was for Ritz, Mabashi's doll, to possess Yuzu and use her to attack Orihime!

"How dare you attack Yuzu-chan!" Rukia cried out, furious.

She wanted nothing more than to go after Mabashi, but even with Ririn's help she was already having trouble against Yoshi.

"It's ok Rukia-san." Orihime said, oddly calm. "I'll handle this."

"You?!" Mabashi had the gall to laugh at the orange-red haired girl. "You can do nothing! You would never dare attack this girl! And she has such talent! She will kill you, and you'll do nothing, nothing at all!"

"Hadou 31, Shakahou!" Yuzu called.

Yuzu's usually warm honey eyes were totally blank in that moment, showing that she had no control over what was going on. Orihime could only thank that since Ritz was manipulating Yuzu's body and not her mind, the Bount couldn't make the girl use her modified kidou, that would have made things all the more delicate and dangerous.

"I will never forgive you for using Yuzu-chan like this!" Orihime cried out in grief. "Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

She hoped that by using the full kotodama, even if she couldn't call on a second level, it might at least injure Mabashi some, but it was useless. As Ritz made Yuzu move and create a shield to block Orihime's own attack.

Rukia made up her mind then, if Yoshi wouldn't let her help Yuzu and Orihime, then she would defeat the Bount and then move to help Yuzu and Orihime!

"As if you could ever defeat me, little girl!" Yoshi cackled, seeing Rukia's sudden determination and laughing at it.

"We'll see." Rukia declared. "Some no Mai, Tsukishiro!"

Yoshi barely managed to move in time to avoid the pillar of ice, and even then, some ice got stuck to her fan; it was obvious to everyone that it wouldn't have been able to deflect the attack completely if she had chosen to block instead of dodging.

"Very well." Yoshi declared. "It seems you're taking this fight more seriously now. I shall do the same. Die shinigami!"

Orihime for her part could do nothing more than dodge or shield herself from Yuzu's constant attacks, while trying to think of some way to help the girl. She would never forgive herself if Ichigo's sister, if her Nakama, died or worse without her being able to do anything…

The fight went on like that for a while, until eventually Rukia managed to get close enough to Yoshi to slash her on an arm, but in turn the Bount moved her steel-fan fast enough to break Rukia's zanpakutou in two.

"You're finished, shinigami!" Yoshi declared with a triumphal laugh.

"As if…" Rukia scoffed, holding her broken zanpakutou straight while pointing it at Yoshi, then she called: "San no mai, Shirafune!"

It was so sudden Yoshi couldn't activate either her fan or her sword, she managed to moved, and still she ended up with a serious slash on her side and half her torso covered in ice.

"Bitch!" Yoshi hissed at Rukia. "I will make you pay for this shinigami!"

And yet, she still ran…

Rukia gave herself a couple of seconds to recover and mentally pat herself on the back for her victory before spinning around and getting ready to save Yuzu.

"Orihime!" Rukia yelled as she raised her zanpakutou.

"Wait, Rukia-san please!" Orihime stopped her. "Let me do this! Let me save Yuzu-chan myself, please Rukia-san!"

Rukia sighed but still lowered her sword. She understood how the other girl must be feeling, like she wasn't helping at all, if she didn't save Yuzu it would only be worse. So Rukia reluctantly agreed and went to stand beside Ririn, who was holding her bruised arm (of Rukia's own gigai) as she watched the fight.

"Are you really going to let her fight by herself?" Ririn asked, doubtful.

"It's what she wants…" Rukia began, then corrected her. "No, it's what she needs. Orihime-san is hurting for not be able to use the techniques she used on Seireitei when they all went to save me. She needs to prove to everyone, but mostly to herself, that she's still a valuable part of the team, that she's still a Nakama…"

Ririn didn't fully understand, but didn't say anything else. It wasn't like she would be able to make a difference in the battle taking place, so if Rukia was going to just stand there and watch, there was little else Ririn herself could do.

"I will never forgive you…" Orihime whispered before raising her head, determination shining in her violet-gray eyes. "I will never forgive you for hurting Yuzu-chan!"

Rukia and Ririn couldn't help but gasp, as suddenly Orihime was enveloped in an orangeish aura, it was her power, suddenly so strong it was pulsing along with her heartbeat.

"Bring her down Yuzu." Mabashi ordered.

"Hadou 33, Soukatsui!" Yuzu called.

But this time Orihime was prepared, she didn't even need to say a single word, suddenly her Santen Kesshun was floating right in front of her, and it dispersed the attack with no problem. No matter how many times Mabashi made Yuzu attack, Orihime kept dispersing the attacks, like they were nothing, her determination, the strength of her will, her heart and her soul making her far stronger than she'd been even a few minutes before.

"How is this even possible?!" Mabashi demanded.

"Koten Zanshun!" Orihime called right then. "I reject!"

For a moment Mabashi wondered if the girl was really going to attack her friend, but instead the disk of light went straight at him, and Ritz was so focused on making the chestnut haired girl continue her attacks, that no one was there to block the attack and Mabashi had to jump down from the crates he was standing on to avoid it.

That was exactly what Orihime had been waiting for, as she silently dispelled her Santen Kesshun and then went to embrace Yuzu tightly before Mabashi could order his doll to make the girl do anything.

"Shun'o, Ayame," Orihime called the full kotodama, focusing all her power in what her heart desired the most. "Souten Kisshun! I reject!"

Ritz tried to fight to keep control of the girl, but Orihime's heart, her soul, was too strong to allow it. Yuzu was freed, and Ritz was forced back into its sealed form, too weak to attack or try to control anyone else.

"You!" Mabashi growled, furious at the defeat. "I'll kill you all!"

"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" Rukia activated her shikai and attacked as she shunpoed between the Bount and her two Nakama.

Sadly, it was not meant to be. The same former shinigami Tatsuki, Rukia and Ichigo had had to fight before arrived right then and took Mabashi away before Rukia could kill him.

At least the battle had been won and they were all safe. Rukia and Orihime each had defeated a Bount, even if neither had been able to actually kill one. They had still proven the Nakama weren't weak, and that they weren't about to just allow their enemies to do as they wished. Not at all. If it was up to the Nakama the Bounts would die, soon.

**xXx**

It took a while, but eventually Ichigo got back to the Urahara Shouten with Keigo. Hanatarou, after learning what had happened, asked for Tessai's assistance and transferred some of Ichigo's reiatsu to Keigo to save him. It took a while, but the procedure was a success, the shy shinigami assured Ichigo that Keigo would recover no problem.

"Has anyone else arrived?" Ichigo asked Tessai once it was all done.

"Tatsuki-san, Renji-san and a little boy are in the next room." Tessai informed him. "They arrived about an hour or so ago, with Jinta's help. Apparently there was trouble with the bittos, Renji-san was badly hurt protecting Tatsuki-san and the child."

Ichigo nodded grimly, he didn't like hearing that one of his nakama had been hurt, but at least she was alright, and to know that Renji had helped her…Renji in fact could almost be called a Nakama, almost…but not quite yet.

"I'll wait for them to be better, then ask for details." Ichigo decided.

However, that plan abruptly changed when he heard the door of the next room open and then close again almost abruptly.

"I told you to shut the hell up!" They could all hear Tatsuki half-yelling.

"Shu…" Renji began, in what he probably thought was a soothing tone.

"And stop calling me that already!" Tatsuki snapped. "That's not my name. My name is Tatsuki, Arisawa Tatsuki, not Shu-Yung; or are you too stupid to process that?"

Silently Ichigo exited the room he himself was in, while wondering how good or bad an idea it was to ask Tatsuki and Renji what was going on exactly. She knew that those two hadn't spent much time in each other's company; and without having spent weeks in Seireitei getting to know everyone as more than just opponents, Tatsuki probably still saw Renji as nothing but one of the people who had taken Rukia away from the Nakama, who had taken her to be executed by the laws of their own people. However, there was something else bothering her, the fact that Tatsuki was complaining about Renji calling her by another name…

"You are Shu-Yung!" Renji insisted right then. "I know it. You're her reincarnation or something. But you are her!"

Ichigo almost face-palmed at that point; another reincarnation? Were all of them going to turn out to be former shinigami or something?

"How are you so sure?" Tatsuki asked, suddenly very defensive.

Ichigo wondered if her attitude was part of her 'not-being-interested' in being a shinigami, or something else entirely.

"Because it was I who gave you that yukata!" Renji claimed hotly.

Tatsuki was speechless. Though Ichigo could see shock, and something else, as she looked at herself, at the clothes she was wearing, then at Renji, and then simply bolted out of the place.

"Wait…Shu-Yung!" Renji cried out, unable to shunpo after her, as weak as he still was.

"You know, it might help if you actually stopped calling her by that name." Ichigo informed Renji as he approached the shinigami.

"Are you going to tell me I'm stupid, too?" Renji asked, defensively.

"As much as I would love to…no." Ichigo admitted with a shrug. "I honestly don't know if Tatsuki was at some point this girl you knew. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. Maybe her spirit-self wears that yukata for an entirely different reason. Maybe it was something important enough to her past-self, that she brought it along to her new life."

"That's a lot of maybes." Renji pointed out.

"I know." Ichigo said simply. "What I meant to say is, it doesn't matter who she was in the past. Because that's not who she is right now, right now she's Arisawa Tatsuki, recognized as the strongest girl in Japan, second place in Martial Arts in all of Asia; as well as a spiritually-aware and empowered human, a Nakama. Acknowledge her as that, and maybe then you'll get your answers, eventually." He sighed. "No one wants to go around always carrying the weight of the past Renji, even my sister Karin, as much as she may acknowledge her past life, she still would rather be a Kurosaki than a Nagaken any day. Tatsuki…maybe she would like to be this Shu-Yung you speak of, maybe she wouldn't. In the end it'll be her choice, but that doesn't mean she'll stop being Tatsuki. See that, accept that, and leave the rest to her."

Renji didn't quite know what to say, when he'd first met Ichigo he'd seen him as a human brat who knew nothing of the real world; after the Nakama had infiltrated Seireitei Renji thought they were humans who thought too highly of themselves and needed to be put in their places; then when they had managed to do so much, so much he could have never done, it hurt, deep inside, in his will, in his pride; after learning how Ichigo had been adopted by a Noble Clan, and that he was marrying Rukia, all the redhead could think was that the fates were too cruel, giving a human what he'd desired for so long, something said human didn't deserve…But it was until that day, until that moment, that Renji realized the truth: Ichigo wasn't simply a human, or a shinigami, or a noble; he wasn't 'simply' anything other than Ichigo: a man who had fought with the same passion as the redhead to achieve everything he had in a short time; a man who had respect, loyalty, friendship, and so many more things, and yet he didn't believe himself to be above anyone else, and gave so much of himself freely and with no hesitation. Just like in that moment, Ichigo was taking his time to offer Renji advice, even when they weren't nakama, they weren't even real friends, Ichigo was still trying to help, because he knew Tatsuki far better than Renji did; and it was just the kind of person he was.

"Thanks…" Renji nodded solemnly.

Ichigo nodded, realizing there must be a lot in the redhead's mind, he turned to leave. Until something else popped into his head, and he turned back again:

"Whatever you do, Abarai Renji, you better never make Tatsuki cry, or else…" The daiko declared in a very serious tone.

"Or what?" Renji tried to sound brave but failed. "You'll kill me."

"Maybe…" Ichigo shrugged. "Though now that I think about it, I doubt Tatsuki herself would leave anything for me to kill…and even before I, you would have to deal with Orihime and Karin, those two idolize Tatsuki, and if you ever did anything…"

"I understand that." Renji interrupted him. "I will try my best."

Ichigo nodded, he knew no one could promise anything better.

"One more thing." He said. "Who exactly is this Shu-Yung? I mean, it's obvious she's really important if you're insisting so much on Tatsuki being her. But I don't understand…"

"She's…" Renji seemed to actually be having trouble finding the right words to express himself until he simply said: "My soulmate…"

Ichigo nodded. He still didn't get it, but at least if Renji was that serious about everything, it meant that, no matter what, Tatsuki would be alright in the end.

A soulmate…the orange-haired wondered briefly what that felt like…

**xXx**

Several hours passed, and the rest of the Nakama arrived in groups. Only slight traces were left of the injuries Yuzu, Orihime, Rukia and Ririn had acquired during their battle against the two Bounts. And in a matter of minutes they made sure the same was true for Chad, Karin and Nova; Ururu and Uryuu had no injury whatsoever.

Ichigo insisted that everyone get some sleep, to which Kisuke offered them rooms, saying they must be too exhausted to go to their own homes. And in any case, the few people who would notice their absence would have no trouble finding out where the teenagers actually were.

It was when already most of the Nakama were sleeping, that Renji stepped onto the roof of the Shouten, finding Tatsuki there, sitting on a corner, with her legs pulled close to her chest and her chin resting on her knees. She was still in soul-form, her body still with Kai in it, back at her home, she'd called the Gikon to make sure her parents were alright, and then asked her to stay there until they had dealt with the problem.

Renji was considering if it was a good or a bad idea to talk to her, when she spoke first:

"I know you're there, Abarai Renji." She said calmly, before patting the spot beside her.

Renji, while still not knowing what to do exactly, decided he couldn't let the opportunity pass and went to sit beside her.

For what seemed like forever there was nothing but silence between them. Renji could remember what Ichigo had told him, but he didn't actually know Tatsuki, so how could he hope to talk to her? Tatsuki could just look at herself, at her odd clothing she'd never known the origins off, she remembered Renji's claims, and then Karin's explanation of how she was the reincarnation of a shinigami. It all made her wonder, could she possibly be a reincarnation too, was she really that woman Renji named so strongly, Shu-Yung?

"Do you really think I'm her?" Tatsuki surprised Renji by breaking the silence. "This, Shu-Yung you've mentioned several times."

"I do." Renji nodded. "I know you don't remember, normal souls never do, it's just the natural course of reincarnation…"

"And yet you wish I did." Tatsuki wasn't really asking at that point. "I don't know if I can. I don't know if I have it in me to remember another life, or if I'm even this Shu-Yung at all. I don't want you to have any false hopes. It's quite obvious that Shu-Yung was someone very dear to you so…I'll try. I'll try to remember, to find out if I'm truly her."

"Thank you." Renji didn't know what else to say, what else to think but, at least for the time being, that was enough.


	17. Breaking Point

A lot happens in this chapter. The second half of the Bount arc, Tatsuki becoming who she's meant to be (I know some weren't too satisfied with the last chapter, but look at it this way, she's only a fraction of who she's meant to be, the rest is coming though), a little romance to one of our secondary pairings, and the intro to what's probably one of the most intense parts of this fic.

WARNING for mentions of slavery, implied rape and a lot of bad things (like violence and death, but those two are pretty normal for Bleach so), it's all just mentioned and nothing graphic, but still thought I should mention it just in case.

Here we go!

* * *

**Chapter 17. Breaking Point **

Ichigo woke up early the next morning, hoping to go for a walk by the riverside before everyone else got up and ready for breakfast. He knew there was a lot that needed to be done, and he wished for a moment to collect himself before the madness began anew.

As he found out the moment he stepped right outside the Urahara Shouten, only to be met almost instantly by someone, a shinigami, Ichigo knew it was just not meant to be.

"Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo…" The new arrival addressed him with obvious, forced formality.

"Sui-Feng-san…" Ichigo replied a bit stiffly, he was in his body instead of his soul, and he didn't feel quite comfortable talking to a shinigami captain in full uniform while he was in casual clothes instead of his shihakusho and haori.

He knew the woman, Yoruichi's former protégé and successor, didn't like him, that she was one of those who didn't agree with the authority Yamamoto had bestowed upon him. Ichigo had already had had to meet with her almost a full week before, when she went to inform him that members of the Onmitsukidou would be around to try and deal with the bitto. Also, before that, around the time Urahara had arranged his stupid game, Yoruichi had told him the woman would be around, helping her investigate some mysterious disappearances.

If Ichigo was honest with himself, he didn't truly have anything against the woman. He thought she was way too stuck-up, bitter and hell-bent on following laws that at times didn't even make sense, at least not to Ichigo. But she wasn't evil, or a bad person, and Yoruichi liked her and trusted her; which prompted the orange-haired to at least give her a chance, while he wouldn't exactly call Yoruichi a friend, he mostly respected the woman, which was more than what he could say about Kisuke, and until recently, his own father.

"Did you need me for something, captain?" Ichigo asked after a while.

"I still don't understand why the hell we must give any explanation whatsoever to this brat…" Sui-Feng was muttering to herself. "He's nothing but a ryoka, a human, no matter what powers he has now, or that he was adopted by a powerful clan. He'll never be more …"

Ichigo sighed to himself, deciding to ignore the insults, they weren't anything new in the end, after all; though, on the other hand, they did get old after a while.

"Sui-Feng-san?" He insisted, it was more respect than he thought the woman deserved, but he was too tired and didn't want more trouble.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou sent me to inform you of what was decided in the last taichou-meeting with regards to the Bount situation." Sui-Feng finally said, formally.

Ichigo nodded once, stoically, he had known something would happen eventually. And while it was natural for him and his nakama to fight to protect each other and their hometown, he was glad that the shinigami would be getting involved.

"Kira-fukutaichou of the 3rd Division, Hisagi-fukutaichou of the 9th, Matsumoto-fukutaichou of the 10th and Ayasegawa-goseki of the 11th have been sent to the World of the Living, they are on orders to track down and engage the Bounts in their new hideout, which was located by the 12th Division in the mountains." Sui-Feng recited, as if from memory. "Your own group may join them, or not, at your own discretion."

"We will." Ichigo nodded. "As soon as everyone is up and has had breakfast we'll be on our way. We'll catch up with the others in the mountains."

Sui-Feng nodded, as much as she didn't like it, she knew that that was exactly what the other captains had been hoping for when they told her to inform the humans of the situation. With enemies of unknown power like the Bounts the more allies they had, the better.

"Anything you have to report?" Sui-Feng inquired.

"As you can probably guess, we engaged several of the Bounts in different battles across Karakura last night." Ichigo informed her. "I don't have all the details of each and every battle, if you want that you'll have to wait and give us a little time to write a more formal report; but for the time being I can tell you we won all our battles, though no Bount was vanquished. They all, in the end, were forced to flee, but were powerful and tricky enough that we couldn't eliminate them before they were gone."

"That's why such tasks should have been left to the Onmitsukidou." Sui-Feng muttered in a derisive tones. "Better professionals handle it, rather than children…"

"Hey!" Ichigo interrupted her this time, losing his patience. "From what I know your people have been on the case from the very beginning with no results whatsoever. We may not have killed any Bounts last night, but we did defeat them. We weren't expecting the difference in their power after consuming the souls stolen by the bitto. In any case, before this development my sister, Karin, killed two of the Bounts, twins, when they were trying to kill the rest of us; and last night Uryuu and Ururu together managed to destroy a considerable number of bitto, dealing a serious blow to the Bounts." He growled. "You may be a powerful shinigami captain in Seireitei, but this is our town, not yours. Do not presume to have the authority to insult me or mine, I will not allow such words again. Have I made myself clear, Sui-Feng?"

The shinigami bristled in fury at the blatant disrespect, and the threat the so-called human had directed at her; but Yamamoto's orders had been very precise, the humans were in charge of Karakura Town, there, Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo was, for all intents and purposes, as good as a captain, so she could do nothing but nod stiffly and leave before things got worse.

As she vanished Ichigo could only sigh and shake his head, he'd known some people wouldn't accept him, the authority he was supposed to have in the human-world, but he never thought he would lose his temper so easily on those people. He just hoped things would eventually get better; the spirits knew what he would do if they got worse!

"Guess I won't get to go on that walk yet…maybe when this is over?" Ichigo said, talking to himself. "In any case, we need to get the Bounts out of Karakura, out of the Living World. I no longer care where it is they wish to go, I just want them gone, they cannot stay here. Too many people have died or been permanently hurt already. This cannot be allowed to continue." He fisted his right hand in fury.

*I am ready to roll, aibou!* Shiro called from inside his mind, thrilled at the idea of another good fight. *We'll show those vampire-wannabes who rules in this world!*

*I know I have not allowed you to use bankai since you returned to your world Ichigo, and you know my reasons on the matter.* Zangetsu added. *Today however, know that whatever power you need is yours. Together we will protect that which you wish to protect.*

It was true, Ichigo hadn't been able to use bankai in the weeks since his return from Soul Society. Zangetsu had explained to him some time before, during one their training sessions, that without Shiro being able to absorb enough reishi particles to keep his high-speed regeneration active they just had no way to counter the after effects the compression of all of his reiatsu (which was a lot) had on him. His body wasn't ready to have so much power packed so tight together in his body, and while it allowed Ichigo to be faster, stronger, and a much better fighter, unless Ichigo trained long and hard, or could have Shiro regenerating him constantly, he would end up falling with his body broken.

For Zangetsu to make such an offer…it meant that either the zanpakutou somehow knew they would end up in a place where Shiro would be able to help; or that both spirits inside him were as worried as he was about what was going on and had decided they would rather risk it all than allow such things to continue. It might also be a bit of both.

"Thank you, Ossan, Shiro…" Ichigo whispered with a slight smile as he watched the sun rising. "We'll be ready. Today, we fight to protect!"

Inside, his nakama had begun to awaken…

**xXx**

An hour later Ichigo, Rukia, Ririn, Uryuu, Orihime, Chad, Tatsuki, Yuzu, Karin, Nova and Renji were all on their way after asking Hanatarou to look after Keigo and Minoru, the two still hadn't fully recovered from the events the night before.

The group had made it to the caves relatively quickly and gone straight in. There they had met with the quartet Sui-Feng had informed Ichigo about and helped them battle against Ugaki and his doll, Gesell. It had been complicated, as none of those there except for Rangiku truly trusted the Nakama. In the end Renji and Tatsuki had managed to injure Gesell in such a way the doll had turned upon its own master. However, that caused a cave-in, which in turn separated the Nakama, and made it harder for most of them to actually get to where the rest of the Bounts, as well as Ichinose awaited.

Ichigo was the first to make it there and he went straight at Kariya, only to be stopped by the bare hands of his opponent. Once he'd taken quite a beating Karin arrived and, like her brother before, through herself straight into battle, summoning her zanpakutou on the way. It was even worse than with Ichigo himself, somehow Kariya managed to turn Karin's own flames against her, and while she wasn't exactly burnt by them (they were a part of herself), she was still thrown against a stone wall hard enough to knock her out temporarily.

Furious at what had happened Ichigo got back up and, after syncing with Zangetsu yet again, went after Kariya. While it was true the zanpakutou had offered him the use of bankai Ichigo knew it was a bad idea, for the same reason he hadn't been allowed to use it before; and until he at least knew for sure there was someone to continue the battle if he fell he wouldn't risk himself in such a way.

Still, they didn't seem to be able to find a reasonable explanation for Kariya's powers, it was like nothing Ichigo did were enough to truly wound him. Even the injuries the daiko managed to deal the Bount were minimum, definitely not enough to take him down.

The battle was interrupted with Uryuu's abrupt arrival, who with just a few words fired an arrow, though instead of firing it at the Bount, he fired it at the gates Koga and Ichinose had just finished preparing. In a matter of seconds the Bount were gone, on their way to Soul Society, not Hueco Mundo like they'd all believed at first, to get their revenge on those that created them and then left them to ruin.

The Bounts and the former shinigami had just disappeared into the Gate when the remaining Nakama and shinigami arrived from two different directions; Yoruichi among them.

"We're too late…" Yoruichi muttered in disbelief, she turned to Uryuu. "Ishida, do you have any idea what you have just done? You…"

"What we decided needed to be done." Ichigo interrupted her before she could begin berating the Quincy for his actions.

"Wha…?" None of the shinigami but Rukia seemed to be able to understand.

"The Bounts couldn't be allowed to stay here, in the World of the Living." Ichigo elaborated. "I came to that conclusion early this morning, and the others agreed. Too many lives have been lost already."

"But…Soul Society…" Hisagi Shuuhei began, not quite believing the situation.

"So you'd rather our world be in danger instead of yours?" Uryuu said in a derisive tone. "Typical shinigami…"

"Uryuu…" Rukia whispered, a hand on the Quincy's arm.

Uryuu grimaced, even if she knew the insult wasn't directed at her, or Karin or Ichigo; he knew they didn't like it when he went back to his old ways and said such things.

"Shouldn't you be worried about the balance?" Karin asked with a groan as she woke. "Well, Bounts consuming dozens of living human souls will certainly be upsetting the balance!"

"She's right." Rangiku said.

"Maybe this is how it's supposed to be." Yoruichi declared. "It was Soul Society that created the Bounts, it should be Soul Society that deals with them."

The other shinigami could only nod grimly. They didn't like it, but what the others were saying was true. They would have to deal with the situation in their own land.

"That means we're all going to Soul Society, right?" Renji asked.

"We can use the Gate the Bount so kindly left us." Tatsuki suggested sardonically. "It should work well for Orihime-chan, Chad, Uryuu, Ririn and Nova."

"I have a feeling a certain taichou is gonna take this opportunity to rub my face in it." Ichigo mumbled suddenly, remembering his argument with Sui-Feng just a few hours earlier.

There was no other option though, their enemies had moved, and even if Karakura was no longer being threatened, at least for the time being, they had to go after them. They had a score to settle: for Minoru, and Keigo, and all the others who had lost so much…

**xXx**

Once in Soul Society things had gotten complicated pretty fast. Ichigo had been summoned by Yamamoto to a captain's meeting, since the Captain Commander considered it was necessary for the knowledge and experience the Nakama had acquired in their battles to be shared with the other high-ranked members of the Gotei. Ichigo had ended up pulling Uryuu along to act as his second, since the Quincy was more likely to remember details the shinigami daiko never paid much attention to.

Meanwhile the rest of the Nakama, as well as some shinigami had split to either individually or in pairs search through the Rukongai for the Bounts that the 12th Division had registered had entered Soul Society, but had yet to be seen by anyone.

The first sign of real trouble came when a messenger interrupted the captain's meeting to inform everyone present that one of the Bount had been spotted in Rukongai and he had been seen fighting Kuchiki Rukia. Ichigo didn't even wait to be dismissed, he instantly vanished into shunpo, all the while searching for Rukia's aura. Byakuya only waited long enough to excuse himself, and then he was going after Ichigo, wondering how crazy the boy was, since he hadn't even tried asking where exactly Rukia was; until he realized Ichigo was moving straight to her, despite his usual difficulty sensing anything, and the fact that they were in a place made entirely out of reishi, Ichigo seemed to have no trouble tracking Rukia down. It took a second for them to process everything, but almost immediately Renji and Uryuu were after the other two.

It turned out that Yoshi had become wiser since her last battle against Rukia and Ririn; she had knocked the gikon out early in the fight, and then made it so Sode no Shirayuki ended away from Rukia's reach. Attacking at top speed, Yoshi didn't allow Rukia the chance to retrieve her zanpakutou, and all the shinigami could do was use kidou to fight and protect herself. The involvement of an innocent girl who was trying to protect a baby inclined the balance in Yoshi's favor, when she used them to distract Rukia enough to knock her out and throw her away; however, before the final blow could be dealt Ichigo and Byakuya arrived. Realizing the danger she was in, Yoshi fled, something that only angered the two men even more. The Bount had dared hurt someone dear to them both, they wouldn't forgive her.

It had been precisely Rukia's condition, as she recovered in the Nagaken Estate with Yuzu's help, that prompted Ichigo and Byakuya to join forces against Kariya when they happened to find him in a forest in Rukongai. In the end they weren't enough to defeat the wind-mastering Bount, something that frustrated both men greatly.

And meanwhile, unknown to them all, an uprising was about to begin in Rukongai.

At the same time a battle was taking place in a forest, and a Bount and a former shinigami were instigating a rebellion in the depths of Kusajishi, Renji asked Tatsuki to accompany him to the 6th Division barracks.

"Why exactly am I here, Renji?" Tatsuki asked when they finally got to his room.

"I know you're still not convinced you're…her." Renji explained as he opened his closet. "But I have something here that will allow us to either prove or disprove that theory, right now."

He emerged from the closet holding a small wooden box, inside were several knick knacks, keepsakes; from the very bottom he pulled what looked like an ivory scarf, it had a dark-grey dragon painted along a side, it seemed to go well with her own yukata. Also, that scarf seemed to have been used to wrap something else: it looked like a roll of light-gray bandaged, though they were as solid as stone.

Wordlessly Renji offered both items to Tatsuki.

"What is this?" The girl asked, confused.

"The scarf, as you may have already guessed, goes along with the yukata you're wearing, that and the object wrapped in it are the only things I kept from y…Shu-Yung after she died." Renji explained with a sigh.

"I see." Tatsuki nodded, not yet taking the objects. "But what exactly is that object."

"It's Shu-Yung's zanpakutou…"

"Shu…her zanpakutou?! She was a shinigami?"

"No, she wasn't. To be honest I didn't even know about her having a zanpakutou, or even having reiryoku until shortly before she died. Shu-Yung…she never wanted to be a shinigami, said she didn't like them. It was almost like the shinigami did something unforgivable to her, but I never knew what exactly. I…got angry at her when I discovered she'd always known I had reiryoku, and that she did too and had been keeping it from me, we fought. I stayed away for three days, the longest I'd ever stayed mad at her, when I went back her sickness, which had been recurring for months, maybe a year, had gotten even worse. She died before the sun rose again." He shook his head, holding back tears. "When she was dying she told me she would come back, and as proof of her promise she left me her zanpakutou. You must know, usually zanpakutou die with their wielders, and yet…"

"And yet hers stayed. So when you saw me…"

"I thought she was back. I still believe that."

Tatsuki nodded, she'd accepted already that it was useless to tell him not to have false hope, especially since she herself had begun wondering if such a thing could be possible.

"And…" she pointed to the object again. "How exactly is that a zanpakutou?"

"Well…" Renji actually chuckled. "To be honest back then I didn't realize how strange it was, for her zanpakutou not to be a blade. And now…I think that if you touch it, and if it recognizes you, you'll understand…"

Still a bit hesitant, Tatsuki extended her hand to touch the roll of bandages/stone; the moment she did, it was as if the world had frozen around her.

In the time it took her to blink she was suddenly no more in the middle of Renji's quarters, but instead in what looked like a very elegant ancient dojo.

"Wow…" She whispered in awe at her surroundings.

The whole place looked like the dojos of old, and through an open shouji door a garden and in the distance a huge mountain could be seen.

"Wonder what this place is exactly…" Tatsuki said out-loud.

"The center of your soul and mind." A voice answered calmly. "Your inner-world."

Tatsuki spun around at the same time she instinctively dropped into a fighting stance.

"Good." The same voice, a female one, said in satisfaction. "It seems reincarnation hasn't dulled your senses any. That is nice."

Tatsuki straightened up as she watched the other woman carefully. She was about the same height as her, with a very lightly tanned slim figure, she had muscles but they weren't bulgy, still showing womanly curves, her hair was very long, straight and the darkest shade of grey without being black and her eyes a midnight-blue, very much like Tatsuki's own, she wore a completely black Chinese battle dress with a scooped neck and shoulders bare, the two slits high enough to show as far as he upper thighs; the sash was of an ivory color, and the ends of it hung to the side, right over her uncovered leg, there was a dark-gray dragon painted on one end; in fact, Tatsuki realized, the sash looked very much like the scarf Renji had shown her.

"You made your scarf following the design of my sash." The woman clarified. "It was a great honor to tell you the truth."

"Who are you, exactly?" Tatsuki asked carefully, brows furrowed. "I feel like I should know already, but I don't."

"You know my name." The woman assured her. "You just don't remember it yet. Don't worry, that's what I'm here for."

"Huh?" Tatsuki was no idea what she was referring to.

"You prepared all this." The woman explained to her. "Well, Shu-Yung did, in the days before her passing. She knew she would reincarnate, and she had so much left to do, she wanted more time. So she left me in Abarai Renji's care, so when the time came I could give her…you, the memories of the past." She sighed. "But it has to be your choice. My mistress was very specific about that. If you don't want to get those memories back…you won't. You will still be able to wield me, for I am and forever will be a part of you."

"If she prepared all this, doesn't it count as she…or I, already making a choice?" Tatsuki was honestly confused about the mix of lives.

"No, because you're not the same person my mistress Shu-Yung was. Even if you get her memories, your lives, your experiences have been so different…she was very specific that it had to be your choice. You must know, my mistress…she didn't have a good life, during her years in the human world, or even most of the time she spent in Soul Society. If you choose to accept those memories, your eyes will have to see so much…the saying ignorance is bliss is true, there is much to lose if you choose that path…"

"But there is also so much to gain…"

She didn't say it out-loud but in that moment all Tatsuki could think about was the redheaded shinigami. If she was honest to herself, she'd felt attracted to him from the first moment she'd seen him, there was something about him, about that barely control wildness he seemed to radiate that drew her in. She'd tried to deny him for some time, telling herself she was betraying her nakama by desiring someone who had once been an enemy…but all her nakama accepted him, he seemed to even be on the way to becoming a Nakama himself! Then when he'd called her Shu-Yung she couldn't help but feel jealous, who was that woman? Did he love someone already? Was all her desire for naught? His idea of she being Shu-Yung had sounded ludicrous at first, and she hadn't wanted him to hurt himself with false hopes; but from the very beginning she'd been hoping herself it was true. Now… now she knew it was, but still it wouldn't be complete if she didn't have those memories. How could she claim to be someone if she didn't remember?

"I accept." Was all she said in the end, it was all she had to say.

The woman didn't answer, instead she simply touched two fingers to Tatsuki's forehead, causing her to blackout instantly, even if just for a moment, then everything changed:

_She was dressed in a very small top and a long gauzy skirt with several slits, all in all clothes that left a little to the imagination, wearing extensive high-quality jewelry and dancing to the rhythm of several drums, a flute and some bells. _

_She was being manhandled by so many people, and there was nothing she could do or say about it; talking wasn't allowed, resisting wasn't allowed, nothing except absolute compliance was allowed in that life. _

_She had arrived to her small room with bruises on her arms and legs again, and she hid them behind her old worn-out robe. It wouldn't do let her little sister see them. It was bad enough that she couldn't give the child a better life than as an unwanted guest in the middle of a rich estate, the sister of a slave…what a great life that was. _

_She had known it was a bad idea to get into a fight, even if the other one was a bastard, he was still part of the staff of a noble visitor; but she just couldn't allow him to hurt her sister like that, she was an innocent, she didn't deserve that, she'd promised herself since they'd lost their old lives that she would always protect her. _

_It had paid to do 'favors' to the guards. One of them had been compassionate enough to inform her what the lord was planning in regards to her sister. It was something she would never allow, she would die first…or they would escape… _

_The plan hadn't worked that well, as her body, lying broken and bleeding in the middle of some forest proved. But at least her baby sister had gotten away. She was intelligent, and tough, she would survive. She only wished she would be able to watch over her in the afterlife. _

_It was all their fault! They had taken her away! Taken her away before she could find her! She was the older sister, supposed to protect the younger one…and she couldn't do it because those bastards had sent her away! She despised them! They were supposed to help, but they weren't helping her when they made her move on to the afterlife. _

_Life in Inuzuri reminded her so much of her earlier childhood, before the pain, before the tragedy, before the enslavement…people had told her she had reiatsu, it was why she needed to eat sometimes; some said that if she became a shinigami, she would be able to enter Seireitei, and would never want for anything. She refused, she would never be a shinigami, she would never be like those bastards that cared so little for family and loyalty and love… _

_She'd found her reason for living, or at least existing, in all the innocent children living there in the high districts of Rukongai. She looked after them, protected them, helped feed those who needed it. There were some that would eventually choose to go become shinigami, she didn't blame them for wanting out of a place as awful as Inuzuri, but she would never join them either. The life of a shinigami wasn't for her… _

_She'd met a special boy, with long red-hair and big garnet eyes, he was so carefree, so 'full of life' despite being as dead as she. He'd lost so much, his whole family, he was all alone, and yet somehow he managed to still be happy; even remembering all he'd had and lost, he found a way to keep that happiness in him. And somehow, he was beginning to make her happy. _

_She'd finally fallen, after years denying him, he'd managed to catch her by surprise, stolen kiss after kiss, and before long she could no longer deny that she wanted him as much as he did her. She was so much older, he was little more than a kid…but should numbers really matter when she hadn't aged a day in so long? When it was unlikely that he would age at least for many decades to come? _

_The yukata he'd gotten for her was so beautiful. She honestly had no idea where he'd gotten it, there were no things of that quality anywhere close to where they lived, and despite being obviously worn before the yukata was still in perfect condition. It was also so soft, so different from the robes she'd gotten used to wearing, not just in Inuzuri, but during most of her human life as well. And the dragon painted on it was a part of her, of her past, of what she'd lost but refused to forget: her family, her sister, her life… _

_She loved him so much…and a part of her knew it was a mistake, he would leave some day, like many other had before. He had reiatsu too, and his was so much more powerful than hers. He had the potential to be not only a shinigami, but a great one; and yet she wouldn't tell him, because she didn't want him to leave her…and she knew he would, one day he would. _

_Her worst fear had finally come to pass. He'd found out about his own power, and the fact that she'd kept the knowledge from him. He'd left. He was so angry with her…so very angry… Did he know just how sick she was? How sick she had been for months? Would she get to see him again before the end came? _

_She was laying on her futon, coughing and panting, it was becoming so hard to even breath… she didn't have much longer. She doubted she would be able to push any more reiatsu into her zanpakutou. Her zanpakutou…her dirty little secret, no one knew she even had one, they couldn't, if they did they might confuse her with one of those shinigami… _

_She wondered if he would return in time, he had to, she had to pass her zanpakutou to him before her last breath or all her preparations would be for naught. She couldn't allow that. There was so much she'd never been able to do, like find her little sister, or truly get to have a life with him, with… _

"_Shu!" A voice called as the door to her small shack opened abruptly. _

"_Ren…" That was as far as she got before yet another coughing fit assaulted her. _

"_Shu-Yung…" He dropped to his knees beside her right away. "Are you alright? Oh spirits! Why didn't you tell me you were this sick?" _

"_I've…b-been sick fo…for a v-very…long time…" She said in a hoarse, half-broken voice. "You…you knew t-that Ren…" she coughed again. _

"_Well yes." He admitted, still in panic. "but you always get better! You will get better again, like every time, right?" _

"_I am dying Renji…" She managed to whisper. _

"_No!" He was in absolute denial. "No, you cannot die! You…Shu…" _

"_Sh Ren…" She whispered, with great effort laying a hand on his face. "It's alright…" _

"_You cannot die…" Renji sobbed into her hand. "I cannot lose you…I love you Shu-Yung…" _

"_I…love you t-too." She assured him. "Y-you won…won't lose me." _

_With slow, difficult motions she took a hold of her folded scarf, her sealed zanpakutou laying over it, glowing with her reiatsu. _

"_Here." She whispered, putting both items in the redhead's hands. _

"_What's this?" He asked, confused. _

"_My zanpakutou." She answered honestly. "I've put as… as much of m-my reiatsu as a..I could into it…" she coughed again. "I…I want you t-to keep her when I…when I'm gone…" _

"_Shu…" Renji still didn't want to accept the cruel truth. _

"_Take care of her…" Shu-Yung instructed, with as much strength as she could. "One day… one day I'll come back…I'll take it back." _

_That last part at least gave the younger boy some hope. He trusted her so much, if she said she would be returning, then it had to be true. _

"_I will, I promise." He assured her, holding the wrapped object tightly to his chest. _

"_Never forget…I…I love…you…" _

_And as the last word was spoken, her hand finally fell, her eyes closed, and a heart-wrenching wail echoed through all of Inuzuri. _

Tatsuki blinked, and again found herself in the middle of the ancient dojo, though this time she was on her knees…

"I remember…" She whispered, more to herself than to her companion. "I was a slave, back when alive, in China. I did everything I could to protect my sister, even if it meant more pain for me. She was so young, so innocent, my baby sister, my little bell…" she sighed. "I died, and before I could go looking for her shinigami found me and sent me to Soul Society, they didn't even give me the chance to explain that I had to fine my sister! Bastards…" she shook her head. "So many years I spent in Inuzuri, such a long time only existing. Until I met him, until I met Renji…He gave me new hope, gave me back my belief in a future…and yet I never got to have one with him…I remember…"

"Mistress…" The woman standing before her whispered, voice strangely hesitant.

"I remember you…" Tatsuki assured her as she got on her feet and raised a hand to touch the woman on a shoulder. "Chitania…"

The smile on the zanpakutou spirit's face was blinding, even if it all vanished just an instant later, as Tatsuki abruptly returned to her she'd originally been, standing in the middle of Renji's quarters in the 6th's barracks, holding her old sash and zanpakutou in hand.

"T…Tatsuki-san?" Renji asked, doubtful.

She had no idea how long she'd been 'gone', or how that had looked to him. But suddenly she knew exactly how to let him know the change in situation.

"I think I'm taking this back." She said coyly as she put both objects inside her yukata.

Renji could just stand there, blinking, half of his brain frozen in shock while the other half tried to figure if her choice of words had been in purpose or just a coincidence.

"The day has come Renji…" She leaned close enough to whisper into his ear. "I'm back."

She didn't have the need, or the chance, to say anything more, as suddenly strong arms were holding her waist against a hard, toned body, and her mouth was being claimed in a way it never had in her current life.

Eventually the kiss broke, though it left them both gasping for breath.

"Shu-Yung…Tatsuki…you…" He began babbling, not quite knowing what to say.

"Never forget…I love you…" She repeated her last words to him. "Those words are as true now as they were back then. I may not have remembered before now, but my heart knew it even before my brain did."

That was all the reassurance Renji needed, he claimed her mouth again.

**xXx**

What little control any of the Shinigami or the Nakama might have had at some point over the situation was lost before the week was over, as dozens of Kusajishi inhabitants gathered at the western Gate of Seireitei with the intention to force their way inside.

The Nakama were forced to split, as they knew things wouldn't go well. While some of them prepared to face against the Bount again, for what they hoped would be the last time; others went to the gate to try and stop the uprising, or at least save as many as possible. Tatsuki, Renji, Chad and Orihime in particular were in the second group. And while they didn't manage to stop things entirely, they at least got the chance to stop many from dying once Kariya decided he didn't need them anymore and turned against them. The Bounts didn't react to their presence, decided he didn't care about them, what he wanted was inside the Seireitei, and he'd managed to find a way inside, finally.

Karin and Nova went immediately after Yoshi, having decided to claim revenge for what the woman had done to her family. She would have wanted to go against Mabashi himself, but had noticed how that particular Bount had been engaged already by Sui-Feng, and with how tense the situation was with that particular captain, the last thing Karin wanted was to offend her by interfering with her fight.

Uryuu had gone after Sawatari, on his pride and the pride of his Nakama, he had decided he needed to bring down at least one Bount; and the fact that he was taking Kurotsuchi's chosen prey only made things all the better as far as he was concerned.

After making sure things were controlled with the people of Kusajishi, Tatsuki had rushed to a particular reiatsu signature she was almost sure she could recognize. What she found there was in fact captain Sui-Feng, after having just defeated the crazed Mabashi.

"Excuse me?" Tatsuki asked as she approached the sitting captain, wondering if she really was who she thought, or if she was too confused…

"What do you want r…Nakama?" Sui-Feng asked with a dismissive tone.

Tatsuki opened her mouth several times, as she kept trying, and failing, to find the right words to ask the question she wanted to, but the coldness in the woman's eyes, posture, in her whole aura, just didn't allow her too.

"I really don't understand what a human like you would want with me." Sui-Feng hissed.

"A human like me?" Tatsuki asked, canting her head to a side. "Weren't you human once as well S…captain?"

"If I was, I don't remember, nor do I care." Sui-Feng said arrogantly. "I have been a shinigami for centuries, have trained greatly to attain this power, this rank. And yet in a moment a group of humans come and suddenly they think they deserve to have, on a whim, the same level of authority and power that has taken the rest of us centuries to achieve?"

"So," Tatsuki couldn't help her sudden impish smile. "Do you hate us because we could claim your same authority, or because we have attained that same power?"

For a moment, Sui-Feng was furious, so much her reiatsu more unconsciously than consciously lashed at Tatsuki, and yet it did nothing to her. That seemed to make the short captain even more furious, though instead of doing anything she chose to turn and shunpo away before things could get worse.

Tatsuki could only sigh at her departure, her left hand in a fist against her chest.

"Was I wrong?" She asked to the empty air. "Are you not her, or am I just too late?"

*Don't be sad Mistress, time, like so many other things is a matter of perspective.* Chitania informed her cryptically. *Besides, like you yourself proved, even if the mind forgets, the heart never will, it just can't.*

"Maybe." Tatsuki admitted. "But does the person I'm looking for even exist still? Whether it is she or not? What do I really know about her? She was just a child when I died, when I left her. I have no idea the kind of life she lead afterwards…Did she die right away? Did she get to live? And if she did, what kind of life did she have? Did she stay in China or move somewhere else? Was she a slave? A warrior? A healer? A mother? What…? I'm looking for a person I don't even know Chitania, someone that might not even exist anymore!"

*Never give up hope, mistress.* the zanpakutou tried to help her. *Renji-san believed you would return, no matter how many years, and decades passed, he never stopped believing, and here you are. Have a bit of his faith and hope…you might be surprised.*

Tatsuki sighed, she knew her zanpakutou was right. She'd known it wouldn't be easy, Karin was proof enough that having memories of more than one life never was. And yet when Tatsuki had felt that reiatsu she'd been so sure…

"I'll try Chitania…" Was all she could promise in the end. "I'll try…"

**xXx**

After making sure Rukia would be alright in the Nagaken Estate, and that Ririn would stay on guard all the time, Ichigo had gone off as well. At first he'd gone in pursuit of Yoshi, wanting to make the Bount pay for the way she'd hurt Rukia, he'd felt so angry over that…but by the time he got there that particular fight was already over, instead Karin was trying, and failing, in fighting against Kariya, as his wind would make all her attacks either useless or turn them against her; Nova had been knocked out already. In the place was also a woman Uryuu had told them about, who looked exactly like the deceased Souma Yoshino: the former shinigami, technique researcher, and one of those responsible for the existence of the Bount: Ran'Tao.

There, taking advantage of the fact that they were, in fact, in Soul Society, Ichigo had called on his bankai right away. Ready to synch with Zangetsu if it became necessary, while Shiro gathered as much reiatsu as he could without being too obvious and pushed it into some high-speed regeneration. To Kariya it seemed like nothing could injure Ichigo. And yet that didn't mean the leader of the Nakama was winning…

After Ran'Tao informed Hitsugaya about the true situation with the Joukaishou, all high-ranked shinigami who could do kidou were immediately called to the spots where the Joukaishou were to seal them again. After much thinking, Yuzu and Rukia joined them, knowing that their ability at kidou would be of help; and while both of them, and especially Rukia, wanted nothing more than to go after Ichigo, they knew they could do more helping seal the volatile objects.

Ichigo was a compassionate man, all who knew him realized that; in fact, most of the Nakama were very empathic and compassionate individuals as well, so it was no surprise. However, at times such characteristics worked against them. Like when Ichinose Maki, after finally realizing the truth of Kariya's intentions, and how they opposed what he'd once believed in and fought for, was brutally struck down by the Bount leader; who afterwards said the former-shinigami had never been anything more than a pawn in his games. For someone like Ichigo, who was so absolutely loyal to his own nakama, the idea of someone going against one who was supposed to be the same thing, it was too much.

Without even stopping to think about it Ichigo synced with Zangetsu and began drawing even more on Shiro's own energy to create slightly red-tinted Kuro Getsugas; then threw himself straight at his opponent. The shinketsu knew it was crazy to sympathize with an enemy, but Ichinose wasn't evil, just misguided, and he'd been killed by a man he'd respected, a man he followed; as far as Ichigo was concerned the whole thing was an aberration.

The battle got progressively more and more complicated when Kariya first showed his doll, Messer, as a wind-sword creature-object, and later on powered up, turning it into a lighting one. Lighting was something Ichigo couldn't block, and if it weren't for Shiro, he wouldn't have survived after the first shock.

Ichigo knew about the other Joukaishou, about Kariya's plan to blow up all of Soul Society; he knew that the only way to stop it all was to kill the Bount, and yet he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Hard as it might be to admit, even to himself, Ichigo wasn't a killer, he'd never been; he fought to protect, not destroy, and while he knew in that instance he needed to kill to protect…a part of him hoped that he might be able to talk Kariya out of the whole insanity before the end.

After using as much reiatsu as was safe to seal the Joukaishou, Rukia had gotten some of her nakama to take her to Soukyoku, where Ichigo's and Kariya's battle was taking place. They, as well as Byakuya, had taken positions around the two fierce combatants, and worked on stopping the Bount whenever he tried to activate one of the Joukaishou.

Orihime, at the same time, was talking to her Shun Shun Rikka and getting mentally prepared to use her Souten Kisshun to stop Kariya from activating the Joukaishou if Ichigo didn't manage to stop the Bount in time. It was a risky plan, but at least a possibility, if all else failed.

"What did you do to those Bounts?" Ichigo cried out at some point, as they reached a stand-off. "You manipulated them, your own nakama, and treated them as if they were mere pawns!" his voice steeled. "There's no way I can lose to you!"

"What do you know about it?" Kariya scoffed. "People hate those who are different from themselves. That doesn't change even if they're your comrades. Given time, the so-called nakama you believe in will eventually grow to fear your power and leave you. Is there any point in protecting them?!"

"There is!" Ichigo replied immediately, with no hesitation. "There is no logic behind it. I'll protect them because I want to. I'll place my soul on the line!"

"Your soul?!" Kariya really didn't understand, just what kind of person was Kurosaki Ichigo?

Right then, just for a moment, it seemed like all was lost, like Kariya would activate the Joukaishou before Ichigo could do anything about it; and yet when Yoruichi gave the order for the shinigami to begin sealing it, no one moved. Not Rukia, Renji, Karin…not even Byakuya. Even Orihime remained unmoving. They all believed in Ichigo, he would not fail. He was fighting not just as himself, but as a Nakama, he was a part of them all. He would not fail.

"You can't defeat me." Kariya declared arrogantly, after what seemed like forever. "Let me tell you something, Kurosaki Ichigo. The truth behind fighting: It continues forever. After you've defeated one person, someone stronger appears. If you manage to defeat him, then an even stronger person comes along. If you don't have the resolve to endure that eternal struggle, then eventually your confidence will erode. But it doesn't end there! The battle will continue elsewhere, fought by others. It's an endless cycle! And it doesn't end with a person's death. The cycle will continue! As long as people and their souls exist, there will be disputes and those disputes will lead to fights. And those fights will continue without limit, for all eternity." He smirked. "If you don't have the resolve to find that kind of fight, you will lose. Even if you do manage to defeat me, in the end you'll lose."

"It's true I don't like killing." Ichigo admitted. "But if I have to, to protect those dear to me, I'll do it. I'll do whatever is needed to protect my nakama, and everyone else, not just my family and friends, but everyone I can. I fight to protect! That is my resolve!"

And with that, they clashed again.

After the final clash, for a moment it seemed like Kariya had won, as he stood there, in the middle of Soukyoku Hill, his back to Ichigo, while the orange-haired dropped to one knee, his expression solemn, eyes cast down, as if he knew something that wasn't yet obvious to everyone else around them…

"This is the end, it seems." Kariya said right then. "It's kind of a pity, but I'm not going to be able to see whether or not you will walk the same path I did. Kurosaki, I am…"

And then, he was gone…nothing but dust in the wind.

The day after the battles against the Bounts had ended, if anyone had cared to look, they would have been able to find Ichigo, standing on the cliff-edge of Soukyoku Hill, watching the horizon, as he reflected a bit morosely on everything that had happened.

"Revolving…" He whispered to himself with a sigh. "If fate is a wheel, then we are the sand that is crushed between the cogs. We are helpless. All we want is power. Even if we can't protect others by extending our hands, we desire a blade for those hands to grasp. The power to crush one's fate must look like a blade swinging down. Is my power the power to crush fate? Or will I be swallowed up by this power like Kariya?" he shook his head to clear his mind of such thoughts. "There's no point in dwelling on this. This power is to protect others. That's just fine. And with my nakama by my side, everything will always be alright."

And meanwhile, unknown to him, one lone figure was watching him from a distance, usually bright violet eyes darkened in worry and grief.

"Ichigo…"

It was something none of them had been expecting, for Kariya Jin to have constructed such an elaborate, seemingly insane plan…only to be able to finally die. If that had really been his plan, no one knew for sure; still, it didn't erase the scars it had caused on many of those who had been involved, physical and mental…nothing would ever erase those…

**xXx**

The Nakama stayed in Seireitei for a few days after Ichigo's defeat of Kariya, wanting to help some, since at least a few of them felt partly responsible for the disaster, since it had been their decision to get the Bounts into Soul Society in the first place. Soon enough they had to go back, they doubted their teachers would be too understanding if they were absent for more than a week, and it wasn't like they hadn't already done all they could.

However, what no one was expecting was what happened a week later. In fact, no one actually knew what exactly had happened just that, for no apparent reason, one morning Ichigo simply refused to get out of the room, he barely even got up from his bed, where he covered his face with his own pillow and refused to see or talk to anyone at all, not even his sisters, his family, or his own wife!

No one had any idea what had happened, what made him react like that; if it was some kind of depression because of what had happened with the Bounts it seemed a little late…though Orihime kept saying that she had a strange feeling, like something else had happened, and somehow they had all forgotten.

After three days straight with the same situation Rukia finally decided she'd had enough, she made plans to confront Ichigo, but before that decided to take a chance and go on a quick trip to the Soul Society to check out Orihime's feelings…

It turned out she was right, something had indeed happened that none of them remembered anything about. Rukia briefly wondered if Orihime had forgotten as well, or her powers had protected her in a way, maybe she remembered and just hadn't wanted to talk about it, instead just giving the others the clues needed to help Ichigo…in any case, Orihime wasn't the one worrying the violet-eyed shinigami in that moment.

Upon her visit to the 12th Division Rukia had learnt that, something had happened. It was something that happened every so often (in terms of years), and no one really bothered with much anymore. In fact, the 12th Division had gone through the pain of creating a machine that actually could register when the 'event' took place, for case like Rukia's, where she wanted to know if she had forgotten something. Of course, they hadn't been counting on the rest of the Nakama having gotten involved, or one of them somehow still reacting…

The 'event' was the appearance of a Memory Rosary, a Shinenju, in human form. Of course, no one remembered what had happened during the time the Shinenju had been around, or if something had even happened at all…though, considering their track record, Rukia had a feeling that not only 'something' had happened, it had been big, serious, and it had ended badly…it was the only way to explain Ichigo's attitude.

With that information in mind Rukia rushed straight to a Senkaimon and then to the Kurosaki home, where she could sense Ichigo still in his room.

Once she slipped in through the window (it was closed, not like it would stop her in soul-form) Rukia decided it was a good thing the house was empty, knowing Ichigo as she did, even if it had just been a few months, confronting him on what had happened, and what was happening with him was not going to be pretty.

"Ichigo!" She called as she stepped beside the bed, pulling the pillow away from his face.

"What do you want woman?!" Ichigo snapped harshly, closing his eyes tight and refusing to look at her at all.

Rukia winced slightly at the insult, he'd never called her 'woman' and in such a cold tone. Still, she was going to help him, and not even he would be able to stop her.

"I know what happened, Ichigo." Rukia said, going straight to the point. "Well, not all obviously, but I know a shinenju was involved…"

"Shinenju?" Ichigo asked. "What is that?"

"A Memory Rosary." Rukia answered, brow furrowing suddenly. "They form when a certain number of powerful souls that were once lost in the Dangai World come together and assume a joint human form. That's why it has that name, Memory Rosary. Whenever they happen to connect to one of the Worlds, it's just for a little while, and after they're gone we forget them, because they were never meant to exist in the first place. I don't know how you managed to remember at all, but I know you do and…"

"I don't." Ichigo interrupted her in a blank tone.

"You don`t…?" Rukia was confused, what was going on with him then?

"I don't remember her name, or even her face…" Ichigo drawled. "I just know she existed. She was here, she existed…she was a real person, damn it!"

Rukia gasped, suddenly she noticed he was holding something tightly: a red ribbon. There was also the fact that Ichigo kept saying 'she', the natural course of events had erased all memories of the shinenju, and yet he refused to completely let go of that memory.

"She was real." Ichigo insisted. "Because she believed she was! She felt fear, and happiness, and pain. She fought for what she believed in…she sacrificed herself for…for us all…for me…" he left out a half-scream of distress. "I wanted to protect her! And I couldn't! Instead she ended up protecting me! She's gone because of me!"

"Ichigo…" Rukia really didn't know how to help him, she'd never seen him like that. "If she was really a shinenju…she would have disappeared eventually. Shinenju aren't real, they're a mix of dozens of different souls, memories and feelings of those who got lost in their way from one world to another…"

"She was real!" Ichigo insisted. "She was real! She died! And it was my fault! Why must people keep risking their lives to protect me?! I'm not worth it! Why must people keep giving their lives to protect mine?! Why?!"


	18. Confessions in Black and White

One reader asked me what was going on with Rukia and Ichigo, while another straight out said it seemed like they were growing apart, like the wedding was hurting them instead of making them stronger. That was kind of the point. This is definitely Ichiruki, never doubt that. But I've always believed that love, true love, isn't easy. Ichigo and Rukia love each other, they just don't fully know it yet. Keep in mind, like I've said before, that they haven't spent quite as much time together, alone, as they do in canon, so they haven't quite figured themselves out yet. Or it's more like, they are in the same page, they just don't know the other is in the same as them yet. Don't worry, the moment's coming.

Now, what's probably the most intense chapter for this two, because for two people to truly come together, they need to know each other, truly, and in case none of you've noticed, there's one very big thing (person... spirit?) they've yet to talk about.

Also, just so you know, the first of my OCs is making an appearance here. There are several of those, some more important than others. Hope you'll like them.

Having said that... on with this week's chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 18. Confessions in Black and White**

Rukia was speechless. She had had no idea that Ichigo was in such pain. She couldn't think of any way to help him. But the petite shinigami did know one thing for sure: what was happening to Ichigo, it wasn't just about the Shinenju, about that girl he refused to forget but couldn't quite remember either, it was about much more than that. He'd talked about 'people' giving their lives to protect him. 'People', 'lives'', more than one. Rukia knew that one was Kurosaki Masaki, his mother, but who else? Who else had died to protect Ichigo? Just how many deaths was he carrying over his shoulders?

Another thing Rukia realized quite fast was that they wouldn't be able to settle the matter in Karakura. Already the Nakama were beginning to mobilize, probably concerned by the deep despair that his flaring reiatsu carried. And as much as she appreciated them all, as much as she knew they only wanted to help…something told her this was a matter the two of them had to settle on their own.

"No other choice then." Rukia said grimly out-loud.

Then, before Ichigo even knew what was happening she had her glove on and had knocked Ichigo's soul out of his body.

"Wha…Rukia?!" Ichigo cried out in a mix of confusion and anger.

She ignored him, unsheathing her zanpakutou with one hand and using it to open a Senkaimon while with the other she kept a firm hold on Ichigo, then, with some effort she pulled him after her and through the gate.

They stepped out of the gate into the reception room of the Nagaken estate, and servants who had turned in curiosity to see who had arrived so suddenly immediately stepped back in fear when they felt the barely contained reiatsu of the young adopted scion of the clan and the petite woman a chosen handful of them knew to be his wife.

"Unless the world is ending, no one is to bother us." Rukia instructed the servants.

They all nodded wordlessly, still having no idea what was going on.

Rukia for her part kept pulling Ichigo, ignoring the fact that he was much taller and stronger than her, and that technically he outranked her; she cared for none of that. The violet-eyed woman didn't stop until the two reached the cliff at the farthest part of the Nagaken property. At least there, if Ichigo's reiatsu flared no one would be hurt; and no one would interrupt them, which was always good. The two of them needed to have a talk, a very long serious talk.

And yet, Ichigo stubbornly refused to talk, he hadn't said a single word since she had pulled him through the Senkaimon. But since Rukia knew they couldn't let things continue like that, she decided to do the talking.

"Ichigo, you need to talk to me…" She told him.

"What do you want me to say?" He asked in a monotone.

"Anything." Rukia answered. "Speak, rant, curse, scream, yell at me for knocking you out of your body and dragging you all the way here. Whatever, just do something, please!"

Ichigo just shrugged, dropping to the ground to lay on his back.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out as she dropped to her knees beside him.

"There's nothing I want to say." Ichigo said still blankly.

"Yes there is." Rukia insisted. "You were just beginning to talk when we were still in your room. About the shinenju, and the people who take risks for you…"

"Not risks, they get killed!" Ichigo snapped, reiatsu flaring again, losing his expressionless attitude. "Am I some kind of curse? Is there something about me that causes every single woman that cares about me to die?"

Rukia had no idea what was it about her that made it so his reiatsu couldn't hurt her, no matter how much it flared, or how heavy it got, it just didn't affect her. And she was thankful about that, otherwise she didn't know how they would be able to have that particular conversation.

"You're not cursed!" Rukia told him, still a bit confused about what he was talking about. "If people die…it's not your fault."

"Yes it is!" Ichigo insisted. "It's always my fault!"

"Ichigo!" Rukia insisted. "I care about you! And I'm still here!"

"But you almost weren't!" Ichigo hissed, sitting up, taking her by the shoulders and shaking her harshly. "Don't you get it Rukia? You almost died! If I hadn't been able to get my powers back in time, if Urahara hadn't been able to get that Senkaimon to work, if we hadn't found those amulets, if we hadn't been strong enough…if one single detail in the plan we made to get to you that day had failed…you would have been executed! You would have died! Do you get that?! You would have been dead, and it would have been my fault!"

"No it wouldn't have!" Rukia began yelling, just like him. "Each of us, we make our own choices Ichigo. I chose to go with Nii-sama and Renji, knowing the kind of punishment that awaited me in Soul Society…"

"A punishment that would have never come if you hadn't given me your powers!"

"If I hadn't given you my powers we all would have died! Your family! You! And me too!"

"Not if you had focused on killing that hollow instead of worrying about me…" Ichigo's voice turned somber. "Shishou was right that first time he talked to you. You should have just focused on your work and let me die like the stupid bastard I am…"

Rukia couldn't handle it anymore, she slapped him, hard.

"Hm…" Ichigo actually chuckled darkly as he tasted blood inside his lip, not bothered at all by the hit. "Guess I deserved that."

"Yes you did." Rukia hissed, fury shining behind her eyes. "Now tell me where the hell is the real Ichigo. You cannot be him…"

"What the hell are you talking about now?" Ichigo asked, a brow furrowed.

"You cannot be the real Ichigo." Rukia stated coldly. "Because the real one, Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo, my husband…isn't such a pitiful coward!"

"Husband…yeah…and such a great husband I am…" Ichigo spat snidely. "You should just leave me already Rukia. Now while you are still alive, while you still can…"

"So that's it." Rukia sighed, suddenly very tired. "Did your vows mean that little? Do I mean so little that the first time something tough comes by you're so willing to just give up?"

"Better now than when you're dead…"

"I'm not gonna die! Get that through your thick head, Ichigo. I'm here, and I'm not leaving, not without a hell of a fight."

"Don't you get it Rukia? Everyone who gets too close to me dies!"

"No! It's not your fault. I already told you, I care about you and I'm still here, I'll always be here, in this life and the next!"

"Don't you get it woman? I'm trying to protect you! You cannot care about me! I won't let you give up your life for me! I'm not worth that!"

"Stop saying that! Damn it Ichigo you're worth it! You're worth everything I can give you! Even if I were to die someday…"

"No! You won't die! I won't allow that!"

"It wouldn't be your fault!"

They were screaming again, at such volumes it was a surprise someone hadn't approached them already to ask what was wrong. But maybe it was either their voices or their reiatsu keeping them away. Their auras were flaring in such a way, clashing, as if trying each to dominate the other, but neither truly could…

"Yes it would!" Ichigo snapped, then buried his face in his hands as he continued at a low, defeated tone. "It's always my fault…everyone dies and it's my fault…they keep sacrificing their lives for mine…don't you all realize I'm not worth it?"

"It should be up to us to decide what you're worth, Ichigo…" Rukia's voice turned softer as she tried to caress Ichigo's face.

"No Rukia…" Ichigo leant back to avoid her hand. "Don't you understand what would happen if you were to ever die, especially because of me?"

"Why must you carry such guilt? If someone dies, especially through sacrifice…well, then it was that person's own decision…not your fault."

"It is my fault." Ichigo insisted again. "They do it because of me. Not understanding they are worth so much more than I ever will be."

"I told you we should be the ones to decide that!"

"Ok then. So how many lives should I be worth then? Three? Four? Five? Ten? A hundred? Just how many people are going to throw away their lives so I can continue my miserable existence? How many before it's too many?!"

"Ichigo…!"

"Don't you get it Rukia? You almost died! No! It's more than that, your soul was almost totally obliterated! Gone. Finished! No reincarnation for you. No glorious return like it happened for Karin and Tatsuki. Nothing. It would have all been over. Do you know what that would have done to me? It would have destroyed me, totally and absolutely. It's so easy for all of you, to just die…and yet I have to feel the weight of those deaths upon me. See the faces of everyone grieving and know that if it weren't for me they would still be here!"

It was all so confusing, the way Ichigo constantly went from her almost dying, to others actually dying, from complaining about what could have happened to her, to insulting himself for things that had happened to other people…

"Who Ichigo?" She suddenly realized that was the crux of the matter. "Who died? Who gave their life for yours?"

"You almost died…you almost disappeared completely…" Ichigo muttered.

"Yes, 'almost' being the key word there. I am still here, Ichigo. And you know that, you can see me, hear me, feel me. This isn't really about me, is it? This is about someone else, or more than one person, about those who acted to protect you too, and actually died doing it. Who was it Ichigo? Was it your mother?"

"Okaa-san…" Ichigo whispered, heart-wrenching pain obvious in every syllable. "It was raining…she protected me from a hollow…and the monster killed her…" a lone tear fell. "But it wasn't just she…the night you were taken…taken to be executed…it was raining too…bad things happen when it rains…" he shook his head. "For her…for the Shinenju…it wasn't raining, but it still hurt just as much…her sacrifice saved both worlds… and yet I somehow know she did it for me…and I can't even remember her…not her face or her name, nothing…I just know she died, and it was my fault…And…" He shook his head, closing his eyes tightly and pressing the heels of his hands against them, in an attempt to block out the world.

"Ichigo, keep talking to me." Rukia called, once again trying and failing to caress his face. "Please, Ichigo…"

But Ichigo remained silent, it was like he'd lost what little will he might have had to talk. Not a word would leave his lips anymore, and even the tears that so obviously wanted to fall from his eyes were being kept at bay.

"Ichigo…" Rukia insisted in a painstaking tone. "Please, Ichigo…please talk to me. We promised: No more secrets…"

Something in those words seemed to make the orange-haired finally react, as he pulled his hands from his face, his eyes snapped open, the deep pools of usually liquid chocolate suddenly frozen solid. In a quick, unexpected move he took a hold of Rukia's wrists in his, at the same time as he froze her in place with just one look.

"You want there to be no more secrets?" He asked rhetorically. "Very well, then come."

He closed his eyes and for a second Rukia had no idea what he'd meant, until she felt the pull on her consciousness, and suddenly she understood. She let go.

She felt like she was free-falling, it could have been forever, it could have been just a second. Until suddenly she was back in the same position she'd originally been in, only that instead of the grassy cliff of the edge of the Nagaken estate, she found herself kneeling on concrete, or what looked like concrete, she was on the rooftop of a very tall building.

The sudden cold pulled Rukia to reality, or the current reality in any case, and she noticed she was cold because she was totally drenched, there was a terrible storm going on all around her, a look over the edge of the building she was on showed that the city hundreds of feet below had begun to flood already…and there was no sign of Ichigo anywhere.

"Wha…What is this place?" She asked out-loud, trying to cover her face from the hard rain with her hand and barely managing to hear her own voice over the noise of the storm.

"This is Aibou's Inner-World." A voice answered her.

Rukia spun around and suddenly saw what looked like Ichigo, except that his skin was much, much paler, practically snow-white, his hair was the same shade of white, his lips were blue, and he was dressed in what looked like a perfect opposite of Ichigo's shihakusho, white over black; he even had a haori to go with Ichigo's, only it was black instead of white. All in all he looked like a black and white, inverted picture of Ichigo…or something like that.

"Who are you?" Rukia asked, utterly confused. "Why did you call Ichigo Aibou? Are you his zanpakutou's spirit?"

"No snow-princess." Shiro actually smirked at the petite girl in front of him. "Now try again."

"Snow princess?" Rukia asked, utterly confused.

She didn't understand, who was that white version of Ichigo? How was he in what he himself claimed was Ichigo's inner-world if he wasn't Zangetsu? Why was he calling her snow-princess instead of by her name? And where exactly was Ichigo?!

"Did you know that a person's inner-world represents who and what they are at the very core of their souls?" Shiro asked suddenly.

"Wha…?" Rukia hadn't been expecting that question.

"Take this world for example." Shiro declared. "If you look toward the center you'll see a perfect replica of Karakura Town. Aibou's Inner World is a replica of his hometown, surrounded by huge skyscrapers. That shows his desire to always protect everything and everyone in Karakura, it's why the city is in the center, the skyscrapers are his power, always surrounding, guarding the city in the center, they keep rising higher and higher into the sky as his own power grows. I think the old man actually likes that…after all, only he would think of something like 'Pierce the skies to reach True Heaven'…Egotistical much?"

Rukia felt almost dizzy with all the new information suddenly flooding her brain, as she couldn't fully process it all. Regardless, the same question kept repeating itself over and over again inside her mind…

"Just who are you?" She asked.

"Why…I'm aibou's better half, of course!" Shiro actually chuckled a little at that.

"I'm being serious!" Rukia was beginning to lose her patience, not getting the answer she wanted. "Who are you? What are you?!"

"Come on snow-princess…that's not nice…" Shiro wiggled a finger in front of her.

"And my name is Rukia!" The petite shinigami snapped.

"Rukia…" A low, weak voice called from behind her.

The raven-haired turned to find Ichigo, this time the real Ichigo, somehow drenched even more than she was, being supported by a middle-aged ragged-looking man with shoulder-length dark-hair, facial hair, dark glasses covering his eyes and wearing a tattered robe the girl recognized from Ichigo's bankai; she knew instinctively that was Zangetsu.

"Ichigo!" Rukia perked up immediately at seeing him, then frowned when noticing his condition. "Are you alright? What happened to you? Where were you?"

"Calm down Rukia, breath." Ichigo ordered. "I am alright. I just wasn't quite looking where I stepped when I pulled us in here and I fell off the skyscraper…"

"You fell?!" Rukia almost screeched in panic at that.

"Calm down!" Ichigo yelled before rubbing his ear. "Dammit midget, you're gonna make me go deaf! Yes, I fell off the freaking building. Nothing happened to me. It's my inner-world remember? Nothing can kill me in here, especially not a stupid fall. What I wasn't expecting was for a quarter of the place to be flooded already, that and the cold made it harder for me to get out. In the end Ossan had to get me out."

"I thought you said nothing could hurt you here!" Rukia squeaked.

"It can't." Ichigo qualified. "Even if Ossan hadn't helped me the worst that would have happened is that I would have ended up back in the real world. Not sure if that means that you would have been pushed out too, or if you would have been able to stay here…"

"Ossan…" Rukia repeated, turning to the older man. "So you are Zangetsu?"

"Yes." Zangetsu bowed his head at the girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kuchiki Rukia. You have my thanks for the help you gave my wielder when Aizen pierced him on Soukyoku Hill, as well as every time before and after that."

For a couple of seconds Rukia didn't know what to do, or say; she'd never imagined being in such a situation. It was so rare for anyone to see someone else's zanpakutou spirit, the idea of having one being thankful and so respectful to them just baffled her…

"Wait a second." Something else suddenly entered the girl's mind. "If you are Zangetsu-san, and Ichigo is here…" she turned over her shoulder to see Ichigo's white counterpart. "Then who exactly is he?"

Shiro didn't say a word, though suddenly he wasn't smiling anymore, just staring at the petite shinigami with a mix of anticipation and something not-quite-discernable.

It was until that very moment that Rukia noticed something she had somehow missed before. Ichigo's white version…his eyes…they were yellow-gold on black…

"Those eyes…" Rukia gasped, as her brain began to realize what that being was, and yet couldn't come up with how it could be possible.

"Rukia, meet Shiro." Ichigo declared from right behind her. "The other half of my soul (literally, not figuratively or in any way romantic); he's…my darker half, you could say."

"He's a hollow…" Rukia whispered in a very weak voice.

"Yes." Ichigo nodded, expression suddenly totally blank again. "Like I said, my darker half, my opposite…sort of like a mirror image you could say…"

Rukia opened her mouth, but no word came out, she simply didn't seem to know what to say.

"So there it is." Ichigo stated blankly. "You wanted there to be no more secrets. Now you can scream and run off."

"Wha…" Rukia was having a hard time wrapping her head around everything that was going on, and Ichigo's sudden statement threw her for a loop. "What are you talking about?"

"It would be the logical reaction, right?" Ichigo asked, still no expression on his face or voice. "I am an abomination, I'm a shinigami, and yet still have a hollow inside my soul. The normal thing is to be scared and run off. Or maybe, maybe because you're a shinigami you'll choose to destroy us instead…"

"Ichigo…" Rukia began.

"Aibou…" Shiro called, in an evidently tired voice. "Snap out of it already! If you remain on this fucking depressed state for too much longer we're all going to drown here. Or catch pneumonia, or hypothermia, or something like that…"

Ichigo turned empty eyes to his twin for a moment, then quickly to Rukia, and then lowered them again in silence.

"Damn it!" Shiro cursed under his breath.

"Ichigo…" Rukia called, one hand reaching for him.

Ichigo raised his head right then, and the emptiness in his eyes was enough to make Rukia freeze where she stood. She'd never seen Ichigo's eyes so empty, he was usually so vibrant, so full of energy, of life; in that moment…not even death would make him look worse.

"So, what will it be?" He asked in a monotone. "Scream and run away, run your sword through my heart…or wait, maybe you can run away and get someone else to actually do the deed and kill me already…"

"That's enough…" Rukia mumbled under her breath.

"What?" None of the males seemed to have heard her.

"I said that's enough!" Rukia screamed and punched Ichigo as hard as she could.

If everything that had happened thus far hadn't shocked her enough, the fact that Ichigo actually fell with the force of her blow was enough to finish freaking Rukia out.

"Well princess, that was some love-tap…" Shiro whistled approvingly.

Zangetsu just closed his eyes, looking like he could be pressing his temple or the bridge of his nose in exasperation if he didn't consider it inappropriate.

"Rukia…" Ichigo mumbled from his place on the floor, not quite understanding what had happened, why she had hit him.

"Do you know me so little?" Rukia hissed, barely contained fury making her aura flare up. "Or maybe you think that poorly of me? To think that I would run away screaming little a stupid little girl…and even worse, you thought I might to kill you! Who the hell do you take me for Ichigo?! Forgive me if I'm not exactly jumping in happiness, if I'm having a bit of trouble processing everything…but I just found out half of your soul turned into a hollow, spirits know when! Or why?! A hollow that breaks every idea and perception I've ever had about hollows. And you're in such a funk that your inner-world is flooding! So yes, I needed a minute or two for my head to stop spinning. But for you to immediately assume that I would have the worst kind of reaction possible…" a tear fell down her cheek, revealing the hurt she'd been trying to hide behind her anger. "Aren't you supposed to know me better than this Ichigo? Aren't we supposed to be Nakama? Aren't I supposed to be your wife?"

"Rukia…" Ichigo's blankness disappeared abruptly, revealing a mix of concern, fear, and the deepest exhaustion she had ever seen in anyone (usually centuries older than him).

"It hurts Ichigo…" Rukia admitted. "It hurts so much that you don't trust me. And not only that, but for you to have so little faith in me…"

"It's not that I have little faith in you." Ichigo finally managed to speak again.

"Then what?" Rukia wanted to know.

"I have no faith in myself." Ichigo admitted bitterly.

"Is it…" She turned over her shoulder to look doubtfully at Ichigo's white counterpart.

"No, nothing of this is Shiro's fault." Ichigo assured her. "If anything he and Ossan have been as supportive as they could have, and more. I know I've been driving them crazy these last few days…it's a miracle they haven't attacked me already…"

"It wasn't what you needed Ichigo, at least not from us." Zangetsu pointed out calmly. "We both knew that…"

"Yes…" Shiro grumbled. "Though I was seriously considering taking over, if only to tell the snow-princess what was going on so she could put you in your place." He smirked. "Seems she could do that all on her own." He turned to Rukia. "I like you."

"Are you going to keep calling me that?" Rukia asked, strangely not as bothered with the nickname as she'd been at first.

"Maybe…" Shiro looked thoughtful for a second before adding. "I could always call you Queen instead…yes, a Queen for a King."

"Shiro, I really don't think she needs the whole speech of the King, the Horse and whatnot right now." Ichigo pointed out. "And I've told you time and time again, I'm not your King, we're Aibou, you, Zangetsu-ossan and I."

"Sure, sure." Shiro's tone of voice was dismissive, but it was obvious in his stance he actually liked to hear Ichigo say something like that.

The change in mood in Ichigo became quite noticeable as what had been a horrible storm, nearly a hurricane, changed into a light drizzle. Ichigo hadn't fully recovered yet, but he wasn't trying to punish himself anymore, either.

Almost a full minute passed, and then Ichigo noticed how intently Rukia was watching Shiro, as if trying to understand everything about him through one look…

"Well princess I know I'm handsome but you don't need to look at me like that…" Shiro sneered slightly. "If you want me instead of Aibou I…"

"Zip it, Shiro!" Rukia ordered as she smacked him in the back of the head.

"Hey!" Shiro complained loudly, rubbing the back of his head, even as he kept smiling. "Why are you staring at me like that then?"

"It's just…" Rukia seemed to have a hard time putting her thoughts into words. "I'm trying to understand…how something like this could happen."

It was honest curiosity, and the three parts of Ichigo's soul could see that; she wasn't judging them, any of them, even knowing Shiro was a hollow; she honestly just wanted to understand.

"Before we begin with that particular story." Zangetsu stepped in before any of the others could say anything. "How about joining us, Sode no Shirayuki-dono?"

The call took everyone else by surprise and they turned in time to see a beautiful, regal woman with crystal-blue eyes, straight silky hair the lightest shade of silvery-blue reaching to the small of her back, with the exception of her fore-bangs which just reached a couple of inches below her shoulders, she had a hairclip that had the form of a blue pentagon with a silvery star in the middle; she wore a very elegant snow-white kimono with trailing sleeves and a pale-pink obi; she stepped from behind a skylight in the rooftop where they all stood, and the drizzle that remained seemed to not bother her in the slightest. She had a beauty and a presence about her that showed it was not only because of her sword-form that she was known as the most beautiful zanpakutou in existence.

"Sode no Shirayuki…" Rukia gasped in awe.

She had seen her zanpakutou spirit before, but only a handful of times, and she'd always been in awe of her, of her commanding presence, power and beauty; in years past she'd wondered how such a magnificent creature could be a part of her own soul, but the Nakama had helped her believe in herself, so instead of questioning it, she had promised herself to do her best to honor Shirayuki and herself with her efforts.

"I apologize for not having noticed your presence earlier, Sode no Shirayuki-dono." Ichigo bowed his head respectfully at the female spirit.

"It is alright, Kurosaki Ichigo." Shirayuki assured him. "I decided to keep myself concealed. It was my belief it would be better to allow Rukia-sama to handle the situation you found yourselves in. At least, that is, until Zangetsu-sama saw fit to call your attention to my presence." She canted her head with the smallest of smiles. "You have a very interesting world, Kurosaki Ichigo. And very interesting companions as well."

"Please, just Ichigo will be fine, Shirayuki-dono." Ichigo insisted.

"As you wish, Ichigo-sama." The spirit agreed. "But I believe you and yours had something to share with Rukia-sama."

Ichigo recognized the importance of the address the spirit was using with him and didn't try to make her change it again, instead he turned back to Rukia, and to what they'd been talking before; he knew it would be a hard conversation to have, but if there was anyone who deserved to know everything about him, even the hardest, darkest chapters of his history, it was she, not only because, like she'd said, she was his wife, but because…he just couldn't imagine her not really knowing him…

"I'm sure you remember what happened to okaa-san…" Ichigo commented out of the blue.

Rukia nodded silently, wondering where that conversation was going.

"You must also remember what I revealed in that meeting before the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13." Ichigo continued. "About how I've been hearing Zangetsu since a month after okaa-san's murder…"

"Yes…" Rukia's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm sorry Ichigo but I don't understand, what does that have to do with anything?"

"It wasn't just Ossan's voice I began hearing back then." Ichigo revealed. "Shiro's too."

"Shiro's…bu…how…? Why?" Rukia babbled, totally lost.

"Think princess, how does a soul turn into a hollow?" Shiro told her.

"Well, there are several ways." Rukia said, half-absently. "They can be consumed and turned by other hollows, or they can remain in the Material World for too long after their Chain of Fate is cut, or…or they grow attached too much to a place or a person and degenerate…"

"True." Shiro nodded. "And what can make a spirit 'chain' itself to someone or something?"

"It can be many things." Rukia said. "A love, a frustration, mostly regrets, pain, loss…"

"Yes, regrets, pain, loss…" Surprisingly it was Zangetsu who spoke then. "The kind of feelings caused by very traumatic experiences…like maybe watching one's own mother die before their eyes at age nine…"

Rukia had to drown her own scream behind her hands as it all suddenly fell into place, mostly.

"But…but you're alive!" She said when she managed to calm herself. "You said so yourself, your chain was never cut, you're still human. How can your soul, or a part of it, possibly have turned into a hollow?!"

"How am I even a shinigami Rukia?" Ichigo asked her in turn, though didn't really wait for an answer. "I'm shinketsu. Yes, I might technically still be alive, but I'm only half human, the other half of me is shinigami. And just like my soul could be like that, it could also degenerate and turn into a hollow. It was actually lucky that Ossan woke up right then, that and something shishou did stopped me from totally turning into a hollow…but it couldn't undo the fact that a part of my soul had already been changed irrevocably."

"Can one even exist with a split soul?" Rukia asked, afraid.

"Well, I'm here, am I not?" Ichigo asked with a shrug. "My soul has healed since then, but it doesn't change the fact that it's in two parts. I don't think anything will ever change that."

"Can't you…I don't know…rejoin or something like that?" Rukia asked. "I mean, if you're technically two parts of the same soul…"

"We're not quite sure what would happen if we tried that." Ichigo admitted. "Would we fuse together, be like split personalities or…?"

"It's not a good idea." Zangetsu interrupted. "Ichigo and Shiro, they're no longer two halves of a soul, like Ichigo said, their souls have healed since, in their own way, they have each become a full soul. Trying to join again…I can't say I know what they would become, but they wouldn't be human…something different…something more…"

"So, not a good idea then." Rukia nodded, then turned to Shiro. "Is that why you're so different from normal hollows? Because you're technically a part of Ichigo?"

"I suppose." Shiro shrugged. "Never really been too interested in that. This is who I am, I don't care about other hollows. If aibou had turned against me, or feared me, or something, things might have been different, but this is how things are right now so…"

"Like I've said before, I was nine, well…technically ten." Ichigo added. "I heard voices in my mind, and then I saw them in my dreams. An older man who I soon began seeing as my mentor, and a boy who looked just like me, except very pale. That boy in particular, he was always there, he took care of me…he became my Nii-san…"

Rukia was left baffled by that. Under normal circumstances anyone calling a hollow brother would make her think they were insane, but this was Ichigo! And like she herself had said before, Shiro was nothing like a normal hollow. Was it because of Ichigo? Because of how Ichigo treated him? Did that mean that all hollows could be 'good' if they were treated differently? Or was she extrapolating things too much?

"He's always taking care of me." Ichigo went on with a small smile. "Mostly he gives me advice and such, or helps me get more energy, since hollows can absorb reishi from their surroundings. There are other times when I let him have control so he can fight, mostly so he can amuse himself, and sometimes because I can no longer fight…like with that Bount and his metal-like doll. Also, my bankai, I think you know how it works, right?"

"Compression." Rukia answered with a nod. "You compress all your reiatsu, which makes you faster, stronger, and in all a better fighter."

"Yes." Ichigo nodded. "But it has a downside. So much reiatsu compressed so tightly in a body makes it so the body begins to break down. The only reason I didn't collapse a few minutes into my fight with your brother, the first time ever I used bankai, was because Shiro was calling on reishi himself and using his high-speed regeneration so my body healed every time it began to break down…"

"Oh…" Rukia gasped in shock. "That's why you have never used it in the Living World isn't it? Because, regardless of how much reiatsu there is in Karakura, it probably won't be enough for Shiro to do that."

"True." Ichigo nodded. "With enough training my body should be able to handle it but…"

"There hasn't been time for training with everything that's happened…" Rukia nodded, then she thought of something else. "Just how many people know about all this?"

"Just one, Uryuu." Ichigo answered honestly. "And now you of course. I think Karin either knows or suspects, though she hasn't confronted me on the matter. And I have a feeling Yoruichi might know what the mask she saw during our infiltration into Soul Society means. After what Urahara told us happened a century ago with all those captains and lieutenants, they may be able to realize the truth; even though I doubt they'll realize how it happened." He hesitated before adding. "I really don't know if I should let other people know. I mean, what happened with the last people who ended up with hollows inside them, and without their consent…they tried to kill them! What do you think they'll do to me, to us, if they ever realize that not only I have Shiro here, but we actually get along pretty well?"

Rukia didn't answer, but she didn't need to, they all knew it wouldn't be good. At best, he would be seen as a potential risk, at worst…they might try to have him executed. What would she do then? Who would she side with? Could she really do anything but be on his side? She somehow didn't think she had the will to turn her zanpakutou on him, ever…

"What are you thinking midget?" Ichigo asked, a hand on her furrowed brow.

For a second she wanted to tell him it was nothing, but hadn't she been the most insistent on there being no secrets between them?

"I'm worried." She admitted. "About what the Gotei, what Yamamoto-soutaichou will say and do when he finds out about all this…"

"If." Ichigo corrected. "He doesn't have to find out Rukia."

"He will." Rukia stated soberly. "We're at war Ichigo. You must realize that eventually you'll have to fight Aizen and his army. And will you really forsake the help Shiro can give you just so no one finds out?"

"No." Ichigo admitted quietly.

He knew he'd been lucky thus far, the only times Shiro had helped him, it had been in small ways no one had noticed; the biggest was when his counterpart got to fight that Bount, and then there was no one close enough to realize what had happened.

"Does your condition…this…having a hollow side, really depress you that much?" Rukia asked out of the blue.

"It's not having Shiro." Ichigo was hesitatingly honest. "It's more about how certain people might react when they find out…"

"You said Uryuu knows…" Rukia pointed out.

"Yes, he's known almost from the very beginning." Ichigo nodded. "I told him about the voices I heard, the figures I saw. It's what made the two of us so sure I was a shinigami, even before shishou began dropping hints about oyaji."

"Well, like I said before, I'm not screaming, or running, or attacking you." Rukia stated, a hint of steel in her voice. "I'll never do that, got it?"

"Loud and clear." Ichigo nodded empathically.

"What do you think the others might do if they find out?"

"Mostly worry, unless I manage to find a way to convince them there's no danger." Ichigo actually thought about it. "Oyaji…who knows? That idiot acts so erratically ever since we found out the truth about him…I think it was actually easier to live with him when he had to keep the act up all the time…Urahara and the others…I have no idea. If Yoruichi told him, if they understand the meaning of the mask…then it depends on what happened with those others he helped before, the Visored…"

"As long as they don't try to attack you or hurt you." Rukia declared.

Ichigo shrugged, he wasn't going to make any more assumptions when other people's reactions to his secrets were concerned, Rukia had, mostly, cured him of that.

"So, if Shiro isn't the one causing your depression, who or what is it?" Rukia asked, remembering her previous question. "Is it your mom?"

"In part, but it's not just that." Ichigo said with a sigh. "I told you before, she died for me, but she's not the only one."

"The Shinenju." Rukia finished for him.

"Yes." Ichigo ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "And yet, it's not even her. To be totally honest, I hardly remember her. I probably wouldn't at all if it weren't for the fact that she died, that she sacrificed herself for me. That just brought all the memories back: about okaa-san's death, about nearly loosing you and…"

Rukia's eyes dimmed in sadness, she's been right, there was more than one person, and apparently more than two…

"Who Ichigo?" She asked softly, a hand on Ichigo's own. "Who else died?"

"Nee-sama…" Ichigo said in the barest of whispers. "Yailen-nee-sama…"

"Yailen-nee-sama?" Rukia asked, totally confused, she didn't know there was or had been another Kurosaki woman.

"Yes, that's what I called her, what we all called her, even if she wasn't really my sister." Ichigo admitted with a sigh. "Her full name was Faye Yailen, she was American, of Gaelic ascendance I believe. She arrived to Karakura when I was in second year in junior-high. It had been almost four years since my mother had died and I mostly kept to myself, never wanting to connect to others, not wanting them to ask questions, and at the same time afraid that the same 'curse' that had taken my mother would take them. I hardly even talked to my sisters back then, something I now know made Yuzu very sad…Anyway, she was just eighteen to my nearly fourteen-years old, and had arrived to act as assistant-teacher and substitute. I had heard she was some kind of prodigy or something who had finished up to high-school at fifteen and then finished vocational school to be a teacher in two years. When they offered her to do her practices aboard she had chosen Japan for some reason. For the first trimester she was mostly in the back of the class, assisting Yukimura-sensei when needed. But then, after the summer break she was there more. Yukimura-sensei was pregnant and in her last trimester, it was the whole reason why they had even gotten an assistant teacher. Somehow, in the remaining months of my school-year she went from being just a substitute-teacher, to the one person I could trust most. She broke down my shields, got me to talk about my mother, about my family, about my fears…and the best is, she never even asked a question…It just…it just felt natural to confide in her…" he sighed. "And it wasn't just I, everyone in the school loved her, so much that when another teacher chose that spring to take a sabbatical, the spot was offered to her right away. She became my literature teacher, as well as my homeroom teacher that year." He smiled slightly. "She's the one who introduced me to Shakespeare actually, somehow seemed to know I would like it before I'd read a single word…She was like that a lot, seemingly knowing things for no reason at all. She convinced me to finally talk to my family again, it was when Tatsuki and I became friends again, also, that same year Chad and I became friends. And my family…I finally began talking to them again. I even invited her to dinner at my home a few times. As was expected, they all loved her. It was then that Karin, Yuzu and I began calling her Nee-sama, because that's what she was too us. After her, Tatsuki, Orihime (who I didn't really know back then) and even Chad would call her that at times." He shook his head. "My third year of junior-high, with her as my teacher and my nee-sama, seemed to be the best year ever…"

Rukia raised her face slightly when she noticed the rain getting harder again; it had been obvious from the very beginning that things hadn't ended well, but she still couldn't imagine how things could have changed so abruptly.

"I graduated junior-high with Tatsuki and Chad that year." Ichigo continued. "And to my surprise, I learnt that Yailen-nee-sama had declined teaching another year in Karakura-junior. Something that made the twins very sad, since they'd been hoping to have her as their teacher. We asked her why she'd quit, if she'd gotten a better job, or maybe she was going back to America or something. All she would tell us was that she wouldn't be staying for the whole year, so it wouldn't have been fair for her to take the job. I…we all thought…we assumed she would be going back to America…we should have known better, many times before she'd told us she had no home back there, only a family that didn't quite understand her. I should have known…" he shook his head, steeling himself to hold back tears. "That night…It had been barely a couple of weeks since we'd entered first year of high-school. There was a festival that weekend in Tokyo and Nee-sama invited us all to go. We had great fun, it was the first time I actually hung out with Orihime, as well as Mizuiro and Keigo, since we'd met them our first week in high-school. We stayed at the place until very late, but it didn't matter. After we took the train back we each began walking to our own homes. Nee-sama was walking with us, since her apartment was just a few blocks away, and then…"

Ichigo didn't continue, it seemed like in his remembered grief he'd lost his voice; so gone he was that it took him several seconds to realize that, somehow, he had ended up taking all of them into his own memory, the memory of that awful night:

_It had begun raining, only a light drizzle for the time being, but it was enough for the three Kurosakis and their unofficial big sister to begin walking faster, the last thing they wanted was to end caught up in a storm, which wouldn't have been unusual in that season. The streets were practically empty, which made it easier, as they didn't have to stop in every corner. _

_What no one was expecting was when a sudden wind blew away the pretty yellow scarf with the white flowers that Yuzu had been wearing. _

"_Oh no…" Yuzu cried as she turned in the direction the scarf had flown. "My prize!" _

_That was what she called it because Ichigo had won it for her in one of the games, one of those it was supposed to be impossible to win, yet Ichigo had, just because Yuzu had liked the scarf. _

"_I'll get it, Yuzu-chan." Ichigo assured her with a smile. _

_The rain was beginning to get harder and thicker, but he didn't care that much, they were just a couple of blocks from their home by then. _

_So Ichigo began jogging slightly to catch up with the errant piece of cloth. It took him a little while, but eventually he managed to catch it. What he didn't notice, so focused he was on getting it, was that in that moment he was standing in the middle of the street. A street that had been empty a minute before, but wasn't anymore. A car was driving down it, fast, too fast, and the driver seemed distracted by something in his hand, he didn't notice Ichigo… _

_It all happened in an instant, as Ichigo became aware of the vehicle, only for a moment before a voice screamed his name and he abruptly found himself getting very wet, laying on the edge of the street, back against the sidewalk. _

"_Ichi-nii!" The twins cried out in a panic. _

"_I'm alright." He assured them immediately. _

_He was holding his back in pain, and there would be bruises on the side of his body he had landed on, but he was alright. _

"_Nee-sama…?" Yuzu asked in a very quiet tone. _

_It was then that Ichigo's mind caught up with the fact that someone had pushed him out of the way of that car. He spun around in time to see the rear-lights of the car as the driver hightailed it out of there. And in the middle of the street…a broken body in a pink summer dress, a fallen white-scarf and long reddish-black tresses both getting soaked in red-tinted water. _

_It took a second for the Kurosakis to realize there was blood, another to notice that the figure wasn't moving…at the third their brains caught up with the fact that they knew who that broken body belonged to… _

"_Nee-sama!" All three screamed at the same time, as the storm rolled in. _

The memory cleared out at that point, though they could all still feel the rain falling on them, product of Ichigo's renewed depression.

As soon as she caught up with everything, Rukia moved from where she was to go embrace the kneeling Ichigo as tightly as she could.

"She died…because of me…to save me from that car I was too stupid to see." Ichigo half-whispered, half-sobbed. "And it was like kaa-san all over again, before we had all come to see her as family. Again our family had been broken, and again it was because of me." His broke slightly. "Like when you almost died, again because of my own stupidity, the day we first met."

"It wasn't your fault Ichigo." Rukia assured him softly. "She made a choice, just like your mother did. Like I did at one point. They both loved you so much, as do I, they wanted you to live, even if it meant they wouldn't, just like I would have wanted you too…Just like Hisana-nee-sama wanted for me. Sometimes others make the hard decisions for us, and we cannot regret them our whole lives, because it wouldn't be fair for them. All we can do is be thankful and live the lives they gave us, anything else would be an insult to their memories."

Ichigo actually froze in place for a moment, he'd never considered it like that, had he really been insulting his mom, and his 'sister' by acting the way he had for so long?

"Thank you Rukia…" He whispered, suddenly embracing the petite woman back. "I really don't know what I would do without you, I…I love you…" he actually stuttered at that. "I know it might not mean much, after the way I've treated you recently. But I promise if you give me a chance, I'll do better. I truly, do love you."

Nothing could have contained the incredibly big smile that suddenly appeared in Rukia's face, or how her eyes suddenly began shining like amethysts.

"I love you too Ichigo…" Rukia assured him brightly. "Have since that evening in the cemetery, when you stole that kiss from me…"

Ichigo actually blushed slightly at remembering that. She'd been crying for hours after revealing the darkest secret of her past, and he'd just held her, trying to offer comfort when he couldn't think of words that might help. Then, when the sun had set and he'd decided they better get back to the house, he'd moved to help her up, and suddenly they were so close…he couldn't stop himself. He kissed her.

Just like back then, in that moment he kissed her. Only this kiss wasn't rushed, or hesitant, instead it was long, and tender, and so full of feeling.

As the two kissed, Ichigo's Inner-world began disappearing from around them, the zanpakutou spirits and hollow said their goodbyes, though the two in love couldn't hear them. The only thing they were half-aware off was that it wasn't raining anymore…

When they finally opened their eyes again they were back in the cliff of the Nagaken estate, and had changed positions to hold each other as they had in the inner-world. Also, they became aware a couple of seconds later that they weren't alone anymore; a couple of feet from them knelt a female figure apparently waiting for them. Ichigo recognized her as the servant who had warned them of what the Kuchiki Elders were planning; Rukia thought there was something else very familiar about her.

"Hello…" the woman, who had been bowing, raised her head with the usual scarf in place in that moment to reveal bright silver eyes. "It's good to see you again, Ichigo-kun…"

It actually took a second for Ichigo to catch up, and when he did, he froze in shock, only one word managing to escape his lips:

"Nee-sama…"


	19. More than Revenge

Decided to update a bit earlier today. And here we are, starting with the aftermath to the very intense conversation Rukia and Ichigo had in the last chapter, it's time Ichigo finishes trusting the Nakama, and for them all to be on the same page. This was a long way coming. Also, hints about some things to come (because I love doing that), and the most important... Remember the premise of this fic? About a certain someone (something?) showing up early, attacking Ichigo and kick-starting this whole mess? Yeah, I'm sure we all do, and we all must also remember that that same certain someone coming back for another round... well, this is how I wish things had gone in canon (If you have no idea what the hell I' talking about, don't worry, you will before the end of the chapter).

* * *

**Chapter 19. More than Revenge **

Awareness came slowly and almost lazily to the chocolate-eyed orange-haired half-human half-shinigami. It was a good thing that it was Sunday, as far as he was concerned, he really would have hated to awaken to his spirits-forsaken alarm after such good sleep. He made a move to stretch himself, only to realize he couldn't actually move one of his arms, as it was being held 'captive' by a certain petite amethyst-eyed obsidian-haired shinigami who was in that moment on his bed, cuddling against his side, holding on one of his arms and head on his bare chest, her hair actually tickling him slightly.

"Beautiful…" He whispered in a half-daze as he moved his fingers through her hair.

The move seemed to be enough to bring her back to consciousness, though instead of pulling away she held even tighter onto him.

"Ichigo…" She mumbled.

"I'm here midget…" He actually smiled at him.

Her bright eyes opened finally and met his, briefly straying to where his hand was still caressing her dark hair.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked with a lazy smile.

"Just a handful of minutes, not even five." He assured her.

"Good." Rukia pointed out. "You were really creepy last week, watching me sleep like that."

The previous week…they had spent the night at their room in the Nagaken Estate, it was actually the first time they had shared a bed without feeling awkward. Ichigo had woken about an hour or so before Rukia and had found himself just laying there on the futon, watching her sleep, half on the futon, half on him…

"You just look so beautiful when you sleep…" Ichigo commented.

"Only when I sleep?" She asked with a slightly-hurt expression.

"Ah…well…I mean…" Ichigo didn't quite know how to correct that.

Rukia couldn't help it, she giggled.

"Midget…" Ichigo growled half-playfully.

"Don't call me midget, strawberry!" She snapped coyly, kissing him in the corner of his mouth and then jumping out of the bed.

"I'm not a strawberry!" Ichigo called as he straightened up, reached for her and missed.

Rukia's tinkling laugh echoed as she stepped out of the bedroom with a change of clothes and a towel in the direction of the bathroom.

"You better not use all the hot water midget!" Ichigo yelled at her.

Rukia's laugh just got louder.

On the hallway outside Karin rolled her eyes before turning to her twin, who was just about to announce breakfast would be ready soon.

"I really don't know what is worse, his funk of last week or this…this…mushiness." Karin actually said the last part as if it were a dirty word.

"You should be happy for Ichi-nii and Rukia-nee, Karin-nee!" Yuzu said half-chiding. "They deserve to be happy."

"I never said they didn't." Karin pointed out diplomatically. "But do they have to be this 'happy' in front of all of us?"

"My poor first daughter is so sad because she doesn't have her boyfriend here!" Isshin cried out in a very dramatic tone.

"Karin-chan has a boyfriend?" Yuzu asked, suddenly teary-eyed. "Why didn't I know?"

"What boyfriend?!" Ichigo snapped, instantly at his door.

"No boyfriend!" Karin yelled at Ichigo, before turning to kick her father on the head. "Stupid oyaji! Stop inventing things!"

Ichigo furrowed his brow, he wasn't blind, he'd seen the looks a certain white-haired kiddy-looking captain kept directing at his sister; Karin hadn't said anything about it yet, so he wasn't sure if it was one-sided or not. In any case, he wasn't sure how much right he had to talk, after all, wasn't he technically married? And even if the first weeks were a bit tense, when he wasn't yet sure what he felt for Rukia, or it was more like he wasn't yet ready to admit it to her, or even himself. Would it be so bad if there actually was something between his sister and the short captain? She was his little sister…though technically she was older than him, he supposed, if they counted both lives…Still, he decided, Karin was his little sister, and he would reserve the right to scare the crap out of anyone who tried to date her.

As Ichigo got a change of clothes, his towel, and waited for Rukia to finish her shower, Ichigo remembered the reception their friends had given them the previous week, after Rukia and he had returned from Soul Society.

_A Senkaimon opened in the farthest, most secluded part of the Karakura main park and a couple of shinigami stepped out, easily flowing reiatsu, calm expressions, relaxed bodies and hands clasped tightly together. _

"_How long do you think it will take for the others to come meet us?" Rukia asked. _

"_Not long at all." Ichigo answered simply. _

_And it was true, not even two minutes had passed when Uryuu arrived from one side using hirenkyaku, closely followed by both Yuzu and Karin arriving from the opposite side. Orihime and Chad were next, each using their own high-speed techniques; and the last one to arrive was Tatsuki, who had to run since she hadn't learnt shunpo yet. _

"_Ichigo…Rukia…" All the Nakama acknowledged the presence of the couple. _

"_Ichi-nii!" Yuzu smiled brightly at him. "It's good that you're back." _

_Ichigo simply smiled slightly at his sister. _

_And it was that smile, however small, that convinced everyone, more than any words could ever have, that something had invariably changed Ichigo in the approximately 24 hours he and Rukia had been missing. _

"_Thank the spirits…" Karin grumbled with a dramatic sigh. "I was beginning to think I would have to suffer through migraines for the rest of my life!" _

_Ichigo shook his head, his sister had such a way of showing she cared… _

"_What happened Ichigo?" Uryuu asked. _

_That sobered up Ichigo instantly, he realized how unfair it was that he had kept things from everyone else for so long, not just what he was feeling with regards to the shinenju, but there was also the fact of Shiro… _

_Rukia's tightening of her hold on him reminded him of her presence. She had accepted him. She who had known him for the less amount of time, and who had the greater reason to hate hollows out of mere principle, had accepted him, had accepted Shiro; if she could do that, who was he to doubt the rest of his nakama… _

"_We need somewhere private to talk." Ichigo said seriously. "There is much to talk about. And I don't think the park is the right place to do it." _

"_Where then?" Uryuu asked. "Your house? Urahara's training ground?" _

"_No." Ichigo sighed and explained. "I don't fully trust Urahara, and sadly the same goes for oyaji. A part of what I must tell you I have a feeling they either already know or at least suspect, and they have said nothing to me…" he shook his head. "Can we go to your house? I would like for shishou to be there." _

_Uryuu nodded immediately, making a quick call to make sure his father would join them before they all got on their way. _

_Rukia for her part only watched in silence. She'd known beforehand that Ichigo was very close to Uryuu's dad, after all, the man had saved his life, had helped him move past the trauma of his mother's murder, and had even trained him to use his powers. Ichigo owed a lot to Ishida Ryuuken; but to actually choose him over his own father. It actually made Rukia a bit sad, she knew Isshin loved his children, in his own way, and yet he'd lied to them for so long, it was obvious those 'children' weren't so willing to forgive a lifetime of deceit so easily, she wondered if they ever would… _

"_Oh, and Ichigo." Tatsuki called suddenly, looking at him as she walked by his side. "It's good to have you back." _

_Ichigo just smiled. It was good to be back, and better than he'd been in many years… _

_If Ryuuken was surprised at having been called to a Nakama meeting when even Isshin hadn't, he didn't say a word. He simply guided the teenagers into his own secret training room, several feet underground of the hospital, and the building beside it where his penthouse was located. There they all took seats in a half-circle; all except Ichigo, who stood in front of them all, and Rukia, who chose to stand by his side. _

"_Well, what is this about?" Uryuu asked. _

"_Is it related to your funk?" Tatsuki asked in turn. _

_Ichigo shook his head with a sigh, trust Tatsuki to be so direct. _

"_In part." Ichigo nodded, while trying to find a place to start. _

"_Orihime," Rukia thought of something before he did. "Remember how you said you felt like something had happened and we all forgot." _

"_Yes." Orihime nodded, a strange sadness falling over her. _

"_You were right." Rukia informed her. "Something did happen. A Shinenju, a Memory Rosary was formed. It…she…" _

"_Excuse me." Yuzu interrupted softly. "What is a Shinenju?" _

"_Well." Rukia thought of the easiest way of explaining it. "Usually there is a flow of souls between the Living World and Soul Society as individuals die and are reincarnated; that's how things normally are. However, sometimes souls are…lost in the transition, so to speak. When a certain number of this souls join, they form a Memory Rosary, a shinenju, most of the times it's just a mass of memories, experiences, feelings of the spirits that were lost between world; but sometimes…sometimes they actually take shape, human shape…" _

"_Which happened here…" Uryuu deduced. "A shinenju was formed, a girl I guess for your previous use of the female pronoun…and knowing our luck…there was some huge mess involving her and we were involved too." _

_Orihime's continued silence made Rukia believe she may have been right in her suspicions. _

"_I have no idea." Rukia said honestly. "But your guess is pretty much the same as ours. Usually the formation of a shinenju, even one that gains human shape, is not a big deal, the only reason the 12__th__ Division even went through the trouble of creating a machine capable of actually registering such events was for cases such as our own. Since shinenju aren't supposed to exist, when they eventually dissipate everyone that connected with them, forgets them. Is only natural, you cannot be expected to keep memories of what wasn't supposed to exist in the first place… and yet…" _

"_Someone broke that rule." Karin guessed this time. "Most likely Ichigo, considering his track record for doing what's supposed to be impossible." _

"_I don't remember her face, or even her name." Ichigo admitted. "I only know she existed, she had thoughts, and feelings, and memories she believed were her own…something happened, neither Rukia nor I know what exactly, but it was huge, and it was bad, and in the end…she gave up her life to save us all. Only…only she told me she was doing it for me. I don't know how I'm so sure of that, but I am and…" _

"_And it brought back memories…" Uryuu finished for him. "Of your mother, and of Rukia's near death, and even of Yailen-san…" _

_It was shocking, to see just how well Uryuu knew Ichigo. It was true they'd known each other for years, they were best friends, trusted comrades, and nakama…and yet, the level of understanding that was being displayed in that moment seemed to go even beyond all that. _

"_Yes." Ichigo nodded soberly. "It brought back all those memories, those feelings, of weakness, powerlessness, of being useless…and it only escalated from there…" _

"_You do know it's not your fault, right Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked suddenly. "What happened to kaa-san, Yailen-nee-sama, or that girl? None of their deaths are your fault." _

"_I do now Yuzu…" Ichigo assured her with a soft smile, directing one quick look at Rukia. _

_It was obvious to everyone present just who it was that finally had convinced him of that. _

"_There's more." Uryuu said unexpectedly. _

_Ichigo sighed, it just had to be Uryuu to figure that out. _

"_How do you guess that?" Rukia asked, surprised. _

"_He wanted this meeting to be held privately." Uryuu pointed out. "He said we had much to talk about, and it was something he didn't want Urahara, or his father to know about. This cannot be it, Ichigo's misplaced guilt over the deaths of those women, as bad as it may be, isn't something he would really bother to hide from the others." _

_The others had to admit he was right. It wasn't like his family hadn't been aware already of how guilty he felt over his mother's death; and those who had known him back then, knew how he felt about Yailen's death as well. So obviously that wasn't it. _

"_I have lied to you." Ichigo declared directly. "For many years I have kept a closely guarded secret. And I will admit the reason was nothing but fear…fear of fear actually." _

"_Fear of fear?" Orihime couldn't help but ask, not understanding that. _

"_You feared that we would fear you." Chad clarified. "Why?" _

"_Shinigami as you know have two parts to their soul." Rukia spoke, trying to make it a bit easier for Ichigo. "Our core, us, and another part which is our power; it takes distinct form and character, it is the spirit of our zanpakutou…like my Sode no Shirayuki, Renji's Zabimaru, or Ichigo's Zangetsu." _

"_My soul has a third part." Ichigo continued for her. _

_That statement left them all both shocked and confused. _

_*Ossan…Shiro…* Ichigo called inside his soul. _

_*Are you sure this is a good idea, aibou?* Shiro asked suddenly. _

_It was so odd to hear Shiro so doubtful, and it hit Ichigo hard…his hollow was as afraid about everything as he himself was…maybe it was time he protect his white twin for a change. _

_*Everything will be alright, Nii-san…* Ichigo assured his counterpart with a sudden burst of confidence, he would make sure of that. _

_*Very well.* Shiro nodded, Ichigo's confidence helping him along. _

_The Nakama were about to ask what was going on, when suddenly the space on Ichigo's left seemed to shimmer, just for a second, before two figures materialized. _

"_Everyone," Ichigo said in an indescribable expression. "The middle-aged man is Zangetsu, the spirit of my zanpakutou. The other, is Shiro, my darker twin, my…" _

"_Inner Hollow." Ryuuken finished stonily. _

"_Yes." Ichigo answered, holding his master's look. _

_If the stand-off had happened even the previous day, Ichigo knew he would have lowered his eyes instantly; but in that moment…he had changed, so much it was surprising it had happened in such a short time. He'd never been ashamed of Shiro, of having a hollow as part of his soul, however, he'd been afraid of the reaction others would have if they were to learn the truth. However, after Rukia, all that had changed; he had more faith in himself, and in those who had become his nakama, he believed they would accept him…and even if they didn't, he would always have Rukia. As long as he had her everything would be alright. _

"_How do you know what it…he is, otou-san?" Uryuu asked, surprised. _

"_I have met the Visored." Ryuuken qualified, studying his student's white counterpart carefully. "Though I've never known them to be able to materialize their hollows…" _

_Ichigo shrugged, it's not like he knew the Visored of how their powers worked, he just knew about his own…their own, and that was enough. _

"_I've sensed your aura before." Ryuuken said, talking directly to Shiro. "In the corner of Ichigo's own, and sometimes more. Have you tried to take control over him?" _

"_Ch…" Shiro snorted. "Whatever would I do that for? When he fights I help, and I greatly enjoy watching; when he needs me, I assist, and when he cannot win I step in. All that's with mutual consent. Fighting for control…is unnecessary." _

"_Is that true?" Ryuuken asked Ichigo. _

"_Yes." Ichigo nodded immediately. "Look, shishou, I know it seems strange. The whole thing is really complicated. In few words, when kaa-san was killed, the grief and pain in my soul was bad enough that my soul split in two and one half became a hollow. It was that happening which actually woke Ossan in the first place. Back then I didn't know anything about hollows, when I first began seeing Shiro in my dreams and hearing his voice in my head, he looked so much like me, I thought he was like my brother…he's helped me, protected me, many times. I know he's technically like a hollow, but he's nothing like the monsters I've fought. He would never hurt me, or any of my nakama…" _

"_They are my nakama too." Shiro pointed out. "Ichigo and I were once the same soul. I see his nakama as my own, his family as my own. I know it sounds strange, I know I'm not very hollow-like, but I simply don't care." _

"_Very well." Ryuuken nodded. "As long as you don't threaten the existence of my students, or other humans in Karakura I will let it be." _

_Shiro nodded formally, while he might not care as much as Ichigo did about the older man, it still felt good to have his approval. _

_What no one could have ever expected was what happened next. As Yuzu went to stand right in front of Shiro and began looking at him carefully. _

"_So you're like another nii-san?" She asked innocently. _

"_S…sort of…" Shiro really didn't know how to answer that, hadn't been expecting it. _

"_He's like my twin Yuzu." Ichigo pointed out with a smile. "So yes, he would be another big brother to you…at times I feel like he's an older brother to me, with how he protects me." _

"_I do not!" Shiro snapped, embarrassed, though it was obvious he was lying. _

"_Thank you Shiro-nii!" Yuzu cried out, instantly embracing the hollow tightly. _

_At that point Shiro really had no idea what to do, he could only stand there shocked-still. _

"_Embrace her back, idiot." Rukia ordered, hitting him in the arm. _

_So Shiro did, more on reflex that consciously; and as he answered the embrace he could suddenly feel something he had never felt before…he felt what it was like to have a heart… _

_It took a while, but eventually Ichigo explained everything. Not just what he'd told Rukia when they'd been in his inner-world, but also several of the things he'd told her during the rest of that day, about all the things either Shiro or Zangetsu had done or helped him with through the years. Especially since he'd become a Shinigami. _

"_The mask…" Chad nodded right then. _

"_You think Yoruichi-san knows anything?" Karin asked, realizing suddenly why her brother hadn't wanted the others there. _

"_Possibly." Ichigo nodded. "Even if she doesn't, if she told Urahara, they might realize what it means, especially if we consider the Visored." _

"_Will that cause problems?" Orihime asked. _

"_It causes problems on all fronts." Uryuu said gruffly. "The shinigami will flip if they learn Ichigo has an inner-hollow, there are many who don't trust us now, something like this will make things worse. There's no way of knowing if being like that would make the Visored seek out Ichigo to try for an alliance or to eliminate him. And who knows about Urahara and the others, including Ichigo's father!" _

"_This is complicated…" Ichigo muttered. _

"_Not necessarily." Rukia declared. "Not if we don't allow anyone to know. No one besides us, that is. If we keep Shiro a secret no one has to get involved in the matter." _

"_You will not be able to keep the secret for long." Ryuuken pointed out. "With the threat of war upon us all. If it is a matter of keeping a secret or winning a battle…or protecting, which do you think he'll choose?" _

"_I'll always protect." Ichigo declared solemnly. "If that makes me reveal things they don't like…well, too bad. They'll just have to deal with it, we all will, I will never put others at risk just for the sake of keeping a secret." _

_Rukia nodded, it still made her nervous but she knew Ichigo was right. _

"_So, is that everything?" Karin asked. _

"_Mostly…I think." Rukia was thoughtful, wondering if they were forgetting anything. _

"_Well, I think Ichigo is an idiot, for waiting this long to tell us things." Tatsuki declared before turning to Ichigo himself. "I would hit you, but somehow I doubt it would have much of an effect. Besides, I have a feeling someone else already make sure you got some sense beaten into you, am I right?" _

"_All taken care of." Rukia assured her with a chuckle. "And if it's ever needed, have no doubt I'm quite willing to do it again." _

_Tatsuki nodded with a grin, satisfied. _

"_What is it with women wanting to beat me?" Ichigo asked dramatically. _

_The others just laughed. _

"_Very well, if that's all we better leave." Ryuuken announced. _

_The teens nodded, and they were just about to reach the door when Ichigo finally remembered what they were forgetting. _

"_Oi, Karin, Yuzu, Tatsuki, Chad!" He called with a bright smile. "Nee-sama says hello, and she'll be waiting for you to visit." _

_That froze everyone whose name had just been spoken instantly. _

"_N…Nee-sama?" Yuzu asked, suddenly teary eyed. "Yailen-nee-sama?" _

"_What the hell are you talking about Ichigo?" Karin demanded. "Nee-sama is dead!" _

"_I know that, baka." Ichigo half-snapped at her. "And where do you think people go when they die?" he didn't wait for an answer. "Remember a certain girl-servant who warned us about what the Kuchiki Elders were planning on doing to Rukia? That's her. Yailen-nee-sama. She's in Soul Society, she's in the Nagaken Estate. I saw her yesterday." _

_No word was spoken, but none was needed, those words had just acted as a healing balm; it hadn't just been Ichigo's soul that had been scarred by the death of the bright, gentle young woman. And knowing what they knew in that moment, they realized something; something they had probably always known, but never so surely: death wasn't the end. It wasn't just about Yailen, but everyone they'd ever loved and lost, they may have lost their human bodies, but that didn't mean they were lost forever, they'd just moved on to a new life. If they were lucky enough, they would be reunited again, like what had happened with Karin, Tatsuki, Yailen…if not, well, at least they had the hope they might meet again. _

_The teens took the elevator to Ryuuken's private office and then began leaving it in groups of two; as it would have been too odd and called too much attention if a bunch of teenagers had suddenly walked out of the man's office. _

_Ichigo was about to leave with Rukia, leaving Uryuu, Orihime, and Ryuuken himself for last, when unexpectedly Orihime called Ichigo. _

"_Do you want to know her name?" She asked out of the blue. _

"_What…?" Ichigo for a moment had no idea what she was talking about. _

"_Of that girl, the one who saved you, who saved us all." Orihime clarified in a very solemn tone. "The Shinenju. Do you want to know her name?" _

"_You know it?" Ichigo couldn't believe it. _

_Orihime simply nodded in silence, something in her expression so solemn, so unlike the usual her that no one dare ask her how exactly she remembered that much, or if that was even all she remembered, some instinct told them they weren't ready for the answer. _

_For Rukia, though, it was enough to prove her theory right. What she didn't know yet was if it was due to Orihime's powers or something else entirely. _

"_Yes, I want to know." Ichigo nodded immediately. "I cannot honor her, her memory, her sacrifice, properly if I don't even know her name." _

"_Senna." Orihime told him with a small, sad smile. "Her name was Shinenju Senna." _

After both Ichigo and Rukia had showered (separately), all Kurosakis joined for breakfast. It was the same as usual, with Isshin's dramatics, Ichigo hitting him, Yuzu trying to stop their fighting, Karin ignoring everyone and Rukia simply giggling at their antics. The whole affair was a lot more interesting than meals in the Kuchiki manor, or even at the Nagaken estate.

Eventually father and son stopped and they could all have their breakfast in peace.

"So, when are we going to Seireitei next?" Yuzu asked, somewhat anxious.

"Don't know." Ichigo answered honestly. "I took the chance to check up on things last week and everything seemed to be in order. They may want just Karin, or even both of us at their monthly meeting but that's still a week or two away and…"

"But I want to go!" Yuzu interrupted him with a small pout. "I want to see Nee-sama!"

"You don't have to wait for us to have to go to do that, Yuzu-chan." Rukia assured her. "As an adopted daughter of the Nagaken Clan you have every right to visit when you wish. And, like Ichigo told you before, I know Yailen-san would love to see you."

"But I cannot open a Senkaimon myself!" Yuzu reminded her.

"If that's all the trouble I can open one for you." Rukia told her soothingly. "Though you would need to get out of your body first, since I cannot create the kind of gates Urahara Kisuke can, to allow living humans to get through."

Yuzu nodded, she didn't have any problem with that and she really wanted to go.

"I will go too." Karin announced softly. "I…I too wish to see Nee-sama…"

Yuzu's smile got brighter; she knew that despite how much Karin might try to control herself, her twin loved Yailen deeply, the older girl had been her role model for the two years they'd known her. It was obvious she wanted very much to see her again; knowing she was alright in the Soul Society, and that she'd kept her memories of them…

"Faye Yailen?" Isshin asked unexpectedly. "Is that who you are talking about?"

"Yes." Ichigo nodded calmly. "We saw her a week ago. She's in the Nagaken estate, has been working there as a servant for at least a year now."

"A servant Ichigo?" Karin called out suddenly, she had forgotten that part. "You're keeping Nee-sama as a servant?!"

"Hey!" Ichigo interrupted her tirade. "It wasn't exactly my idea, I offered her to cease her work and just stay at the estate as a privileged guest but she refused. She said it would call too much attention upon herself, and upon us. Besides, she said she likes it. The best I could do was make her Rukia's handmaiden. Since Rukia will be here with us most of the time, Yailen-nee-sama will only have to work when we go there, and even then she will only have to see to Rukia's things, and escort her should Rukia go anywhere."

Karin nodded, she still didn't like the idea of a woman she idolized so much working as a servant of what technically was her own house; but at least with what Ichigo had done she should be better. In a way she would be in a privileged position still, as the only one to serve Rukia and Ichigo directly (even if no one yet knew those two were the next Heads of House).

"So you'll be going to Seireitei today then?" Rukia asked then.

"Yes, for a few hours at least." Karin nodded. "If anything happens…"

"We can handle it." Ichigo interrupted her. "You and Yuzu go have some fun with Nee-sama."

The twins nodded.

"What will you be doing Ichigo?" Isshin wanted to know.

"Rukia and I made plans to go into town, hang around for a while." Ichigo answered. "Maybe we'll meet the others for lunch."

Isshin nodded, he knew his son was keeping things from him, and he couldn't really blame him, for too long Isshin himself had deceived not just Ichigo but all three of his children. Still, knowing that his son didn't trust him hurt, a lot…he wondered if that was what his children had felt when realizing he'd been lying to them their whole lives…

**xXx**

Ichigo and Rukia, as they had planned, went around Karakura for the day, mostly sight-seeing. They also took the chance to buy candy and some trinkets. By the time lunch came around all the Nakama, except the twins, went together to a curry-place Ichigo liked a lot, and then, without much need for conversation they decided to go catch a movie.

That's how it was almost always with them, they needed few words to understand each other. Like they'd said back in Soul Society, some things were just instinctive to them.

Late afternoon, after the movie they were all walking together, about to reach the corner where they would split so each could go to their own homes. While they were still together, they were talking mostly in smaller groups. Like Ichigo with Rukia, in that moment at the very back of them all:

"What are you thinking so hard about, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, almost worried at the hard expression Ichigo had kept since they'd left the cinema.

"What Nee-sama said, about that monster coming back…" Ichigo mumbled.

Rukia sighed, she should have known. With the Bounts gone and Aizen apparently taking his time before openly declaring war on the Nakama, there was really only one thing that could put Ichigo in that mood: Grand Fisher. And if the depression the orange-haired had been in recently wasn't enough, then there was what Yailen had told them shortly before they'd left the Nagaken Estate to return to Karakura:

_It was the afternoon already and both Ichigo and Rukia were getting ready to go through the Senkaimon and back to Karakura, when unexpectedly there was a knock on the door and a voice called to them: _

"_Rukia-sama? Ichigo-sama?" It was Yailen. _

"_Come in." Ichigo called in a half-tired voice. _

_He'd been trying, for hours, to first convince the older girl to stop working as a servant and instead become a guest of the Nagaken Clan, and later to at least stop referring to him and Rukia with such terms. It had been useless; he should have expected something like that, really, if anyone could out-stubborn him, it was Yailen. _

"_I really wish you would drop the -sama…" Ichigo muttered as soon as Yailen closed the shoji doors behind herself. _

"_We already had this conversation Ichigo-kun." Yailen told him as she softly flicked his nose. "Unless we're alone, or in safe company, I will refer to you in the way our different stations demand." She stopped him before he could complain. "And I will not become anything more than what I am, right now. Really, I think we've called enough attention by making me a handmaiden. Such positions are usually given to more experienced and trusted servants, not ones who have been serving the House for barely a year!" _

"_Ah, but I care little about experience, and I trust you more than anyone save my nakama." Ichigo pointed out with a half-smile. "Besides, it's not like I'm anyone important in the Clan." _

"_Yet." Yailen reminded him. _

"_That time is long coming." Ichigo pointed out. "Who knows, maybe something totally unexpected will happen and I'll never actually become Head of House…" _

_Yailen looked like she was about to say something as her eyes changed minutely, but in the end simply shook her head and let it go. _

"_Did you need something Yailen-san?" Rukia asked right then. _

"_I've told you Rukia, call me Nee-sama." Yailen smiled softly at the girl. "If Ichigo insists on claiming me as an older sister, then you must do the same. After all, you're his wife." She suddenly thought about something they had told me. "Unless you think you shouldn't. I would never presume to try and take the place of Hisana-dono or Kuchiki Byakuya-dono." _

"_No, that's not it at all." Rukia assured her immediately. "It's just…it's so strange, having a sister. For a little over fifty years I've called Byakuya-nii-sama by such a title, and yet it wasn't until recently that I actually felt it. I didn't know what it felt like to have a sibling until Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan…" _

"_You'll always have me, Rukia-chan…" Yailen assured the younger-looking girl, embracing her. "And Byakuya-dono, Ichigo-kun, Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan too…" she chuckled slightly. "Well, I think you'll actually be having a pretty big family…" _

"_I wouldn't have it any other way." Rukia assured her. _

_They stayed like that for a short time, Ichigo simply watching two of the most important women in his life holding each other, it was like a part of him had begun to heal…finally. _

"_Before I forget." Yailen commented after a while. "There's something I need to tell you before you leave…" _

"_Well, I imagine there had to be a reason you came." Ichigo commented with a smirk. _

_He was trying to make a joke, but when Yailen didn't laugh he knew it was something serious. _

"_He's coming back." Yailen stated directly. _

"_He? Coming back?" Ichigo asked, not understanding at all. "What are you talking about?" _

"_He who targeted a guardian and instead ended up getting the one who guarded him." Yailen said cryptically. "He's coming back, and this time has his eyes set on more…" _

_It took a second for Ichigo to break down the riddle, he'd always hated when Yailen did that, and yet she did it so often it had become more or less natural to him to translate her words. When he finally made it out, he instantly growled. _

"_That bastard!" He snarled. _

_Inside his head Shiro was calling out for blood, and all Zangetsu could do was watch as a storm began to build up…again. _

"_Ichigo! Shiro! Control yourselves!" Rukia called, accurately guessing that it wasn't just Ichigo losing control. _

_After having met Shiro she was able to sense both reiatsu, so she knew when Shiro was influencing Ichigo, when he got closer to the surface. _

_And somehow, even when her words didn't seem to be enough to calm him, her voice managed to do the trick as Ichigo took a deep breath and somewhat calmed down. _

"_Now, what is happening?" Rukia asked. "I'm sorry but I'm not very good at discerning riddles so you'll have to explain that to me." _

"_I am the guardian, the one who guarded me was my mother, the 'he' Nee-sama mentions is the one who killed her when going after me; that bastard, that monster: Grand Fisher." Ichigo explained, barely managing to keep control over himself. _

"_Oh…'and this time he has his eyes set on more'…" Rukia quoted, then guessed. "He's going after someone else, or maybe even more than one someone." She turned to Yailen. "Who?" _

_For all answer, the older girl could only watch the couple with half-lidded eyes, she either didn't know more, or couldn't say. _

"_Thank you for the warning, Nee-sama." Ichigo said, placing a hand on her arm. "Rukia, we need to get back now." _

_Rukia nodded, still not understanding everything, but as nervous as Ichigo about their nakama and the possibility of an attack from a hollow that had managed to evade slaying for over five decades, taking down hundreds of humans and several shinigami along the way. The hollow had prevailed for so long, what could they hope to do against one like him?_

"_One more thing, Ichigo-kun." Yailen called as the two were about to leave the room. _

_Ichigo stopped and looked over his shoulder, waiting. _

"_The third encounter shall be the last, one way or the other." Yailen pointed out. "The guardian has become more powerful, but then so has the monster. Only if the guardian can find a motive stronger than revenge to guide his blade will he be able to this battle win." _

_Ichigo closed his eyes briefly before nodding once seriously. _

"_Thank you again Nee-sama." He said, and then walked out without looking back. _

_Rukia, not quite understanding what had just been said, followed. _

"I still don't understand what she meant with that last part." Rukia pointed out. "Though it sounded like a warning."

"That's exactly what it was." Ichigo told her with a sigh. "She meant that while I'm more powerful, so is that hollow. She also said that if all that motivates me to fight him is revenge, I will not win, I need another reason, a better one."

"Like what?" Rukia asked, confused.

"I have no idea." Ichigo answered with shrug. "I don't like this, really…"

He broke off when a scream suddenly called their attention. Instantly the heads of both snapped in the direction they'd heard the sound coming from.

"That voice…" Rukia mumbled, suddenly very afraid.

"It was Yuzu…" Ichigo declared, already beginning to run in the direction they'd heard it.

"Oh lord…" Rukia mumbled even as she ran after him, suddenly understanding. "and this time he has his eyes set on more…"

"Yes." Ichigo had realized it too. "He's going after my sisters…"

Instantly Ichigo scooped Rukia up and began running, knowing he was much faster than she; a moment came when he was moving so fast Rukia began wondering if he was somehow using shunpo even while in his human body.

The scene that greeted them at the riverbank where the Senkaimon had opened shortly before was unlike any they could have been expecting. What looked like a woman with wavy chestnut hair in a dress was standing a couple of feet in front of an awful hollow with a half-broken mask; across the space Karin laid unconscious in a heap, shihakusho badly torn and bleeding from several wounds, and right in front of her was Yuzu on one knee, panting and somehow managing to hold a high-level shield to protect herself and her twin.

"Kaa-san…" Ichigo muttered under her breath, before shaking his head hard. "That bastard. How dare he use kaa-san's image against my sisters?!"

Rukia could only cover her mouth in shock, that had been a really low trick; at the same time it explained how Karin had been defeated when she was so powerful; she must have either been distracted by the apparition or gone half-mad when seeing the hollow who had killed her mom use her form against her. In any case, it was a miracle Yuzu's shield could stand against the attacks, and that she managed to stay strong despite the obvious mental torture. The honey-eyed girl was definitely stronger than most gave her credit for.

Ichigo was furious. He wouldn't allow the insult against his mother, or the attack against his sisters to stand. Barely conscious of what he was doing anymore, he set Rukia down and stepped down the small hill to the riverbank. The moment he reached it, something happened no one had been expecting, not even Rukia, without need for a gikon, or a glove or a seal of any sort, Ichigo simply stepped forward and right out of his body, letting it fall back onto the grass. He didn't even react to the event, as if he hadn't even noticed, or he had somehow known already he could do something like that.

"Ichigo…" Rukia muttered as she got on guard by his body.

"Hey you, bastard!" Ichigo called loudly to the hollow. "Why don't you go against someone your own size for a change?!"

"Huh…you think you can take me, little shinigami brat?" Grand-Fisher laughed at him. "I am the great Grand-Fisher; I've consumed hundreds of human souls, and even some shinigami. No one's been able to lay a scratch on me in over fifty years!"

"Really?" Ichigo gave him a sudden predatory smirk. "Then what would you call what happened a little over three years ago, in this same riverbank?"

"You!" Grand-Fisher hollered, furious. "I'll destroy you brat!"

"That's where you're wrong, hollow." Ichigo declared as he unsheathed his zanpakutou. "I'm not the weak, useless boy I was three years ago, I've grown, and I have power now. You're the one who won't be walking away from this fight. I'll make you pay, for what you did to my mother, for what you tried to do to my sisters!" his blade went into shikai without need for the command. "Zangetsu!"

And so the battle began…and so did the rainstorm…

In the following minutes the rest of the Nakama arrived, one by one. Uryuu helped Yuzu pull Karin to where Rukia was still standing guard by Ichigo's body, and when Orihime arrived shortly afterwards she made sure to heal the twins. After that they all just stood there, not caring at all about the rain falling and drenching them; they just remained by the riverside, a few feet away from where a battle was taking place, a battle in many ways harder and more important than that against Kariya, or even the Bounts.

Eventually things got serious enough that even the adults began arriving, first Ryuuken, who just made sure things were considerably safe for everyone and then went to join the 'guard'. Tessai helped Yuzu create a kekkai so no innocent humans would get to close to the battle and end up hurt, while Orihime put up her Santen Kesshun to keep all of them safe even as they continued watching. Yoruichi and Urahara joined eventually, wondering why none of them did anything, but not wanting to interfere either.

Eventually things got to the point where even Renji arrived.

"What the hell is going on here?" He demanded as soon as he got to the riverside. "Taichou, and everyone else seems to be in an uproar up there. The kind of reiatsu being put off is off the scales. Such levels of power shouldn't be released in the Human World."

"Shut up Renji!" Tatsuki snapped, without taking her eyes off the battle.

Surprised at his girlfriend's attitude, Renji turned to watch the battle himself.

"Who the hell is Ichigo battling?" Renji wanting to know.

"Grand Fisher." Rukia answered.

"The monster who murdered his mother, and tried to do the same with his sisters just a short while ago." Uryuu answered at the same time.

Renji was left speechless at that.

"Do you understand now why this is happening?" Orihime asked then, solemnly. "It's also why we're all standing there instead of interfering."

"Don't worry, Tessai-sensei and I mounted a kekkai already." Yuzu assured him. "No one will be affected by this battle."

Renji nodded, half-absently watching the battle even as he used his phone to make a quick call to his captain and informed him quickly of the situation. Thankfully, the fact that a kekkai had been erected calmed the higher-ups enough that they wouldn't interfere with what was happening. Though they would still want a full report when it was all over.

"I know Grand-Fisher is pretty infamous and feared and all that." Renji commented. "But with the kind of reiatsu Ichigo is putting off he should have defeated him already, so why hasn't he? What is really happening?"

"Revenge is a good enough motivation to fight, but not good enough to win." Rukia answered absently, nervous eyes fixed straight on the battle.

Renji was still wondering what she meant with that, when Isshin finally made his arrival, shihakusho rustling in the wind being created by Ichigo's and Grand Fisher's reiatsu and clashes, zanpakutou already in hand. However, before he could interfere, Ryuuken used a technique to stop him from moving.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Ryuuken?" Isshin demanded hotly. "Let me go."

"No." Ryuuken stated simply.

"I need to help Ichigo!" Isshin insisted.

"No." Ryuuken repeated.

"Isn't Ichigo your student?" Isshin called, confused. "Shouldn't you be worrying a bit more about him. Let me help!"

"Worrying about him would imply that I do not trust his ability to emerge victorious from this fight." Ryuuken answered with apparent disinterest.

Only the Nakama realized, from his words, from his posture, even from the slightest change in his tone of voice…how much he really cared.

"Ryuuken…" Isshin really didn't know what to say at that point.

"Your lack of faith on your own offspring is disgraceful Kurosaki." Ryuuken reproached him sternly. "Even more than your deceit of him and his sisters with regards to their powers and their history. This is a battle Ichigo has to fight, let him fight it."

It was a low blow, and everyone knew it, but they also knew Ryuuken was right. It was high time Isshin realized that Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu weren't children anymore; they had fought in Soul Society, against enemies far stronger and more experienced than them. They had won there. And they were getting ready to fight a war, one on which their futures, and possibly the future of all the worlds, depended…

No one knew how long the battle lasted, no one seemed to care, they all simply stood there, watching, as Ichigo fell again and again; he was dealing good damage to his opponent, but still nothing seemed to be enough.

Nothing could be heard by the riverside but the pants, groans, yells and clashes of the battle going on. Until a half-groan, half-yell…

"Ichigo!" Rukia screamed in absolute panic.

And it was that Ichigo had just been run through by at least half a dozen of Grand-Fisher's tentacles at the same time. His wounds, already grievous by that point, were such that anyone any less stubborn would have died on the spot.

"Ichigo!" Rukia screamed again, her aura flaring brightly with her love and fear of losing the man she'd come to love with all she was.

For Ichigo, it was like time had frozen. He was on his knees, in front of his enemy, with so much blood pooled around him he was surprised he hadn't died already. What proved without doubt that something had changed, was the fact that his blood wasn't dripping in that moment, and two ghost-like figures were standing at his sides.

"Do you want to fight or do you want to win Ichigo?" Zangetsu asked stoically.

"I want to win…no, I have to win." Ichigo stated, still panting. "Just fighting isn't enough. Not against this enemy. I have to win."

"Why?" Zangetsu asked this time. "What is your resolve?"

Yailen's words echoed in Ichigo's mind in that moment: _Only if the guardian can find a motive stronger than revenge to guide his blade will he be able to this battle win._

"A motive stronger than revenge…" Ichigo muttered out loud.

"What do you fight for, Ichigo?" Zangetsu inquired. "What did you gain all this power for?"

"To protect." Ichigo answered, suddenly realizing the truth. "That's what I gained this power for, what I became a shinigami for, what I trained so hard for…to protect. So no one else will have to die like kaa-san did, so no one else will have to suffer the loss of a loved one like my family, and so many other families have, so everyone I care for will be safe…I fight to protect! That is my resolve." His eyes began shining as his reiatsu began building up. "Zangetsu, Shiro, lend me your power."

"That's what we're here for Aibou!" Shiro said with a feral grin. "Lets show this bastard not to mess with us, or with our own!"

"Yes, lets." Ichigo nodded.

Ichigo extended his empty left hand to the side, holding onto Shiro's, at the same time as Zangetsu laid both hands on their shoulders.

"Go Ichigo, Shiro." Zangetsu declared strongly. "Show that hollow your power, our power, our resolve. Fight, protect!"

Time began moving again for Ichigo, but no blood was spilling anymore, his wounds were totally gone, his reiatsu in a storm around him as his bankai was called forth, for the first time in the World of the Living… If anyone besides his enemy had been standing before him in that moment, and had been able to see through the rain and his drenched bangs, they would have noticed that half of his face was eerily pale, one of his eyes was yellow-on-black and there even seemed to be a red-black line running across half his face, like some sort of tribal tattoo. Ichigo and Shiro had synched, for the first time, to bring down the creature that had caused so much pain, not only to them, but to so many others; in that moment, shinigami and hollow were one, with only one purpose, to protect.

Among the spectators, Rukia was the only one who could clearly sense the moment Ichigo and Shiro synched; Uryuu, Orihime, and possibly even the twins might be able to sense a change, maybe even suspect what it was, but no one could sense it clearly as Rukia herself did.

Grand-Fisher couldn't believe what was happening, one moment he was absolutely sure he'd won, had even begun to drool at the idea of consuming not just that shinigami's soul, but the souls of all of those who had stuck around. A second later the orange-haired young man was standing again, his injuries somehow gone and exuding even more reiatsu than when their battle had begun.

The confrontation was over shortly afterwards, as Ichigo ran Grand-Fisher through with his zanpakutou, simultaneously releasing a black Getsuga edged in red; an attack created by the combination of his and Shiro's powers.

The moment Grand-Fisher's scream stopped echoing around him Rukia sprinted after Ichigo, getting to him right in time to help him lay down instead of crashing against the grass. Noticing the signs of Shiro on his face, the obsidian-haired shinigami made sure she was the only one able to see Ichigo's face.

"I did it…" Ichigo whispered in a strange double-layered voice.

"You did it." Rukia agreed, kissing his brow twice, once on each side of his face.

"Thanks…snow-princess…" He knew what she'd meant by that gesture.

Shiro's signs on Ichigo disappeared then, and Ichigo was left gasping. Even though his hollow-twin had taken care of his wounds, he was so low on reiatsu he couldn't even think about moving; it was hard enough just to stay conscious at the moment.

"You did it Ichigo." Rukia whispered as she caressed his face. "All of you together, you won. You defeated Grand-Fisher…"

"I gave peace to kaa-san…" Ichigo whispered with a small smile. "I protected everyone."

"Yes…" Rukia nodded crying, though it was barely noticeable. "Thank you Ichigo."

"Whatever for?" Even as tired as he was, Ichigo could still feel confused.

"For not dying." Rukia answered honestly.

"Je…" Ichigo managed to chuckle very slightly as he held her hand tightly in his. "How could I ever die when I have you to come back to?"

Rukia began crying even harder at that, holding onto him with all the strength she was capable of in their somewhat odd position, his head and shoulders in her lap as she knelt on the wet grass by the riverside.

"Rukia…" Ichigo called unexpectedly. "It's not raining anymore…"

It was true, the rainstorm had finally stopped, and the blue sky, now beginning to turn shades of orange, red and purple, could be seen among the parting clouds. And yet Rukia knew him, enough to understand he meant a different kind of rain entirely.

They laid there, in the soaked grass for what seemed like forever, with their Nakama and the adults just watching a few feet away; Rukia even began wondering if he hadn't fallen asleep or something, when unexpectedly Ichigo took hold of her free hand.

"Marry me." Ichigo blurted out suddenly.

"What…?" Rukia hadn't been expecting that.

"You heard me Rukia." Ichigo stated.

"We're already married baka." She reminded him half-dismissively. "Or did you forget that in the midst of your battle?"

"You know that's not what I mean." Ichigo declared, very serious. "Marry me for real. Not for an agreement, not because you're a Kuchiki and I'm a Nagaken. Marry me, here, as just us, as just Ichigo and Rukia."

She had no words, she had never expected something like that from him. And then, to further her surprise, he jumped onto his feet, ignoring his exhaustion, Shiro was pushing him on. Then he pulled her on her own two feet, making sure she was alright before she spoke again.

"I know we're technically already married." Ichigo told her softly, taking both of her hands in his. "But that time, we did it for all the wrong reasons. It's also not technically legal in this world. I now know what I feel for you, I know I love you. This time…this time I want to do things right, the way they should be done." He dropped to one knee without letting go of her. "Will you marry me Rukia?"

Tears began falling down Rukia's eyes. When she'd married him, it had been special, even if there hadn't been any love yet; when she'd learnt he loved her it had made things even more special; the idea of marrying him again, with their families and friends present, and knowing it was a union created by love…it was more than she'd ever imagined possible.

"Yes." She nodded with a bright smile. "I will marry you, Ichigo."

"Hey idiot!" A voice interrupted the sweet moment.

Ichigo was about to complain to Uryuu for interrupting them when he realized just what had been thrown at him: a small black velvet box he'd been carrying around…

"Thank you Uryuu." He said.

Rukia could only watch how her husband/fiancé, turned back to her, still on one knee, and popped open the small box in his hands, showing her the contents. She gasped in surprise and delight: it was a ring, a very elaborate ring: the band itself was made of diamond, two lines, one white, one black entwined together; it had three stones, two small round-cut diamonds, one blue, one red, flanking a slightly bigger marquise-cut violet one.

It took no time at all for Rukia to realize the significance of the ring, of each part of its design. And if she'd had any doubt, the different reiatsu imbued in each would have cleared it up for her: the two smaller diamonds representing one Ichigo, the other Shiro, the band being Zangetsu and Shirayuki; the violet diamond was the only one with no reiatsu in it yet, as it was meant to be her. She solved that part quickly enough.

"How did you get Shirayuki's reiatsu?" Rukia wanted to know.

"Zangetu and Shiro worked together to collect almost every trace she left in my soul from the time I wielded her." Ichigo explained. "We wanted this to be special…"

"You planned this?" Rukia could hardly believe it all.

"Last week." Ichigo nodded. "Kasumi-oba-sama helped me. She offered me the Nagaken Clan rings, but none seemed right, in the end she allowed me to take some stones to a jeweler designer she knew. He did it, though the design was ours…"

"Thank you Ichigo…" Rukia moved to whisper into his ear and added. "Thank you Shiro, Zangetsu-san." She then moved to kiss Ichigo. "I love you …"

"As I love you…" Ichigo assured her as he put the ring on her finger.

They had their perfect moment then, witnessed by those they trusted the most: their families, and their Nakama, there, where so many bad things had happened, now a memory of joy and love had been made.

**xXx**

At the International Gate of Tokyo's airport, a woman stood, watching the night sky in contemplative silence. She was of average height, with alabaster skin barely visible beneath the white long veil that covered all her hair and wound around to cover all of her face except her eyes, which were a light-gray under the light of the street-lamps; she wore a lavender peasant blouse with sleeves long enough to cover even her fingers and silver stars adorning the trim, as well as a plain mauve-colored skirt to her ankles, with the same stars on the hem, white flats were on her feet and she wore no jewelry save for a translucent glass-pendant with a silver star done in Celtic-knots hanging from a platinum chain.

"Milady?" a voice called her attention from behind her.

She was younger, not out of her teens yet, several inches shorter than the other woman, with slightly-tanned skin, ebony-black hair so short she almost looked like a boy and a white bandana in place; she wore dark-jeans that hung low on her hips, a spaghetti strapped gray top along with a short dark-denim jacket; black leather knee-high boots with heels and a thick platinum cuff with the same Celtic-star finished her attire.

"We're here Keeva…" The woman stated solemnly.

The teenaged girl by her side canted her head, as if trying to notice something special about the place they had arrived to, she found nothing.

"What is so special about this place?" Keeva, the girl, asked. "I mean, I can sense some power, but nothing greater than most of the other places we've been to. And even what I sense…it doesn't feel exactly right."

"That's because it's not the same kind of power we hold." The woman informed her calmly. "But we are, indeed, in the right place…the place where the Oracle was lost…"

The girl said nothing at those words, simply followed her lady's line of sight to the horizon, where the most power could be felt; she couldn't help but wonder just what kind of power it was, and no answer seemed to find her. However, they would be finding out, eventually.

"Come Keeva." The woman indicated. "It's getting late, and we must get going. There are eyes that must not be allowed to lay upon us, not yet. The winds of change have been stirred, but until every warrior has chosen a side, until the battlefield has been chosen, it would be too risky to reveal our presence to any but those marked as trustworthy by the Oracle herself."

"Milady?" Keeva asked, even as she followed.

There was so much she didn't understand. Beginning by what they were doing there, why it was so important that they be there; she also didn't know why the Oracle had gone there, why she'd been lost there. What was so special about Japan? And about the small town they were going to: Karakura? She had no idea, only knew that the place had to be important, enough that the Oracle had gone there, and never returned; enough that now they were there. Yes, there were a lot of things Keeva didn't understand, but then again, she didn't have to, her mission in life was simple, follow her lady, and protect her no matter what, everything else was secondary, even her own understanding.

**xXx**

At the same time, in the same direction the two women were going in, a certain individual, dressed in a rather strange combination of modern clothes, watched silently as people began retiring for the night, from his place above a light post.

"So this is the place, huh?" He said to himself. "Karakura Town. And he thinks he might be like us…Well, what we've felt thus far has been interesting enough. In due time we'll see more, we'll see what you're truly made of, Kurosaki Ichigo…"

* * *

So... did you like the chapter? We have so much more coming! Visored, Espadas, more original characters; the Hueco Mundo arc, blended in with some movies and filler arcs that I liked too much to leave out, and fit well with what I was doing. You could see this as the end of the beginning, and the start of so much more!

See ya next week!


	20. New Arrivals

And introducing... the Visored! A couple of new OCs (who'll become very important throughout the rest of the fic), and a special appearance from Zennosuke Kurumadani... just because.

I'm trying to lessen my notes, and I honestly don't have much to say this time except. On we go with the Hueco Mundo Arc! (and whole lot more thrown in for good measure), I promise you, this will be a wild ride, and nothing like you ever imagined... Here we go!

* * *

**Chapter 20. New Arrivals**

Karin was standing on a fence, hand on her hip, watching impassively as the reishi particles of her latest hollow-slay finished dissipating. It had been so easy…if she had a little more trust on her own control she might not have even needed to materialize her zanpakutou to purify it, kidou would have done it. While that fact bored her, it also put her more at ease, it meant her sister wouldn't be in too much danger when it was her turn to go hollow-hunting.

It was something they had decided was necessary, to take turns going after the hollows, since they appeared so often and other people, most especially teachers, would get too suspicious and begin asking unnecessary questions if the same person kept taking 'bathroom breaks' or 'going to the nurse'. And really, there were enough of them that there was no need for the same person to go out twice on the same day, at least not yet.

Once done with the hollow, Karin shunpoed as fast as possible back to her classroom. It was still homeroom-hour, and she got to the door right as another girl was entering, her momentum making the two girls crash slightly, though not enough to throw them down.

"I'm sorry." Karin excused herself automatically. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That's quite alright." The other girl assured her. "I'm not hurt."

It was until then that Karin actually took a good look at the girl, she was wearing the usual high-school uniform, though beneath the skirt she wore dark-bikers, her head was half covered with a white bandana and the platinum cuff on her wrist had a symbol Karin found strangely familiar. However, the most attention-grabbing detail as far as she raven-haired girl was concerned, was that she'd never seen the other girl before. A new girl in Karakura-High, weeks after the term began? It just couldn't be normal.

"Excuse me, I don't think I've ever seen you before." Karin commented, furrowing a brow.

"No, probably not." The other girl shrugged. "I'm a transfer student. This is my first day. In fact, I had just been called in by the teacher when you arrived…"

It was until that moment that Karin realized the teacher was looking at both of them, obviously waiting for them to get inside.

"Right." Karin nodded before hurrying to her seat.

The homeroom teacher, Ochi-sensei, watched Kurosaki Karin in silence briefly, before turning back to the new student:

"As I was saying class…" Ochi Misato said. "We have a transfer-student starting today. If you could introduce yourself, tell us something about you…"

"Castelo Keeva." The girl introduced herself in an emotionless voice, her body a bit stiff. "Of Mexican nationality, I've lived in many different places in both Mexico and the United States. I'm also a gymnast and martial artist."

"Why did you come to live to Japan?" A random student asked from the back.

"It was my sister's idea." Keeva shrugged before turning to the teacher. "Will I be assigned a seat or can I seat anywhere?"

Ochi-sensei ignored the new girl's strange attitude, it wasn't like she hadn't had students acting odd before, and signaled for her to seat anywhere she wanted and Keeva did so in a chair by the window, right in front of Karin; who was still watching her surreptitiously. Yuzu, sitting beside her sister, could only wonder what exactly was going on.

**xXx**

That afternoon, the Nakama were walking through the park together, they'd been training at Urahara's place earlier, knowing that it would call undue attention if they were to visit the hospital to use the Ishida's training room too often.

Training that day had been good, and before they reached the corner where they would all split to go to their respective homes, Karin began her complaints about the transfer student.

"Don't you think you're being a bit paranoid?" Keigo suggested after she told them all about the new girl: Castelo Keeva.

"Well, lets see." Karin's voice was soaked in sarcasm. "It's several weeks after the start of the Fall Semester, right after a group of very powerful captains betrayed Seireitei and revealed an alliance with the most powerful hollows of Hueco Mundo; we're in the Juureichi, which we suppose will be attacked at some point for Aizen to go through with his plans; all of us are the only ones with a chance against any of them in this world; oh, and we know the attack, the war, will come to us at any moment. Now, if those aren't more than enough reasons for being at least a bit paranoid…"

"Ok, so there are risks." Tatsuki said. "But that doesn't mean that we're going to be suspicious of any new student that comes to the High-School. Or any new person in town…"

"Not any new student." Karin corrected. "She has reiatsu! Strong, very tightly controlled reiatsu, I could sense it running through her body, as if it were right beneath her skin, when I bumped into her this morning."

That definitely called everyone's attention.

"And then there's the transfer student from our class…" Orihime commented right then, apparently only remembering the fact in that moment.

"What…?" Karin wasn't expecting that, no one had mentioned it before. "You have a transfer student as well?"

"Yes." Uryuu nodded. "A Hirako Shinji…he too has reiatsu, possibly shinigami, though it doesn't feel exactly right…"

"Seireitei wouldn't send someone else without informing us first." Rukia pointed out, arms crossed, pensive. "At least I don't think so."

They had reason to think like that, after all, they had been informed of the actions taken, first by Sui-Feng, and later by the Gotei as a whole, during the situation with the Bounts; the Nakama imagined such courtesies could be expected to continue.

Rukia hadn't been at school that morning, as she'd gone to Seireitei to present her report due to the increase in the number of hollows appearing in Karakura; they had to be ready in case the situation escalated to more than the Nakama could handle on their own, or in a way that became too dangerous to the civilians.

"I know the name Hirako Shinji." Karin announced unexpectedly.

That interrupted any other contemplations and everyone turned to look at her.

"He was a captain, a little over a hundred years ago." Karin informed them. "I can't actually remember what Squad he belonged to, this happened before I became a shinigami, about fifty years before in fact, I was still young…oyaji should remember, or maybe Yoruichi-san, Tessai-san, or Geta-boushi. Anyway, what I do remember is that he was a taichou, something happened, and he left, or was sent away; he disappeared from Seireitei, along with over half a dozen others, all of them high-ranked shinigami, captains and lieutenants; among them Yoruichi-san, Urahara, Hiyori…"

"Didn't Urahara tell us something about that?" Chad asked suddenly, remembering when the shinigami/shop-keeper had been 'persuaded' to telling them the truth prior to their 'invasion' of Soul Society. "About what Aizen did back then?"

"The Visored." Orihime declared.

They all turned to look at Ichigo.

"The Visored are here…" Ichigo declared the obvious.

"You think it's because of you?" Rukia asked him, nervously.

"Well, if they're here its obvious someone called them here." Uryuu declared. "Yoruichi-san had seen the mask while in Seireitei, so…"

"But would they really do something like that without talking to Ichigo about it first?" Mizuiro asked, brow furrowed, he obviously didn't like it.

No one knew for sure, no one knew Urahara Kisuke, or any of the other adults, even Ichigo's father…or especially him, enough to know, to make a decent guess on what they would or wouldn't do at any given moment.

"I still don't trust Geta-boushi, even after we talked to him upon our return from Soul Society, it's like…he just doesn't learn." Ichigo declared, arms crossed. "And whether it was he who called the Visored, or they decided to come to Karakura for whatever the reason…"

"It's too much of a coincidence." Karin finished for him.

"You think the girl from your class is connected to them as well?" Tatsuki asked her, disliking the situation more and more as they talked.

"Don't think so." Karin shook her head. "The name Castelo Keeva doesn't ring any bells, from this life or my last one; and her reiatsu didn't feel like a shinigami's, or like anything I've ever felt before…though…"

"What?" Everyone asked instantly.

"There was something else." Karin admitted. "The symbol engraved on the platinum cuff she was wearing, I've seen it before, though I cannot remember where, or even when…"

"What was the symbol?" Rukia inquired.

"A star." Karin answered softly. "But not any star, it was very intricate looking, and formed by knots, Celtic-style knots…"

"It does sound somewhat familiar…" Ichigo said, closing his eyes, trying to remember. "But I have no idea from where."

"If it's a style of jewelry maybe other people wear it too." Chizuru said with a shrug. "I mean, like the engraving of a flower, or a snowdrop, or anything else…"

"No." Ichigo shook his head. "This is important. I don't know why, or how, but I somehow know this is important…"

Before anyone could say anything else the denreishinki and other specials devices sounded the alarm, at the same time as Yuzu, Uryuu and Orihime turned their heads in the same direction.

"My turn." Ichigo announced, nothing better than slaying a hollow to let out some stress, as far as he was concerned.

He didn't even need to get out of his body, the hollow wasn't powerful enough to require that, but still Ichigo did, if only so he wouldn't be seen attacking a creature normal people couldn't see, it would have made for one awkward situation.

It took Ichigo less than five minutes to dispose of the hollow, even when he made sure to limit his power a lot. He was about to go back to his body and his nakama, when he sensed a reiatsu signature approaching from a side.

"You…Who the heck are you?!" The newcomer demanded. "Why are you dressed up as a shinigami? And wearing a haori?!"

The newcomer was a shinigami himself with his hair in a black afro, the only reason Ichigo had noticed his reiatsu at all was because of how focused he'd been on pulling his own power in (so as not to finish the fight against the hollow too soon), his reiatsu was really low, and would have gone unnoticed for the shinketsu shinigami under normal circumstances.

Ichigo let out a very small reiatsu pulse, just enough to call his nakama's attention to his position, while keeping most of his attention on the shinigami before him.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked in turn, ignoring the question of the other shinigami.

"Eh? M…me?" It was obvious the shinigami with the afro hadn't been expecting that. "My name is Kurumadani Zennosuke! I am the shinigami handpicked to replace Miss Kuchiki Rukia, who got arrested for some crime! Did that impress you?"

"Not at all." Ichigo deadpanned. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, shinketsu shinigami and captain of the Nakama." he signaled to his haori and the badge hanging from his sash. "We're allies of Seireitei and the Gotei 13."

"Never heard of you." Zennosuke stated, watching Ichigo carefully. "And did you just say we? I'm only seeing you, kozo…"

"He was talking about us." Karin announced, she was in her modified shihakusho, having left her body. "Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, shinketsu shinigami, Nakama and retainer of the Noble Nagaken Clan."

Zennosuke's eyes widened as he was having an obviously hard time following what was going on, no one had informed him about other shinigami in Karakura, and less of all about a group of spiritually aware humans, like the ones standing behind the two young shinigami, there had to be at least half a dozen, and their reiatsu was completely different from anything Zennosuke had ever sensed before, and then…

"I am Kuchiki Rukia." The obsidian haired announced as she stepped forward, in her shihakusho as well. "So why exactly is it that they sent a substitute for me, when I'm right here? And even if I weren't, this is the Nakama's territory."

"I don't know anything about a territory." Zennosuke answered. "Haven't been informed of any changes since I was sent to take your place Kuchiki-san." Then he added in an angry mutter. "Of course, I'm such a low level shinigami that no one thinks it's important enough to inform me of anything at all…"

"How long has it been since you were sent to Karakura?" Uryuu inquired, pensive.

"Fifteen weeks, more or less." Zennosuke answered.

"And your instructions weren't changed at all recently?" Uryuu asked then.

"Not at all." Zennosuke shook his head. "I haven't been given any new instructions at all. Why is any of this important, boy?"

"The name is Ishida Uryuu, I'm a Quincy and part of the Nakama." Uryuu clarified. "And it's important because we've been back from Seireitei for over a month now. We were there to clarify the so-called crime Rukia-san was being accused of. As you can see, things were resolved to everyone's satisfaction. The Nakama were recognized as allies of Seireitei and the Gotei 13, with Ichigo as our leader."

"I haven't been informed of any of this." Zennosuke insisted.

"Can you see this?" Orihime asked, extending her badge in his direction. "On one side it reads Nakama, on the other is the symbol of the Gotei. It shows we're allies."

Zennosuke had to admit he could recognize the symbol of the Gotei 13, and the kanji for the word Nakama on opposite sides of the badge. He also knew who Kuchiki Rukia was, and could recognize two others as being obviously shinigami, still, he didn't understand why no one had informed him that things had changed. And they had to have changed, a lot, if the Gotei was allied with humans with strange powers.

"I've sent a message to Ukitake-taichou." Rukia informed everyone before turning to the other shinigami. "A report should be sent to you sometime soon regarding the Nakama and the events of the last few months. I have no idea if you will be recalled to Soul Society or sent somewhere else. However, it's unlikely that you'll be staying here in Karakura, there are more than enough of us here already."

Zennosuke nodded, bowed his head slightly to everyone present and then left.

Before any other comment could be made the Nakama suddenly became aware of yet another newcomer; Karin and Rukia jumped several feet back in opposite directions, while the rest of the Nakama got on their guard and Ichigo spun around and moved his zanpakutou just in time to block a blow from another blade, one being held by the very transfer student they had been talking about just a few minutes before.

"Hirako Shinji…" Ichigo whispered.

The orange-haired had to focus his reiatsu to be able to step on air, since Shinji's attack pushed him beyond the roof where he'd been standing during the conversation with the other shinigami. Karin and Rukia were a few feet away from him, while the rest of his nakama were on the sidewalk, they couldn't exactly climb onto the roof, or invade private property, especially not in the middle of the day; still, they all had their eyes fixed on the confrontation, prepared to interfere at a moment's notice if it became necessary.

"What are you trying to do?" Ichigo demanded, pushing back. "Kill me?!"

"Don't make a ruckus like that, Kurosaki Ichigo." Shinji declared, ignoring Ichigo's words. "With spiritual pressure such as yours you cannot lose your composure so easily. Otherwise you'll be found out all too easily."

"Found out?" Ichigo inquired, shifting his weight to push back further. "By whom? You? Those like you?"

"You're asking me who?" Shinji snorted. "Idiot. And what do you know about those like me? Huh? What do you know?"

Ichigo shrugged, holding his zanpakutou more tightly, if his opponent wasn't revealing anything then he wasn't either.

"Do I need to tell you every little detail?" Shinji went back to his rant, realizing the orange-head wouldn't answer his own questions. "Can't you figure it out for yourself?"

"Stop talking to me like I'm a retard!" Ichigo bristled.

"They're here." Shinji drawled. "See? I told you so! It's all because you left your spiritual pressure unchecked like that…"

Ichigo rolled his eyes before turning down to his nakama, only to notice that some of them were gone already to handle the few hollows that the spike in his reiatsu had called, one or two even seemed like menos, which is why more than one of them had gone in each direction.

"It's being handled." Ichigo told Shinji. "What I want to know is why the hell you attacked me from behind." He thought briefly before adding. "Oh, and also, what the hell are you doing posing as a transfer student at Karakura High?"

"How would you know I'm posing as anything?" Shinji was honestly curious, nothing of what he was told about the boy prepared him for a verbal confrontation.

"We know who you are." Ichigo deadpanned. "Or at least have very strong suspicions, based on who you were a hundred years ago."

"You weren't even an idea a hundred years ago, kid." Shinji snorted as he looked at the daiko without attacking again.

"Maybe not, but there are quite a few people who were more than 'ideas' a hundred years ago." Ichigo pointed out. "And at least one of them remembers that you were a captain in the Gotei 13 back then. Also, I'm quite sure we have some common acquaintances."

"Really, like who?" Shinji inquired.

The blonde was growing more and more confused by the minute, what was happening wasn't what he'd imagined when deciding to confront the boy he'd been told might be like him and his 'family'; and there was the fact that he kept saying 'we'.

"Like me, Hirako-san." Karin stated as she moved closer to them. "My name is Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin. I'm the reincarnation of Nagaken Karin, sister of Nagaken Isshin, you might remember him more than me."

"The reincarnation of Isshin-san's sister." Shinji's eyes widened. "Karin-chan? You are the little tomboy, the Raven-princess…"

"Only Hiyori has ever called me that…" Karin muttered before rushing to stand right in Shinji's face. "Is she alright?! Is Hiyori alright?!"

"Wha…?" Shinji was shocked, suddenly not knowing what to do, or say to the girl upon him, he'd never been in such a situation before.

"Just answer me Hirako-san, tell me if Hiyori is alright!" Karin insisted.

"Yes." Shinji answered eventually. "Yes, Hiyori is fine."

The relief Karin felt in that moment was so great that she just dropped to her knees, however, the moment she stopped focusing on her own reiatsu she has unable to hold herself in the air, falling down; she was about to crash against the ground when:

"Santen Kesshun!" A feminine voice called from half a block away.

Orihime and Tatsuki joined them as the triangular shield lowered to the ground slowly, Karin kneeling on it, still breathing erratically due to her own suddenly overwhelming emotions.

"Karin, are you alright?" Ichigo shunpoed to the ground instantly.

"What happened here?" Tatsuki called as she got on guard, facing Shinji.

"Hey, I didn't do anything to her, only answered her question." Shinji declared, holding his hands up, he didn't understand what was happening at all.

"He's saying the truth Tatsuki." Rukia assured her shunpoing to their side. "Karin asked him about someone named Hiyori, and when Hirako-san told her she was alright he got like that."

"Who could make her react so strongly?" Tatsuki asked, truly confused by Karin's reaction.

"I have no idea." Ichigo answered, frustrated by that fact.

"Hiyori…" Karin said in a soft, slightly broken voice. "Sarugaki Hiyori, she was Urahara-taichou's fukutaichou when I was a child, back in my last life. She was…everything I couldn't be: strong-willed, honest to a fault, she said whatever was on her mind, not caring what others thought about her words, or about her."

"If you call Hiyori strong-willed…I just call her pig-headed." Shinji deadpanned.

"She was the only one, aside from Yoruichi, who didn't act like she was walking on eggshells when around me." Karin went on. "For everyone else I was the little sister of a Noble Clan-Head, even after I became a shinigami, but Hiyori…she never cared about any of that. Said I was like any other brat, and my name meant nothing to her." She smiled wistfully. "She once challenged me to dye Nii-sama's haori pink, and then make him wear it when he went to the barracks that day. I did it. Nii-sama didn't seem to mind at all."

"If oyaji was half as crazy back then as he's now he probably even found it funny." Ichigo commented with a smirk.

"Probably." Karin agreed. "Raven-princess, it was a nickname Hiyori gave me after I did that. Said that I shouldn't be a noble-princess but a raven one, since ravens are usually tricksters, and I obviously had to be one to have done what I did to my brother…the name stuck actually, even when I became a shinigami, some people kept calling me a raven…"

Like Gin…Kitsune, he'd always called her Karasu, just like she called him Kitsune, it was their way of expressing their friendship.

"So you're the little raven-princess Hiyori usually talks about…" Shinji said thoughtfully, and then something else occurred to him. "How do you even remember your previous life? If you were a soul then…and now…"

"I'm actually human right now, or half-human anyway." Karin clarified as she finally controlled herself enough to get back on her feet.

Shinji's eyes widened yet again at that and he gave several steps back as he turned to look at each of the people around him: three shinigamis, a quincy, and several humans with strange powers…he'd never seen something like that…

"What the hell is going on here?!" Shinji demanded.

It was until that moment that the Nakama realized how things looked to an outsider: they were eleven, all with various levels of reiatsu, and most obviously human. Shinji was only one, and with most of the Nakama just returned from where they had gone to deal with the hollows that had appeared during Ichigo's and Shinji's brief scuffle, the blonde former-shinigami found himself completely surrounded in that moment.

"Stand down." Ichigo ordered calmly before turning to the blonde. "My name is Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo. We're the Nakama, Rukia, my sisters and I are shinigami, Ishida Uryuu is a Quincy, the rest are humans with abilities."

"Since when do humans have spiritual abilities?" Shinji asked, not quite believing it.

"Since we're in constant close contact with someone who leaks reiatsu like an open tap." Tatsuki deadpanned calmly.

"It's not my fault, I didn't know!" Ichigo defended himself. "My idiotic father never said anything! Not even after I almost got killed, twice!"

He would rather not bring his mother into it all at the moment.

"Half-human shinigami, a surviving Quincy and more than half a dozen humans with strange spiritual abilities…" Shinji enlisted as he looked at all the teenagers. "This isn't exactly what I was expecting to find…"

"And what were you expecting to find?" Uryuu asked, suspicious.

"What I would like to know is what he's even doing here." Karin added, just as suspicious. "I still think it's too convenient, for people with reiatsu to be arriving to Karakura, right when we're waiting for war to break-out at any moment…"

"War?" Shinji's brows furrowed.

"Yes." Ichigo decided to bluff a little. "Did Urahara Kisuke not tell you that part when he called you here?"

"Or maybe it was Shihouin Yoruichi who made the call." Uryuu suggested, following Ichigo's line of reasoning.

"So you know what's brought me here." Shinji nodded.

Really, things weren't turning at all like he'd been expecting, first his 'target' knew his name, then there was a girl who was the reincarnation of a former captain's sister, a group of humans with abilities, and they all seemed to have some idea of what he was doing there…Kisuke hadn't warned him about any of that!

"We know that it's a mistake for you to be here." Rukia stated with false calmness as she went to stand at Ichigo's side.

"Really?" Shinji's face twisted into a half smirk.

All the Nakama got back on their guard as they sensed Shinji's reiatsu going higher and higher. They knew he was preparing to do something, even if none of them had any idea what exactly. Then that same reiatsu began turning dark, and it only made things worse.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Tatsuki demanded, her body glowing an off-white color as she prepared for a fight.

"I have no reason for being here." Shinji repeated. "So that means you have no idea what this means…" as he spoke he twirled his zanpakutou in his right hand, at the same time he brought his left to his face and pulled down… "A zanpakutou and a mask! Now, see this? See me? Watch and tell me you don't know what this means!"

Silence was the answer, as most of the Nakama had no idea how to reply to that, without giving away too much. Most…but there was one who had no trouble doing exactly that.

"A shinigami's zanpakutou and a hollow's mask." Yuzu stated calmly. "You are a shinigami who has crossed the barrier into the hollow domain. You are a Visored."

"You are incredibly well informed, miss." Shinji commented, eyes focused straight on the chestnut-haired girl. "Why might that be?"

"My name is Kurosaki Yuzu, Hirako-san." Yuzu explained, bowing her head respectfully. "I'm actually not a shinigami, I don't have a zanpakutou, but I'm quite good at kidou. It was Urahara Kisuke who told us about the existence of your people, it was considered as necessary information when we decided to go to Soul Society to get Rukia-nee back."

"When Aizen made his move." Shinji added. "You were there."

"Yes." Yuzu nodded.

"What he was doing, it included hurting one of our own, we weren't about to allow that." Karin added strongly.

"And why was he trying to hurt one of your own exactly?" Shinji asked then. "Why would Aizen care about a group of humans? Even ones with strange abilities like all of you?"

"Because not all of us are normal humans." Karin said, rolling her eyes. "My brother and I are shinketsu shinigami, Rukia is a shinigami as well. Urahara Kisuke was an idiot and got Rukia involved; that in turn made the rest of us get involved."

Shinji still didn't fully understand what was going on, but he knew for sure it wasn't as simple as a young shinigami somehow turning out to be a visored…

"Three of you are shinigami then." Shinji said pensively. "I was told one of you would have one of this." He shook his mask, in his hand instead of his face.

"I'm afraid Urahara-san was wrong about that." Yuzu said blankly. "None of us use a mask like that, my siblings haven't even been shinigami for that long in the first place. Either you were lied to, or he was talking about someone else."

No one else said a word, most were surprised at how easily Yuzu was lying, although, if one analyzed carefully, she wasn't actually lying, none of them 'used' a mask like that, or a mask at all, even Ichigo, the times he'd used his hollow's powers, he hadn't been wearing a mask like that, and the only time the mask had appeared, he hadn't been wearing it so…

"Well…I really hope you're saying the truth…for your own good." Shinji said off-handedly as he crushed the mask into reishi-particles and sheathed his zanpakutou.

"Is that a threat?" Tatsuki asked, still not lowering her guard.

"No, it's just a warning." Shinji said calmly, hands in his pants. "Someone who holds a zanpakutou and a mask, a Visored, is someone with an Inner Hollow. Whoever has an Inner Hollow, and hasn't trained to defeat it, will lose control sooner or later. And you all won't want to be there when that happens; because if you are…you will most likely die…"

"It's a good thing we don't have to worry about that, then." Rukia said out-loud.

They all knew they didn't have to worry, Visored or not, Shiro wasn't someone they needed to be afraid of; if anything, the hollow side of Ichigo's soul seemed to be as over-protective of them all as the rest of him, maybe even more so; and the loyalties were exactly the same ones: to Rukia, his family, and the Nakama.

"Yeah, a good thing…" Shinji agreed nonchalantly.

And yet, the Visored couldn't help the feeling that he was missing something, he just hoped it wouldn't come back to bite them all later. In any case, he was already planning on having a very serious conversation with Kisuke, the former-shinigami/shopkeeper was going to pay for not warning him about the bunch of human teenagers with spiritual abilities, and he also better explain where the lost and scared new Visored was supposed to be, because even if he was right and one of the shinigami among the teens was a Visored, they didn't act like someone being scared out of their minds by a psychotic Inner Hollow should…not at all. Something was seriously wrong there…

Before anything else could be said an extremely strong reiatsu could be felt echoing around Karakura, a dark reiatsu…

"What the hell is that?!" Keigo cried out in near-panic.

It was one thing to face off against the usual hollows every so often, but what they were feeling in that moment had to be at least a hundred times worse! It was even worse than the huge hollow they had felt on the day so many had invaded Karakura…

"That's a hamen!" Karin cried out, obviously just as shocked as the others.

"A what?!" Ichigo demanded.

"An unstable, high-leveled hollow, at least Gillian-class, that has managed to break its mask, gaining shinigami powers." Karin clarified. "The exact opposite of the Visored. We have to hurry, before someone ends up dead."

No one else was able to say anything before she was off, shunpoing as fast as she possibly could in the direction of the dark reiatsu.

"Mizuiro, Keigo, Chizuru, you stay back, take care of our bodies, please." Ichigo ordered. "This is obviously too much for you. And be careful, in case the reiatsu of this one attracts others. Everyone else, with me!"

And with that, they were all gone.

It took the group several minutes, even using their various high-speed techniques, since the reiatsu they were sensing, as huge as it was, was coming from the other side of Karakura. And yet, when they were all just a few blocks away, there was a huge flash of light, a cloud of dust that enclosed several streets, and when they both cleared out, the reiatsu was gone…

All the Nakama froze in place the moment the huge reiatsu vanished.

"What just happened?" Tatsuki asked, confused.

"The reiatsu just…disappeared." Orihime answered, not quite believing it herself.

"Did whatever it was just leave?" Yuzu inquired.

While Karin and Ichigo hadn't liked it, they hadn't gotten the chance to tell Yuzu to stay back, besides, despite looking so much more vulnerable, the younger Kurosaki twin really wasn't weak in anyway, not spiritually, emotionally, and certainly not in her will, there was just no way she would have stayed behind, no matter the danger.

"No…" Uryuu whispered, all his focus on what they had just sensed. "What happened, it wasn't due to someone or something leaving this plane. In fact, I could almost swear…"

"It was destroyed." Rukia finished for him. "Whatever it was that had that reiatsu was just destroyed. That's probably what that flash of light was."

"How?" Ichigo asked, turning to the others. "Who? Who in Karakura could possibly have the power to destroy something with that kind of power…aside from possibly us?"

"I honestly have no idea." Uryuu answered quietly, he really didn't like that.

"Was it maybe Ishida-sensei?" Chad suggested.

"I know most of you can't sense reiatsu that specifically, but I can assure you, my father is nowhere near here." Uryuu replied. "And I cannot feel any of his reiatsu in the area. So no, this wasn't his work." He made a pause before adding. "I cannot feel Urahara or Yoruichi-san, or anyone else from that shop either."

With the adults having been shinigami captains at a time, they obviously would have the power necessary to defeat a hamen.

"I don't sense oyaji either." Karin added.

"So then, who the hell did this?" Tatsuki demanded.

There was no answer, really, none of them had the slightest idea of what had happened.

Then their attention was diverted, by an ebony-haired girl wearing a gray top, dark-denim jeans, a short jacket and black boots; they could see her as she walked down the street at a brisk pace, in the same direction all the Nakama had been going until a minute before.

"That's her, Castelo Keeva." Karin stated.

"Didn't you say she has reiatsu?" Chad inquired.

"Yes." Karin nodded immediately.

"It's hard to feel it, because she seems to somehow be keeping it inside her own body, but I can sense it." Orihime commented.

"Then, if she has reiatsu she must be able to sense it somewhat." Uryuu said, both of his brows furrowed, as he understood what his nakama must be thinking. "Even someone abysmal at it would have been able to sense that hamen…"

"Which bequeaths the question…why is she going in that direction?" Rukia finished.

"And she seems to be somewhat in a hurry." Yuzu added.

"I remember her." Tatsuki pointed out. "Orihime and I saw her a few minutes ago, not too far from here, when we went hunting one of the hollows that appeared when your reiatsu flared."

"Really?" Karin was very interested in that. "What did you see?"

"That's just it." Tatsuki answered. "We didn't see anything at all, aside from her that is…not even a hollow…"

"Someone else destroyed the hollow?" Karin wanted that little detail clarified before adding. "Do you think she did it?"

"We have no idea." Orihime answered. "Like I just said, it's hard to sense Castelo-san's reiatsu, and there was no foreign signature where we'd sensed the hollow, if she did it…we just have no way of knowing."

"Ok, let's suppose, for a minute, that she did destroy the hollow you were going after." Uryuu said in a contemplative tone. "How powerful was it?"

"If it wasn't a menos then it was very close to it." Tatsuki declared.

"But it wasn't any more powerful than the one Ichigo had to fight the day so many hollows appeared on Karakura, before Rukia was taken." Orihime added helpfully.

"Very well." Uryuu nodded, expressing his theory. "Let's suppose then, that Castelo Keeva is powerful enough to defeat a Menos-class hollow. Even one that powerful is nowhere near what we felt a few minutes ago. Having felt her reiatsu, do you think she might be strong enough for that as well?"

"No idea." Karin answered honestly, having been the one to get a better feel of the other girl's reiatsu, since she was the only one to have been in actual contact with her.

"I don't think it really matters if she would have been capable of it or not, not at this point anyway." Rukia declared. "She obviously wasn't the one to do this…"

"What makes you so sure?" Ichigo had the same gut-feeling, but no reasonable explanation for it, and wanted to know if she did.

"Because she's still walking to the place where the reiatsu appeared, and then disappeared from." Rukia explained. "If she'd been the one to do it, she would be there already."

"So…what you're saying is that there is yet someone else in Karakura, someone we have never met, who has enough power to fight, possibly even destroy, a hollow as powerful as the one we felt a few minutes ago?!" That really didn't sit well with the dark-haired martial artist, not with everything already going on.

"You think it might have been one of the Visored?" Ichigo suggested. "I mean, Hirako was with us, but there are supposed to be others, right?"

"If it had been the work of a Visored we would have felt his or her reiatsu." Karin stated blankly. "No, this was the work of someone else."

"So, let me see if I'm getting this right." Tatsuki grumbled. "Besides the Visored, who may be as many as eight, and the girl with the strange reiatsu in Karin's class, there's yet someone else here in Karakura with spiritual abilities, and a power high enough to destroy a Gillian-level hollow with shinigami abilities?"

"That's the gist of it." Ichigo nodded, he didn't like it either.

"Great, just great." Tatsuki could have swore under her breath in that moment. "And to think the War hasn't even begun yet…"

No, it hadn't, and things were already getting pretty complicated; it wasn't exactly the best prospect to have at the moment as far as the Nakama were concerned, not at all. In a moment were so much already hung on the line, when war could break out at any moment, and so much was likely to depend on them; they really should be on top of everything, and they weren't, not in the slightest.

**xXx**

A short while later, after the Nakama were already gone from the area and the last remnants of the powerful hollow's reiatsu had dissipated, Castelo Keeva finally made her way to an apartment complex, and her own modest home on the last floor.

The teenager stepped into the apartment, to a living-room/dinning-room separated from a kitchen by a counter and a half-wall, it was all furnished in very sparsely due to both the personal tastes of the young women living there and their economical means.

The one other inhabitant of the apartment was in that moment standing by the glass window/door that lead to the apartment's balcony (one of the advantages of living on the last floor); it would have seemed like she was focused on the view outside if it weren't for the fact that her eyes were closed. Dressed in an ankle-length skirt, long sleeved blouse in shades of violet and a long white veil, a long, thin gray lock of hair seemed to have escaped from her hairdo as it moved slightly with the soft breeze on the woman's face. It was the same woman who had arrived with Castelo Keeva to Karakura just a week and a day before.

"My lady?" Keeva inquired softly, wondering briefly if the veiled woman had perhaps fallen asleep while standing.

"I'm alright Keeva." The woman assured her softly.

"You really shouldn't have done what you did my lady." Keeva commented respectfully. "There was no need for you to bother with anything. I could have handled that corrupted creature myself with ease."

"It was no bother Keeva." The woman told her. "And you need not worry. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and of pesky little 'monsters' like the one that appeared a short while ago. I am not a child, or a defenseless human…"

"I know that my lady, it was not my intention to offend you in any way…" Keeva said, half-babbling through the apology.

The rant was interrupted as the veiled woman swayed on the spot, nearly falling to the floor, until she held herself on the edge of the wall.

"My lady!" Keeva cried out hurrying to her side, intending to hold her up herself.

"I'm fine." The woman said, refusing the girl's help.

And yet, even as the woman said those words, she brought her hand to her temple, letting out a very soft pained sigh.

"My lady…" Keeva began yet again, very worried for the woman.

"I'm fine, Keeva." The woman insisted. "It's just a headache. I'm going to lay down for a while, call me when it's time for dinner."

Keeva nodded as she watched the woman walk slowly down the short narrow hallway that lead to the bathroom and two bedrooms, entering the last one and closing the door behind her. The girl was really worried, but there was nothing she could do, no way she could help the woman if she didn't allow it…she knew the woman wasn't alright, and yet there was nothing the girl could do if the woman didn't allow it…

"My lady…" Keeva whispered softly to the empty room. "I really hope this whole trip will be worth it. May it allow you to finally see the truth…that you need help, and you need it now…Lady Serenity…"

Inside the room the gray-eyed, veiled woman could still hear the girl's words as she lay slightly against the closed door of her bedroom. That room was even more sparsely furnished than the living/dining room, with a bed, a small shelf half-filled with her favorite books, a chair, and a desk covered with lots of papers and several notebooks filled with notes. On a corner a lone framed photo sat: it showed a younger version of herself, in her early to middle teens at the most, and while her head was mostly covered by a white scarf, her face could still be seen, soft-cream unmarked skin, two long ashen-black loose-curls of hair framing her face, her light-gray eyes full of so much light they almost looked like liquid silver; she was wearing a white and lavender ¾ sleeved peasant blouse and a lilac skirt that reached just below her knees. Next to her stood another girl, two or three years older, in a pink and red summer dress with short sleeves, a white scarf covered her own hair, her skin was tanned and just as unmarked as the younger girl's.

"Deirfiúr…" Serenity whispered, her eyes fixed straight on the photo, as her mind strayed back several years, to a time when things had been so different…

"_You cannot leave!" A low, female voice whined softly. "You cannot leave me!" _

_There were the two girls, one fifteen, the other eighteen, standing in the middle of a small bedroom while the older girl packed a big suitcase; another suitcase and a couple of bags were already packed and waiting by the door. _

"_Deirfiúr…" The young Serenity whispered, pained. _

"_You know you're like my sister, I love you dearly, but this is something I must do…" The older girl whispered back softly. _

_Leaving her half-packed last suitcase for the time being, the older girl went to seat beside Serenity, embracing the younger girl with one arm and kissing her brow. _

"_But why?" Serenity asked, holding tightly onto the older girl. "Why must you go so far away? Why now? It's not fair. I don't want to be alone!" _

"_You won't be alone, you have your family." The older girl reminded her. _

"_A family that either doesn't know or doesn't like what I'm doing." Serenity said blankly. "My sister says I'm crazy to believe the supernatural even exists, my mother just sends me sad looks every time I so much as move suspiciously…and my father is in total and absolute denial of the whole thing. That's not a family…" _

"_At least they're still there, even if they refuse to accept the truth completely." The older girl told her. "At least you haven't been forced out of your own home because of what you are, because of what we both are. I'll always believe I was extremely fortunate when my aunt and uncle, your parents, took me in. Especially when, even after you began following on my steps, they didn't turn their backs on me." _

"_They still don't like it." _

"_True. But they're still here, with us. Even with anything they may say, or think, not many people would have stayed with us, would have even continued helping me, after everything that's happened already…" _

"_I think Mama believes that with you gone things will go back to normal…" _

"_Aunt Marie knows better than that. She knows there's no backing down from something like this. Being what we are…it is for life…and beyond." _

"_Is that why you're leaving?" _

"_I'm leaving because I have to. I have to go to where I'm needed. And right now that's in Asia. You understand that, don't you?" _

"_Why can't I go with you?" _

"_Because you're needed here." _

"_What for? With you gone, I'll be the only one left. We're all that's left, you said it yourself." _

"_I may have believed so at one point, but I was wrong. The two of us aren't all that's left, there's one more, though she isn't ready just yet. She'll be coming here soon, destiny will bring her to you, and it will be your mission to help her." _

"_How? In what?" _

"_Help her see the truth. Understand what it is that she can do, and that her abilities are a gift, not a curse, that she's not a demon…" _

"_What would make her think that?" _

"_She's been through a lot. She'll need you if she's ever to become the person she has the potential to be. So you see, we each have our mission to fulfill." _

"_Will I ever see you again?" _

"_Maybe, the future isn't written in stone…not even for an Oracle. I cannot tell you for sure what will happen, but I can tell you this. The time will come when you, and our future little sister will be needed on the far west, the same land where I'm going now. Then, maybe, we'll get the chance to meet again." _

"_How will I know when I have to go there? I'm not an Oracle…" _

"_You'll just know. Trust me." _

"_And what is the name of this land. You have never told me." _

"_Japan, the place where I'm needed now, and where you'll be needed one day is Japan, a small town called Karakura…" _

_Serenity nodded, committing the name of the place to memory, she would never forget; and she would spend the next however many years waiting for the signal that she was needed. And there was of course the new sister she would have by then… _

"_Promise me something, deirfiúr." The older girl said unexpectedly. _

"_Anything." Serenity answered almost automatically. _

"_Promise me you'll always fight for what's right, that you'll always follow what your heart and soul dictate, and you'll never give up." The older girl stated strongly. _

"_I promise." Serenity assured her, just as strongly. _

In the apartment bedroom Serenity watched the photo silently, no expression showing in her eyes, or through the veil covering most of her face. Ever so slowly she turned away from the photo, walking to the bed to lay down, and still, her mind couldn't let go of that memory, the memory of what she had had, and lost…

"On my soul, on your memory, I promise, Deirfiúr…"


	21. First Contact

A bit late in the day for the update, but I'd totally forgotten. I've been a little down, actually, from lack of response to last week's chapter... but I promised weekly updates, so here we are! I actually hope that this just a matter of, like my mother said once: 'I was looking for readers, not writers', in other words, even if no one's writing to me, that doesn't mean they aren't reading... and I definitely hope you're still reading.

This week, we go a bit more into our newest OCs, and the first confrontation against the Arrancars! (Trust me, this is nothing like canon!). If you're a fan of Orihime... I've said time and again that my Orihime is different from canon in that I've matured her a bit, mentally and emotionally; I made her into what I think she could and should have been in canon but just never seemed to get there. I hope you'll like it. Her importance will not be too obvious just yet, but it's coming. Ulquihime fans, get ready, this is gonna be one insanely wild ride!

* * *

**Chapter 21. First Contact**

_A thirteen-year-old girl in a baby-pink colored dress with red accents, white flats and a white scarf covering her hair was sitting on a couch, cup of tea in her hand and a duffel-bag at her feet; across the low table sat an older woman, in her thirties, with short curly black hair and dark-gray eyes in kaki dress-pants and a white blouse, watching the girl while ignoring her own half-empty cup of tea. _

"_You know you're always welcome here dear." The older woman assured her. _

"_Yes…" The girl took a sip of tea before turning suddenly serious. "Even when you know what my presence here might mean for you, for your family, for your oldest daughter?" _

"_Is that really necessary?" The woman asked soberly. _

"_I know you don't like it Aunt Marie." The girl said softly. "I don't either, but you must know how necessary it is…" _

"_I sometimes wish I didn't have to see…but I guess even if I didn't they would still be there, wouldn't they?" The woman, Marie, declared. _

"_Yes, they would." The girl nodded sadly. "Spirits are always around us, both Pure and Corrupted ones, whether we see them or not. I think that sometimes it might even be more dangerous if we weren't able to see them." _

"_Shouldn't ignorance be bliss?" Marie inquired. _

"_Not when it can cause death, whether you're ignorant or not." The girl deadpanned. "At least when you can see you know where to run away from, and you might be able to fight…" _

"_That's the crux of the matter, isn't it? Fighting them…" _

"_Aunt…I understand you don't like this." _

"_Do you?" _

"_Yes! I mean, look at me!" she pointed to the bag at her feet. "I don't even have a home anymore! I don't even have a family! My father pretty much disowned me the moment he realized what I can do, what I am!" _

"_You have a home, right here, and you have a family, with us." _

"_Even when you know the consequences having me here will have for her?" _

"_Does it really have to be this way?" _

"_You know the answer to that question as well as I do." _

"_I'm not an Oracle." _

"_No, but you can still see. You can see them, all the chaos and grief they cause. Too many souls have been lost already. We all need for there to be someone capable of fighting back, of protecting those who can't protect themselves…" _

"_You…" _

"_You know that if I could I would handle things myself. I don't like getting others involved, especially my little cousin, anymore than you do. But I can't, I don't have that kind of power. I was born an Oracle; I'm no Maiti, or a fighter of any kind…your daughter on the other hand…she has what she needs to do this." _

"_And to think that I once found the old tales to be so funny and amazing…" _

"_Yeah, some things can seem like wonderful, beautiful fairy-tales, until we're forced to become a part of them…" _

"_You know? I don't know how I hadn't noticed it before, but you're awfully serious for a thirteen-year-old, awfully old, in a sense." _

"_I guess it's a consequence of seeing all I've seen…" _

"_Have you seen my daughter? What she will become?" _

"_I have." There was a mix of light happiness, melancholy and something else impossible to pinpoint in the girl's smile as she spoke about her little cousin. "She'll be the most amazing Peacekeeper to ever exist…" _

_There was more, something she wasn't saying, and Marie knew that much, but she also knew that Oracles could never be forced to share what they knew, what they had seen, it went against the rules; she just hoped that whatever it was her niece knew and was keeping to herself, it wouldn't be as bad as she feared it might be. _

The sky was still dark, as the slim figure walked through a beautifully cared-for garden, the bare soles of her feet brushing on the damp grass.

"Oh Aunt Marie…" She whispered to no one in particular. "I wonder if you would have been so understanding, so welcoming of me in your home, if you had known the kind of danger I would end up pulling your daughter into?"

With a sigh, she moved her hand across a small round platinum brooch she wore, about an inch in diameter, pinned near the end of her sash, it was engraved with a five-pointed Celtic-style star done in silver.

"Is what I did really fair?" she sighed and shook her head. "Probably not. Necessary? Absolutely. Still, to drag an innocent girl into a war she should have never had anything to do with…it's probably the most terrible sin I'll ever commit…" she closed her eyes tightly.

Above her head, the sky began to lighten and change color, as the first rays of the sun reflected over the brown, red and cream colored tones of her clothing. Still, ignoring the growing light, the young woman, who looked to be in her late teens, or early twenties, envisioned the face of a girl in her mid-teens with porcelain skin and eyes as bright as stars…

"I wonder what you think of it all…" She continued to herself. "Do you understand? Do you hate me? Do you wish you had never met me?" she sobbed softly. "Regardless of anything, I will always hold you dear, my cousin…my sister…Deirfiúr…"

**xXx**

The day after the arrival of two new students on Karakura-High, the Nakama's confrontation with a Visored and their realization that there was yet another unknown person in Karakura with spiritual powers strong enough to take down a highly-powerful hollow, all the Nakama were very tense. The twins kept directing mostly-discreet looks at Keeva, trying to learn more about her, what her power might be, what she was even doing in Karakura; the rest of the teens also kept watch over Shinji, wondering why exactly he was still posing as a student after they had told him there was no Visored among them. Did he not believe them? And if so, why? Was he a risk to them, to anyone else?

Things were truly stressful for everyone.

Eventually classes finished for the day, and the group of friends reunited in the schoolyard, ready to make their way to Urahara's for some training, and possibly even to demand some explanations from the once-shinigami-captain. What they weren't expecting was for Hirako Shinji to be waiting for them a few blocks away from the school, and that he wasn't alone, with him was a small-looking girl in a red-tracksuit with brown eyes and blonde hair in spiky pigtails. All the Nakama could sense how alike the reiatsu of the two were, and easily deduced that she had to be another Visored, however, only one actually recognized her.

"Hiyori…" Karin mumbled, shocked.

"So it's true, the little raven-princess is now a human." Hiyori chuckled, and then hissed as she added. "And to think I absolutely abhor humans…"

The comment immediately put all the Nakama in high alert, though Karin pushed down the instinct to try and reason with her once-friend.

"I'm actually only half-human." Karin clarified. "Oyaji is a shinigami." She shook her head dismissing that. "Anyway, how have you been Hiyori?"

"I was betrayed, experimented on, turned into part-hollow, nearly-murdered, condemned to execution, forced to go into pseudo-voluntary exile and then spend the last century on the run, knowing that if I'm found, I'm dead…how do you think I've been?" Hiyori snarled.

"I know it must have been hard…" Karin began, before being interrupted.

"You know?!" Hiyori exploded. "You know?! You don't know nothing! You're nothing but a spoilt little princess!"

"Hiyori…" Karin began, beginning to go from happy to see an old friend to annoyed at the attitude she was showing.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter." Hiyori said dismissively. "The past is the past, what matters is the present. What needs to be done now." She turned to Ichigo. "You're coming with us."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Ichigo didn't bother to hide his anger at that.

"Because you're one of us." Hiyori said with a smirk, looking at the others with derision. "Because you don't belong with them."

"Of course I belong with them!" Ichigo retorted. "We are all Nakama, we belong together."

"You must be really nuts, brat." Hiyori sneered. "We're Visored, seen as aberrations by those who consider themselves normal…your so-called nakama, they will leave you the moment they realize what you truly are…"

"You don't know us, so don't presume to know what we'll do or won't do." Orihime stated strongly. "Like Ichigo said, we're Nakama, we stick together, no matter what."

"Why do you even keep focusing on me?" Ichigo wanted to know. "I told you yesterday I'm nothing like you, like either of you. Like Yuzu told Shinji, none of us has a mask…"

"You may have been able to fool Shinji, but then again he's a bit of an idiot anyway." Hiyori stated off-handedly.

"Hiyori…" Shinji half-whined.

"But you cannot fool me." The female Visored went on, ignoring Shinji. "I can sense the darkness in your reiatsu. The hollow in your aura…you are most definitely a Visored."

The girl's words put Ichigo on the defensive, he'd known he wouldn't be able to hide Shiro's existence as a part of his own soul for long, but he hadn't been expecting things to turn south so soon either.

"You will be coming with us, Kurosaki Ichigo." Hiyori stated as she began focusing her own reiryoku, and her reiatsu began to rise. "And anyone who gets in our way will die."

"If you think you can take my Ichigo anywhere you're out of your mind." Rukia stated in a very possessive tone, as she stood in front of her beloved, her reiatsu rising steadily.

The rest of the Nakama materialized their weapons instantly as well, ready to fight for their nakama and leader at a moment's notice.

All but Karin, who took a more hands-on approach on the problem…she went straight at Hiyori, punching her in the face with all the strength her human body was capable of; it was enough to send the small Visored down, to Shinji's, and everyone else's surprise.

"So I'm nothing but a spoilt princess, huh?" Karin practically snarled, as her human body began glowing a red color. "I know nothing?" her reiatsu kept climbing in her anger, and she didn't care. "You're the one who knows nothing Sarugaki Hiyori!"

Furious at being taken by surprise, Hiyori jumped back on her feet, she went to attack Karin, but had to move back almost instantly, when getting too close to the raven-haired girl began giving her superficial burns; Karin's reiatsu was high enough to burn in that moment; neither Visored could believe it.

"You still refer to me as a raven-princess, and then you say the past is the past." Karin commented. "But I don't think you're really letting go of the past Hiyori. Things change in a hundred years, did you know that? I went to the Shino Academy, graduated in two years, I was considered as one of the five most talented shinigami to have ever gone through the Academy, and the most talented woman…then I lost my Nii-sama, the only direct family I had left, a decade later; almost immediately I was declared a captain-candidate. I never made captain, but you know? It wasn't because I couldn't, but because I didn't want to, I achieved bankai about eight years after being named a candidate for the captaincy. But I really didn't want to be a captain. Then two years after that, I was killed; Aizen ordered a hit on me, his first plan failed, but the second one worked quite nicely, I was taken down by an imperfect Arrancar after spending several late-night hours fighting what must have been at least a hundred hollows. I was reborn ten years later; regained my powers a bit over a month ago."

The two Visored could only watch Karin in silence, her aura had gone back to manageable levels in the middle of her rant, and by the time she was finished she looked like a normal human again; only that, by then, it had become pretty obvious that she was anything but a normal human girl.

"You were right Hiyori, the past is the past." Karin went on, more calm by then. "Things change, I changed. I'm no longer Nagaken Karin, I'm no longer the weak little sister of a Noble Clan-Head and Captain of the Gotei 13. I'm Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, shinketsu shinigami, reincarnation of a captain-candidate, prodigy, bankai-wielding shinigami." Her voice turned to steel as she went on. "You were once a dear friend, almost a role-model to me, Hiyori; but I think I don't know you anymore, just as you don't know me. I'm no longer the raven-princess Hiyori, and if you try to so much as lay a single finger on my brother, or any other of my nakama…I swear I'll take you down myself."

**xXx**

Things on Wednesday weren't any easier than they had been the two previous days. The Nakama were still on edge about the Visored, Keeva, and even the adults who might be responsible for the Visored being after Ichigo.

The situation from the previous day had ended after Karin's very direct warning against Hiyori. Yet again the Visored had found themselves in a situation they weren't ready for, and that made them hesitate from their original plan of just taking Kurosaki Ichigo with them and ignored everyone else. Despite Hiyori's assurances that the orange-haired had, in fact, an Inner Hollow, he still wasn't at all what they had been expecting; there was no fear in him, for himself or his nakama, no doubt, no uncontrolled anger, even Karin had made more show of her own temper than the one who was supposedly being haunted by an Inner Hollow.

The rest of the week, and even the one following, were pretty tense, what with keeping their guard, studying Castelo Keeva, trying to find whoever else had just arrived to Karakura with the power to fight an imperfect arrancar, wondering what the Visored would do next, and waiting for Aizen to make his move, the number of hollows attacking Karakura kept escalating, but none as powerful as the hamen of that particular day; even the day they took off to celebrate the 'Day of the Dead' was filled with tension as they all waited for an attack that just didn't come; and yet, if the Nakama had just known what would be happening next, they might have tried and enjoy that time to its fullest anyway…

Most seniors saw it as a curse, that because entrance exams for college were so close upon them, the High-School had arranged to have them stay an hour longer on certain days, to help them prepare for such exams. While other students were in fact thankful for the help they could get during that time, others didn't like it in the slightest, like most of the Nakama, who, being already in the Honor Roll despite their relatively constant absences due to their 'spiritual duties' considered that having to be extra hours in school was just a waste of their time, time they could be using to train instead.

Monday was one such day when seniors had to stay for an extra hour, Yuzu had gone home to prepare dinner, while Karin stayed for soccer practice, deciding that at least, if she had to stay, it was for something she enjoyed, and not more dull school-time.

The 'extra-class' had just begun, when, unexpectedly, all the Nakama gasped at once, Mizuiro, Keigo and Chizuru going as far as beginning to tremble slightly.

"What the hell is that?" Tatsuki demanded, as she forced herself to breathe normally.

"No idea." Uryuu replied, focusing on finding the origin of the reiatsu.

"It's much more powerful than the imperfect arrancar from the other day." Orihime added nervously. "And…"

"It's right outside." She and Uryuu stated at the same time.

That was enough, instantly all the Nakama were on their feet and rushing out of the classroom, totally ignoring their teacher's questions and demands on where they were going and why so many of them were leaving the classroom at the same time.

"Whatever happens, don't let anyone get out!" Ichigo ordered the three weakest of the Nakama. "We'll handle this."

"Are you sure you can handle this, Ichigo?" Keigo asked, growing more and more afraid by the second, as the reiatsu pressed upon him.

"We have to." Rukia said grimly as she prepared herself mentally. "Too many lives, too many souls, would be at risk if we don't."

The reiatsu began escalating right then, showing that one of the newly arrived enemies was about to attack, that was enough to send them all into a frenzy. The Nakama rushed to the nearest window and jumped out, uncaring of the fact that they were on a third floor, they used reiatsu to soften their landing, before rushing to the front of the school at top-speed, meeting with Karin, who had left soccer-practice when sensing the danger.

"They're going to attack!" Uryuu and Orihime announced in unison.

"It's a Cero!" Karin was the one to recognize the red-sphere of power being formed by one of four beings standing by the school gate.

Instantly Rukia, Karin and even Ichigo began murmuring the incantation for shielding kidou. While Karin's control was still shaky, and Ichigo was simply atrocious at kidou, it was still preferable to doing nothing at all. Their shields, along with Orihime's own, were enough to stop the Cero and dissipate it, and at the same time anger the one who had fired it. The teens just hoped there wouldn't be a second attack like that one, one had been bad enough.

The Nakama finally got just a few feet away from the gate and could observe the new arrivals attentively: two females and two males, all dressed in white attires with black highlights, their reiatsu was very dark, like hollows, but had the slightest trace of shinigami in them.

"Arrancars…" Karin gasped, shocked.

"What?" Uryuu shook his head, not quite believing it. "But they are nothing like the hamen we sensed the other day!"

"Because these aren't imperfect Arrancar!" Karin answered, half-hysterical. "These Arrancars are, somehow, stable."

The answer came to all of them like one. "Aizen."

"He must have been able to activate the Hougyoku." Rukia assumed.

"But weren't we told that it would take him at least a year?" Chad wanted to know.

"Those who said that were either being stupid…again…" Uryuu muttered with disdain. "Or they seriously underestimate Aizen…"

It didn't even matter in that moment which one it was, what mattered was that four stable Arrancar were in that moment in front of them, with power far beyond any hollows they had fought, or even seen before.

"Orihime, can you do something to protect the school?" Ichigo asked the girl. "Something tells me that we won't be able to get these hollows away from this place, not without a fight, and any fight with enough power to truly go against them could end up hurting innocents."

"At least in this area, and at this time, the only thing we really need to worry about is the school, and the few businesses nearby." Rukia commented.

"Only the school." Uryuu pointed out soberly. "Haven't you noticed it yet? There are no other souls in the vicinity…they have been consumed already."

Orihime covered her mouth, drowning a cry; for a moment it seemed like she would lose herself to despair, knowing that so many lives had been lost already; and then, like that time on Soukyoku Hill, she abruptly stilled herself and, with her hands to her temples, call onto her power, a power far superior than any she had used before in the Living World.

"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily!" She summoned her fairies. "Can we create a shield big enough, and strong enough to protect everyone in the school?"

"We're your power, we depend on your will Orihime." Baigon reminded her.

"If you can will it, it can be." Lily stated with a huge smile.

"Your only limit is yourself." Hinagiku added. "Now call us!"

Steeling her resolve, Orihime focused all her will on her desire to protect everyone in the school, on not wanting anyone else to die…

"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily!" Orihime began her kotodama, as her reiatsu rose steadily. "Santen Kesshun! Nibankyuu! I reject!"

Instead of forming a triangular shield between them, as the three flowers usually did, they took positions around the school property; the line of protection formed connecting them, as usual, but then it expanded, below and above them, forming a column of protection all around the school. It was Orihime shield in a form never before seen…

"I'm afraid this will need all my focus." Orihime informed the others, hands to her temples as she focused her reiatsu on the shield. "You will have to be the ones to fight."

"No problem." Chad assured her.

"Thanks a lot Orihime." Ichigo smiled at her. "You've taken a huge weight off our shoulders."

"You're awesome Orihime-san." Rukia added.

Orihime glowed at the praise, the words and feelings behind them strengthening her resolve even more, and with it, her shield.

"What the hell is that?!" The bigger of the two male arrancar demanded hotly. "Who the hell are you all?!"

It was clear that the Arrancars hadn't expected the bunch of human teens standing up to them.

"It's polite for the visitor to introduce himself first." Uryuu stated, with a calm he didn't feel.

All the Nakama were on their guard already, weapons manifested; while some of them cursed the lack of time to get out of their bodies, they still didn't dare try it, not wanting to leave an opening for their enemies to take advantage of.

"Ulquiorra Cifer," The smallest of the Arrancars introduced himself. "Cuarta Espada, under Aizen-sama's command."

"Espada?" Tatsuki inquired, unfamiliar with the term.

"It's Spanish for sword." Chad pointed out helpfully.

"It means we're the most powerful Arrancars." The bigger Espada informed him. "I am Yammy Llargo, Décima Espada."

"Loly Aivirrne, Número 33." The teenaged-looking black-haired, pink-eyed female arrancar introduced herself.

"Menoly Mallia, Número 34." The teenaged-looking blonde-haired, green-eyed female arrancar added almost instantly.

The Nakama filed the new term for later contemplation, in that moment they had to focus on the obviously upcoming fight.

"We're here to test, Kurosaki Ichigo." Ulquiorra announced seriously. "And are willing to destroy any trash that might get in our way."

No one had any doubt that it was the rest of them being called trash, and while Uryuu, Tatsuki and Karin all bristled at the comment, none of them moved a muscle, waiting either for Ichigo to give a signal, or for the Arrancar to attack first.

"I am Kurosaki Ichigo." The orange-haired announced stepping before his nakama. "Why would you want to test me?"

"Because Aizen-sama orders it so." Ulquiorra answered simply.

Most of the Nakama were beginning to tire of the way Ulquiorra kept saying 'Aizen-sama', all except one, who could only watch the black-haired emerald-eyed Espada with a mix of the greatest shock and deepest-sadness ever shown in those eyes…

"So, if the orange-head is the one you wanted…does that mean I can get rid of the rest of the trash?" Yammy inquired with a predatory smirk.

The Nakama didn't need an answer, and apparently neither did Yammy, as they all got ready to fight instantly.

The two female Arrancars, not wanting to be left out, moved to attack Orihime at the same time, obviously seeing her as the weakest link; however, before they could get close enough to her, Karin and Tatsuki were before them, attacking them in turn.

"Chad?" Uryuu inquired, turning to the half-Mexican.

With a silent accord, the two young-men prepared to fight as a team against the Décima Espada, leaving Ichigo and Rukia with Ulquiorra.

Ichigo and Rukia summoned their zanpakutou, cursing not having the time to get into their shinigami forms. Rukia specially, she was still pretty new at using her zanpakutou while in her gigai, but was training very hard to improve.

"You know you will never be able to fight me as a human." Ulquiorra pointed out blankly. "If you're truly Kurosaki Ichigo, get out of your body, fight me as a shinigami."

"Yeah, well…" Ichigo kept his guard up as he gave his reasons. "You see, me getting out of this body would require me lowering my guard, which would put not only myself at risk, but all my nakama, that's not something I'm willing to allow."

"You say you're here to test Ichigo, that Aizen sent you." Rukia commented, suddenly realizing something. "Does that mean you aren't here to try and kill him?"

"I wasn't given such orders." Ulquiorra said simply. "But I suppose if he proves to be as much of trash as the others, I might as well save Aizen-sama the trouble."

"You say my nakama are trash and yet…have you noticed in whose favors the battles around us are going?" Ichigo inquired with a half smirk.

Ulquiorra actually had been noticing. Loly had been easily overpowered by Karin who, despite her still rather erratic control over her own reiatsu, was notoriously more powerful than her opponent. Only luck was keeping the pigtailed arrancar alive at that point.

Menoly, on the other hand, had been having an advantage over Tatsuki, whose power began acting against herself, her own human body. What no one had been expecting was the black-haired girl in dark-jeans and a top that had come out of nowhere and engaged Menoly in hand-to-hand combat, soon proving to be stronger than the blonde Arrancar, stronger than any human was supposed to be. It was Castelo Keeva, and while the Nakama weren't completely sure of her loyalties, they were willing to let it go, at least for the time being.

The other battle had been more serious, and delicate. In that moment Chad was standing, holding his badly torn right arm against his body, his armor had practically been ripped off by the sadistic Espada; at the same time, the Espada had lost an arm to Uryuu's seele schneider, who had acted in retaliation to the wound dealt to his nakama. Uryuu himself had some wounds, but nothing too serious. They were at a stand-still in that moment.

"Ichigo, get out of your body." Rukia instructed unexpectedly.

"Rukia?" The orange-haired didn't understand her sudden change of attitude.

"We're winning right now, but things could still change." Rukia admitted. "You've heard Ulquiorra, he's not interested in killing us, just in testing you. Maybe you'll be able to convince him to leave us alone."

Ichigo had to recognize his beloved was right, and that was enough. It took him a second of concentration, and like he'd done before, when going to fight Grand Fisher, he willed his soul to leave his body with just a thought.

"Rukia, please guard my body." Ichigo said seriously.

The obsidian-haired nodded solemnly, getting on guard over Ichigo's empty body; with the fights going on around them she couldn't even try to pull it to where Orihime stood.

*Ossan, Shiro, I think we'll need to work together if we want this to work.* Ichigo murmured into his mind as he got on his guard.

*Indeed Ichigo, we're ready.* Zangetsu assured him.

*Go Aibou, show that boring bastard what we're made of!* Shiro said with a predatory grin.

Ichigo laughed mentally, his inner hollow seemed to be truly thrilled at the prospect of a fight. Too bad that he wasn't planning on letting it go too long.

"Bankai!" Ichigo called almost instantly. "Tensa Zangetsu!"

He knew he was taking his power too high, too quickly, but if he wanted to impress Ulquiorra enough to convince him to leave, at least for the time being, he decided it was better to go all out, or almost all out, right from the start. Even if it could be seen as overkill, he would rather not take chances. Still, he was keeping a couple of aces under his sleeves: his synchronization with Zangetsu, and Shiro's powers.

It just happened that in that precise moment Menoly finally fell against Keeva, Loly barely managing to get herself and her 'sister' out of the way before they could be killed. Yammy seemed to take that as some sort of signal as he feinted in Uryuu's direction, making him move away, before turning to Chad instead.

"Chad, get down!" Ichigo yelled before releasing an attack of his own. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

The gentle giant didn't doubt, he instinctively followed Ichigo's orders, throwing himself to the ground, rolling, trying his best to keep his injured arm protected.

Ichigo's attack was fast and strong enough that it threw Yammy off his track and dug deep into his side, only the Espada's hierro prevented it from cutting straight through.

"What the…" Yammy turned to Ichigo, livid.

Even Ulquiorra seemed to be at least a bit shocked as he watched the apparent ease with which Ichigo had cut Yammy, especially considering that he hadn't had time to charge a particularly powerful attack. If the orange-haired could do that at a moment's notice, what could he do when he had time to actually prepare an attack?

"It's up to you Ulquiorra, you take them away, or I kill them all right now!" Ichigo stated coldly as he began preparing to do exactly that.

Only twice he had moved to attack a humanoid being, the first one having been a disaster; the most recent case had been with Kariya, and while he certainly didn't like it, like he had told the leader of the Bount, he was willing to do anything for his nakama.

"Ichigo!" those listening could hardly believe what they were hearing. "You cannot just let them walk away!"

"Yes I can." Ichigo insisted.

"It's necessary." Uryuu added grimly, having realized what Ichigo was thinking. "If we continue fighting for much longer we will begin to affect Karakura and its inhabitants. Not just because of direct attacks, but our reiatsu. Also, other hollows have begun appearing, called by the reiatsu we've been expelling. We're in no condition for a full-out battle right now."

"That's not all." Ichigo added. "This is the perfect opportunity to send a message. What do you think Aizen will think when he sees three of the four Arrancars he sent personally go back looking like they do right now, and knowing they could have all been destroyed?" He turned to Ulquiorra. "Let me tell you something, this isn't the limit of my power. But I won't power up anymore, for I don't want to affect Karakura and the civilians needlessly. I also want you to tell Aizen something, tell him that if he messes with me, with us Nakama, with our town, he will come to regret it. We're not Shinigami, we're not the Gotei, we don't fight for duty, or following orders, we fight to protect; if you hit, we'll hit back, and you will see how far a bunch of humans with powers can go when they will it so…"

Ulquiorra didn't reply, while under normal circumstances he would have immediately dismissed such threats, thought it ludicrous for anyone to believe he had the power to make them, he could sense that the half-human Kurosaki Ichigo was powerful, and he wasn't straining himself yet. Whatever it was Aizen had had in mind when he decided to send Ulquiorra with three pretty weak Arrancars…he obviously wasn't expecting what had happened, which meant that the 4th Espada had done enough already.

The shinketsu shinigami watched Yammy attentively, while his previous attack had had to be very fast, he had still called its name, which meant it had held considerable power, and still, the wound he had dealt Yammy hadn't been as serious as he'd been hoping for, which meant he would need more energy. He began to gather reiatsu into Zangetsu, planning on trying to cut Yammy's head off next; he knew that if Karin got into her shinigami form she would have no trouble taking down either Loly or Menoly, Rukia could do the same and handle the other female Arrancar, while Keeva was still there and seemed to be pretty powerful, Ichigo didn't want to be dependent on her; if Ulquiorra tried to attack then he would have to leave Yammy to Uryuu and handle the stronger Espada himself, he had absolute confidence in his nakama.

"Why are you doing this U…lquiorra?" Orihime's sudden question took them all by surprise.

It was obvious that it took great effort for her to keep her focus on her shield while at the same time hold a conversation, but she still did it. Orihime had only had to stop a handful of attacks, and while the two girl's attacks hadn't been too strong, Yammy's had had enough force to rattle her shield, and make her flinch visibly while pushing more reiatsu into her technique, she wouldn't last much longer. What she had done, the kind of shield she created, was like nothing she, or anyone else, had ever done before; she was using some of the reiatsu Ichigo kept releasing, which helped a lot, and yet she was still a human, with human limitations…

"Aizen-sama…" Ulquiorra began.

"No." Orihime's voice was surprisingly strong as she interrupted the Espada. "I don't want to know why Aizen wanted you to do this, I want to know why You want to do this…"

No one said a thing, all of them waiting for what the Espada might say; they had no idea what Orihime expected to achieve by interrogating the Espada like that, but as strange as the orange-red haired girl could be at times, she was not stupid, she was in fact one of the most intelligent among them, so they trusted her, and waited for Ulquiorra's response.

"I…I am looking for something." Ulquiorra answered after a while.

"What are you looking for Uk…Ulquiorra?" Orihime inquired, so softly a stranger might have thought she was talking to a scared child.

"I…don't know." Ulquiorra replied, as softly and hesitantly as she.

Silence reigned for what seemed like forever, everyone present seemed to be having a hard time processing what Ulquiorra was saying.

"You…you are looking for something, without knowing what it is?!" Tatsuki half-snapped, thinking the whole thing was insanity.

"I will know when I find…it." Ulquiorra replied, a bit more strongly, responding to Tatsuki's own tone of voice.

It looked like Orihime wanted to say something more, but then the shield rippled, it was becoming increasingly hard for her to keep it up, but she knew she couldn't let it down until the Espada were gone, it would be too dangerous for those still inside the school otherwise…

"Yammy, Loly, Menoly, we're leaving." Ulquiorra ordered.

No one said a thing, none of the Nakama tried to stop the Arrancars either. Ulquiorra simply made a motion with his hand, opening what looked almost like a black hole in the air, he went through, closely followed by the two arrancar girls, who were holding each other up, and Yammy, who was carrying his cut arm.

No one lowered their guard, or even breathed, until the hole in the air closed again behind the Arrancar. Then Orihime's shield dissolved into the air, at the same time she dropped to her knees, panting; Chad, Tatsuki and Karin finally allowed themselves to fall down in exhaustion, Uryuu barely keeping himself from doing the same; Ichigo made sure they were all alright, before getting back into his body.

"So…we survived the first attack…" Tatsuki commented with a sigh.

"Barely…" Chad muttered, not liking that fact at all.

"We need to up our training." Uryuu decided.

"And next time there's an attack, those of us who need to get out of our bodies to fight better are doing that, before going to fight." Karin stated seriously.

They were all quite sure things wouldn't have been that close, or even bad, for some of them, if they had had access to their full power.

"As interesting as it is to hear you all making plans for future battles…someone wants to explain to me what exactly is going on?" Someone unexpectedly asked.

During the whole exchange between Orihime and Ulquiorra, the Nakama had almost forgotten that Keeva was there, that she had helped Tatsuki fight Menoly, and had displayed power like none they had ever seen before. But as she spoke out-loud to all of them, they remembered, and immediately got on their guard again…

"Hey!" Keeva cried out, seeing Uryuu's arrow pointing at her. "I'm not your enemy, ok? So put that down! Or out! Whichever."

"How can we be sure you're not an enemy?" Uryuu inquired. "We don't even know who you are! How you have power…"

"I just helped you, remember?" Keeva pointed out, making sure not to make any sudden moves that might provoke the others into attacking her.

"That might have been a strategy to get close to us and then attack us when our guard is down." Karin said stoically.

"You are pretty paranoid, did you know that?" Keeva deadpanned.

"It's not paranoia when the danger is real." Orihime quoted.

"And since I don't know what the danger is supposed to be…I still call it paranoia." Keeva retorted cheekily.

"You don't know…are you telling me you got involved in a battle of this level, without even knowing what the stakes were?!" Ichigo practically snapped.

"Pretty much, yeah." Keeva shrugged.

Ichigo's reiatsu was pushing on her, but she forced herself to remain standing, she used her own to lock her muscles in place so she wouldn't collapse under the pressure.

"Ichigo, calm down." Rukia said, taking a hold of his arm. "If you keep this going you're going to seriously hurt her. And maybe even yourself."

"She's right Ichigo, you're letting out too much reiatsu." Uryuu added.

"The hollows appearing…" Tatsuki began, remembering how complicated things got when Ichigo's reiatsu flared too much.

"Are being dealt with." Orihime said softly. "By Ishida-sensei, Urahara-san, Yoruichi-san, Ichigo's otou-san, Yuzu-chan, and someone else…"

"A Visored?" Karin inquired.

"The presence doesn't feel like a Visored." Uryuu threw in his two cents. "It probably is whoever took care of the hamen two weeks ago."

The others nodded, they still hadn't been able to find that person, and while that stressed them out, in that moment the priority was standing in between them.

"How exactly did you get involved in our fight, when you had no idea what it was about?" Rukia asked the human girl. "For all you know, we could have been the bad-guys."

"Please, I may not have known the details, but I'm not stupid either." Keeva grumbled. "I know what hollows feel like, I've seen them before, I've fought them before…"

"You've fought hollows?!" Tatsuki didn't quite buy it.

"Why would you fight hollows?" Chad asked, concerned.

"Yes, in America." Keeva answered. "And someone had to do it. Otherwise innocent people would die. I wasn't about to allow that."

"What about the resident shinigami?" Rukia asked, half-confused, half-worried.

"Before him," Keeva signaled to Ichigo. "I had never seen a shinigami."

As the Nakama processed what Keeva had just said, and all its implications, the short-haired girl remembered what she had talked with Serenity recently, regarding the very teens that still stood guard around her:

_Keeva dropped from the building's roof and to the apartment's balcony, at times like that, it paid to be living on the last floor, even if usually it was a pain to have to climb so many stairs. She had just finished a hollow that had gotten too close to their home, and she had done it fast, so her lady wouldn't feel the need to act herself. _

_As the fifteen-year-old straightened up from the crouch she'd landed on she saw her lady standing against the balcony's door, watching in the distance as a combination of white arrows, an orange-tinted shield and a blue energy dispatched a bit over half a dozen hollows that had appeared a few miles away from their apartment. _

"_They seem to be quite good." Keeva commented. _

"_True." Serenity sighed as she turned and walked away from the window. "But regardless of how good they might be, they won't be enough." _

"_What makes you think that?" Keeva asked, confused. _

_She'd seen the human teenagers fighting several times, and could admit that they were incredibly powerful, at least half of them were considerably more powerful than her. It almost seemed like they should be capable of handling anything thrown at them, and yet her lady was saying they weren't strong enough…what kind of power was coming at them then? Who or what could be so strong that the power they had witnessed thus far would not be enough? _

"_If their power were enough, we would not be here." Serenity stated calmly. _

"_I still don't know why we even came here." Keeva stated in a tired tone. "You say we're needed, and yet nothing I've seen thus far suggests such a thing. You talk about working together, and yet you refuse to have us introduce ourselves to them…" _

"_You will." Serenity interrupted her without reacting to Keeva's tone of voice. "The moment will come when you will realize how much you're needed, and you'll get the chance to introduce yourself to them. Just remember one thing: no matter what happens you're not to tell them about your origins…or about me." _

"_Why not?" Keeva was confused and beginning to get stressed out by all the secrecy. _

"_It's not time yet." Serenity answered simply. _

_And as angry as the younger girl was at what the older was saying, she held her temper and rather unkind answer back; Serenity was her lady, her superior in each and every way that mattered, and Keeva would never try to force her will upon her, or truly disobey her, she would always follow her lady, no matter what. _

"_What am I suppose to say then, when this time comes and they all interrogate me about my powers?" Keeva inquired formally. _

"_Tell them you're a human who acquired powers through necessity." Serenity instructed. "They will believe it, after all, at least two of them are the same…or so they believe." _

_Keeva nodded, willing to follow those instructions regardless of how unsure she herself was of the tactic. Wouldn't it end up making things harder if they lied and had to change their story later? How would she, would they, explain having lied first? _

_By that point Serenity had turned around, already on her way back to her room, massaging her temples softly with the pads of her fingers. _

"_My lady…" Keeva called unexpectedly. "I cannot help but wonder…how much do you know exactly about what's going on, what's coming?" _

"_Not enough." Was all Serenity answered before locking herself in her room again. _

The short-haired girl was brought back to reality by Rukia speaking, directing a question straight at her.

"Who are you?" Rukia wanted to know. "Really."

"My name, as all you must know already, is Castelo Keeva." The ebony-haired introduced herself. "I am a spiritually aware human, with certain abilities that allow me to defend myself, as well as fight back. Just turned sixteen…What else? Like I said in the first day of class, I am Mexican but have lived in many places. I'm proficient in gymnastics and several martial arts…oh, and I came here to Japan because my sister wanted to come."

"How did you gain powers?" Tatsuki wanted to know.

"Well…" Keeva shrugged, apparently uncaring. "I just needed them and they were there. I've always been able to see what other people couldn't. At first I had no idea what it meant, thought it might mean I was crazy or something, everyone else thought that at least; then one day I was attacked…and I discovered I could fight back. I've never been too interested in unveiling the specifics, the whys or the hows, I only care about the what."

"Which is why you got involved in a dangerous battle without even knowing what was really going on." Karin muttered, not quite buying it.

"Like I said, I've fought hollows before." Keeva justified herself. "And since you were the ones fighting them now…I assumed you had to be the good guys."

"And if you had been wrong?" Uryuu wasn't sure why, but the girl's attitude was bothering him somewhat, she seemed too blasé about things he considered serious.

"I would have been screwed." Keeva shrugged again.

"You don't seem to be too bothered by the possibility of your own death." Chad commented, beginning to get bothered as well.

"Have you never heard the phrase, 'Live Fast, Die Young'?" Keeva deadpanned.

"Going back to something you said earlier." Rukia decided to change topic before things got too much tenser. "You mentioned a sister earlier…that she's the reason you're here. Does she have any power of her own?"

The Nakama got on the same page as her almost instantly, Rukia's suspicion of that unknown sister and the unknown spiritually empowered newcomer being one and the same.

"She's not a fighter." Keeva answered simply.

It looked like one of the Nakama was going to insist, but this time it was Keeva who interrupted them, changing the topic.

"Look, I know you may not believe anything of what I'm saying, but believe this." She said strongly. "Class is over, there will be several dozen high-school seniors swarming this very spot any minute now, and unless you want them to see you all here and wonder what exactly is going on, maybe even make questions I'm sure you don't want to answer…"

The Nakama didn't like it, but they knew she was right, they had half-registered the sound of the bell that announced the end of the extra-hour for seniors shortly before, and there was no way Chizuru, Keigo and Mizuiro would be able to stop all of their classmates from leaving for their homes for long, and it would be too suspicious if they even tried.

"We're not done." Ichigo stated. "We'll talk more later, Castelo. Let's go guys."

"Keeva is just fine." The girl said off-handedly. "I've never been one for formalities. And if you don't mind, I need to get home soon, my sister worries."

With that, she began making her way uptown; she was a couple of blocks away when she stopped with a sigh and laid herself against a tree.

"I know you're there." She said out-loud. "I can sense you."

Without a word Uryuu came out from behind another tree a few feet behind her, he didn't seem too bothered by the fact that he'd caught him following her.

"Why are you following me?" Keeva asked with a tired sigh.

"I know you're lying to us." Uryuu said directly. "I'm not sure yet just how much of what you told us was a lie, but I know for sure not all was the truth."

"What makes you so sure?" Keeva inquired, honestly curious.

"You may have trained yourself to keep your emotions contained." Uryuu stated formally. "And may have no outward reiatsu to give you out, but the stiffness of your own stance, of your voice, the steel in your eyes, it all gives you away."

"Your companions didn't seem to notice." Keeva pointed out.

"Most aren't as observant as I." Uryuu admitted. "And yet, none of them trust you either. They won't unless they have a reason, or someone they trust tells them to…"

Keeva frowned, wondering if she was reading too much in his words.

"What do you want?" She asked, allowing exhaustion to show through. "Really?"

"I want to know why you lie." Uryuu answered honestly.

"That's none of your business." Keeva stated, steel once again on her voice and eyes. "I am entitled to secrets, this is my life we're talking about!"

"Not when your secrets, your lies, could affect my nakama, could mean life or death for them." Uryuu stated strongly. "I am a Nakama, they're precious to me, I may not have as much raw power as Ichigo, but I will do anything and everything in power to protect them all, including discovering the truth about someone who lies about being a simple human girl who one day discovered she could fight spiritual beings…I know you have to be more, and I'll find out the truth, for the honor…"

"Of the Quincy, right?" Keeva finished for him, her voice suddenly filled with sarcasm. "I've seen you before, you and the rest of your nakama, Ishida Uryuu. I've seen you fight, and I've heard you talk. I've heard you say that same phrase 'For the honor of the Quincy…' over and over again in the last couple of weeks…But what honor can there be in a race that no longer exists? In people long dead?"

"Not all Quincy have stopped existing." Uryuu said, voice hard, he didn't like the way she spoke about the Quincy, or that she'd obviously been spying on them and none of them had so much as suspected a thing. "Even if I am the last one…"

"Even if you have family who are Quincy as well, a handful don't make a race, not at all." Keeva insisted. "You seem to be so proud to be part of a practically extinct group…and yet you have it so easy. Because even if you were the last of your people, you're not really alone, you have others around you who, even without being Quincy, understand, because they see, sense, the same things as you. You have no idea what it's like, to be the only one, to be called insane, schizophrenic, or even stupid, only because you see, hear and sense things no one else around you can. You don't know what it's like to be passed around, from place to place, from group to group, like a used toy, or an old piece of furniture no one actually wants…you have no idea what really being the 'last one' is like!"

Uryuu was shocked into silence, he honestly had no idea how to respond to that. It had never occurred to him. During his childhood, he'd always had his grandfather and master, and then, after losing him, he'd still had his father, even if their relationship hadn't been ideal back then; then the others had come into the picture: Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, the twins, and everyone else…Castelo Keeva was right, he'd never been alone, and she…

Keeva for her part had slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide, stance as tense as that of a frightened doe about to dash away from a predator. She couldn't believe everything she'd just said, everything she'd just revealed, she'd never said things like that before, admitted so much. She'd trained so hard to keep her emotions under wraps, and yet somehow the Quincy had managed to push all her buttons in quick succession, she'd just snapped.

Before he could gather his wits and say something else Keeva spun around and, pushing a great deal of reiatsu into her legs, ran away so fast Uryuu lost sight of her in a matter of seconds. He briefly thought of going after her, but he was still too shocked to track her down effectively. Her words…they had been nothing like what he had been expecting, like he could have ever expected, he honestly didn't know what to do in that moment. And yet, in that moment he knew one thing, as surely as he'd known Keeva was lying: she was in pain, in so much pain, and he couldn't help the almost soul-deep and absolutely irrational need he was feeling in that moment to aid her, to protect her…he must be insane, or coming down with something, to want so much to help someone he didn't even know…

It was crazy, for weeks they had been worrying about Aizen, about the threat he represented for them and for all of Karakura. There was also the stress of knowing there were other people in Karakura with power and unknown intentions. And yet…no one could have ever expected for things to get so complicated, so fast…and the war hadn't even truly begun yet…

Just what was going to happen next?!


	22. Insurmountable Odds

We're early today... but I think it's preferable to me forgetting to update altogether...

Someone mentioned in a review recently that they thought too much information was being given way too fast. Like I tried to explain then, it's for a variety of reasons: on the one hand, to show how different things are from canon. Here Ichigo and the others are older, wiser, they have a better understanding of what they're getting into, and have sought to be better informed. Doesn't mean they know everything, because they don't, but still. Also, it's a way of showing how much Urahara isn't able to play puppeteer, not with the Nakama. While I don't dislike Kisuke per-say, I do think he's too manipulative, and not always in a good way. Too much like Dumbledore in Harry Potter, and to be honest I'm not much of a fan of Dumbledore; regardless of how much of a grandfather figure he might want to portray himself as, he's still a manipulative bastard more than half the time.

Anyway, this isn't about HP. And the reason why this comment is relevant right now, is because we're having another 'info dump' so-to-speak. Also, the other reason why I chose to do things this way. There came a moment in canon-Bleach, where it was impossible to tell who-knew-what exactly. We, as readers, knew a lot (though not everything, of course). But there were things we knew, that not everyone pertinent did. Like for example, Isshin going against Grand Fisher and destroying the hollow; or how about the Visored? When Urahara told Orihime she shouldn't fight anymore? The lack of proper communications caused a lot of trouble, in my opinion, so I'm doing away with it as much as possible.

If you have any questions about why I'm doing some things, or the way I'm doing them, ask away, I'll do my best to answer.

Also, I don't know if I've said this before (though it is in my profile), there's carte blanche for anyone who might want to make translations, remixes, add-ons, spin-offs, podfics, fanarts, etc., for this fic. Just let me know so I can see them, and advertise it right here. Thanks! And see ya around!

* * *

**Chapter 22. Insurmountable Odds **

Keeva ran as fast as she could in the direction of her apartment, only to stop in the staircase, a floor below the apartment itself; she held onto the railing so tight her knuckles began turning white. She stood there, gasping, trying to calm herself, what had happened, what she had said to the Quincy…she had totally lost control of herself, and she needed to calm down before meeting with her lady, who would worry if she saw her as she was in that moment.

It took several minutes, but finally Keeva's breathing went back to normal, and her heart began to beat at a normal rhythm. That is, at least, until she sensed the darkness, so incredible close it was a terrible slip on her part that she hadn't felt it before. She'd really believed that all the hollows attracted by the huge battle at the school gates had been defeated already, how everyone have missed one? How could she have missed it?!

Keeva hurried, practically flying up what was left of the stairs, she slammed the apartment's door open, only to find her lady standing in the balcony, hands raised in the direction of a nearby hollow, it wasn't very big, but certainly powerful, at least Menos class.

"My lady!" Keeva cried out.

It was too late by then, a rush of power and light could be seen and felt, and a second later the hollow was dissolving into reishi particles.

The younger girl was about to say something else, when unexpectedly the older girl dropped to her knees, holding her head tightly as a pained moan escaped her lips.

"Lady Serenity!" Keeva cried out in panic.

She hurried to the balcony, where she then proceeded to help the young woman back into the living room, as she kept holding her head and letting out tiny moans of pain.

"My lady…" Keeva whispered, not quite knowing what to do.

"I am alright Keeva…" Serenity whispered, though it was quite obvious that she was lying. "It's just a headache…"

"But it's not!" Keeva surprised herself by saying that, she'd never called her lady on her lies, just letting her get away with it. "I know it's not…"

Serenity shook her head, but as soon as she had enough energy she got up and then proceeded to half-stumble down the hallway and to her room.

"I know it's not…" Keeva repeated softly to herself.

She felt so terribly, not being able to help her lady, the young woman she admired more than anyone else…but how could she help someone who didn't want to be helped?

**xXx**

Uryuu was the last one to arrive to Urahara's shop that evening, he'd just let the phone ring the first few times, not being able to sense any hollow in Karakura and deducing that whatever was going on couldn't be that urgent. He'd been totally lost in thought all afternoon, until the insistent ringing of the penthouse's phone, and later on even the denreishinki finally pulled him out of his musings and back to reality.

It had been Yuzu on the phone, apparently Urahara had something very urgent to discuss with everyone, and of course the Nakama were included in that. The only ones not involved were Keeva and the Visored, for obvious reasons.

Also, Uryuu wasn't alone, his father had just arrived after his shift at the hospital when the teen had finally answered the insistent calls, and upon hearing that Urahara was calling 'everyone' for an emergency meeting, the doctor had decided to include himself, especially since, for reasons he didn't really know yet, he'd been forced to destroy several hollows earlier that afternoon, and of course he'd sensed the powerful negative reiatsu that had invaded Karakura for a short time.

The moment the Ishidas stepped into the backroom, where everyone else was already sitting, with cups of tea or coffee each and a couple of plates of pastries, they both became aware of a few things: first there was the tension, practically everyone was so stressed out, one would think a fight would break out any second; another detail was the very clear separation that was being made, with the Nakama sitting on one side of the room, Ichigo and Rukia in the middle, being surrounded by the others in a semi-circle, the adults and other members of the Urahara-shouten in the other side. Something was definitely going on, and it went far beyond Urahara calling all of them for some as-of-yet-unexplained meeting.

Wordlessly, Uryuu went to seat on Ichigo's free side, deciding that if the Nakama were already making such a show, either consciously or unconsciously, of who was in charge, he might as well take his rightful place. Ryuuken for his part seat himself separate from the Nakama, while still closer to them than to the others, he didn't need to say whose side he would rather be on; in fact, it was unlikely he would ever say it, but to some it was still pretty obvious, and it wasn't a one-sided sentiment either.

"You okay Uryuu?" Ichigo asked, in a low enough voice than the adults wouldn't hear.

"Yes, why?" Uryuu was surprised by the question.

"You never not answer your phone, and today it took over a dozen calls for you to answer." Ichigo pointed out quietly. "And don't try to say you weren't home, Orihime, Yuzu, Karin, even I could tell you were at the penthouse…"

"I was…busy…" Uryuu mumbled.

It was obvious he didn't want to say any more, and Ichigo nodded, deciding to accept his nakama's decision and hope that, if it was something really important, or that might affect the rest of them, Uryuu would decide to share sooner rather than later; and even if it didn't affect any of them, Ichigo still hoped the Quincy would eventually trust one of them.

Once the little exchange was over, Ichigo turned to Ryuuken, acknowledging his presence with a short, respectful bow of his head, before turning to the others; he sat up straighter, instinctively knowing the part he was meant to 'play' in that moment; his father would be so proud of knowing he was putting his noble-training into practice even without having actually claimed his birthright just yet…or maybe not.

"So," He said seriously. "What exactly were we called here for, Urahara-san?"

"Yes, yes." Urahara was uncharacteristically serious as he spoke. "As I am sure at least some of you are aware of, several extremely powerful reiatsu made an appearance in the World of the Living today, they were, in fact, arrancars, the most powerful arrancars I've ever sensed. We know they were in this plane for a while, before unexpectedly departing; however, we don't know exactly where in Karakura they were, what they did, or why they even came and then left so soon. That is disturbing, for we have no idea what kind of trouble, of disaster they may have wrecked, regardless of how short a time they were actually in Karakura…"

Urahara interrupted his speech at a touch from Yoruichi, who had noticed by that point the sly, silent looks the Nakama kept directing at each other.

"You know something about those Arrancar, don't you?" Yoruichi guessed.

For a while there was no answer, only silence, tension grew until it was almost stifling, and it wasn't broken until someone finally spoken.

"What if we do?" Ichigo inquired with a shrug.

"Then you must tell us at once!" Urahara stated strongly.

"Why should we?" Ichigo hissed.

"What do we owe you?" Uryuu asked at the same time with a hint of derision obviously directed at the adults save his father. "Nothing, nothing at all, that's what. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: We, the Nakama do not trust you Urahara Kisuke, nor do we trust anyone who associates with you."

Surprised by the last part of that statement, Isshin immediately turned to look at the teens, his gaze settling on his children one by one: Yuzu turned sad eyes away from him, Karin looked away with a snort, while Ichigo stared back at him with defiance. The former 10th Division Captain's heart broke a little at that, his own children didn't trust him, and yet, was it really that surprising? After everything he'd done, and not done…

"I thought we had arranged our differences already." Urahara said, trying to remain aloof. "I know I've made mistakes, first with the Hougyoku, and then with the gikon…"

"This isn't about any of those things." Ichigo interrupted him with a huff.

"Do the names Hirako Shinji and Sarugaki Hiyori ring any bells, Urahara?" Rukia asked, steel in her eyes as she glared at the former shinigami.

The whole situation with the Visored was a sore spot for her, and at least the two she'd met thus far were in her black list already; anyone wanting to take Ichigo away from her would be, it wasn't like she would ever allow such a thing to happen.

Urahara's eyes widened slightly at those words.

"You couldn't come to me with your assumptions, or were they Yoruichi's?" Ichigo asked, then shrugged, not really caring about that. "It doesn't matter in the end. The fact is, you are a coward, rather than facing me straight on with what you believed I might be, you went behind my back, called others to come and then what? Did you expect that I would go with them, or that we would just allow them to take me away against my will?"

The fathers of the two leaders of the Nakama could hardly believe what they were hearing, and the two as one turned accusing eyes to Urahara at once, feeling at least slightly temped to unleash their respective techniques on the man for what he'd dared do. Did the man never learn? Why did he always have to mess in others' lives? And for the worse, most of the time.

"Kisuke…" Isshin began, about to hit his own best-friend for what he'd done.

"Over my vanquished spirit!" Rukia practically snarled, her reiatsu flaring slightly as the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

"We left quite clear that if they didn't cease their attempts and stay away…the consequences would be unpleasant." Uryuu agreed.

"It was more than that." Karin pointed out. "I remember punching Sarugaki in the face and stating quite clearly that if she dared do anything, to anyone I would personally take her down. Visored or not, hollow powers or not, they don't scare me…"

Ichigo smiled slightly as he whispered thanks to all his nakama for the way they had stood up for him then, for the way they were with him in that moment as well. It made him feel all the stronger, to have such loyal comrades and friends with him, and Rukia…he could hardly believe that just that summer he'd believed they were together just out of convenience, that he'd been wondering what true love, what a soul-mate was like…such an oblivious, blind idiot he'd been, thankfully he'd come to his senses in time, Rukia was his, she'd always be.

In that moment, noticing the deep stare Ichigo was directing her way Rukia couldn't help but blush deeply before she elbowed him lightly in the ribs to remind him they were in the middle of something. Still, it was amazing the kind of feelings, so deep and in such intensity, that he was able to raise in her with just one look. Just a few months earlier she'd believed she was nothing but a bother, a street-rat walking among nobles, someone who didn't deserve what she had; and she had known how likely it was that they would end up making her pay for it all, marrying her off to whatever noble the Clan Elders found more convenient, regardless of the fact that it would most likely mean she would have to quit being a shinigami and be miserable for the rest of her existence. And yet…things hadn't been exactly that way, though the Elders actually had tried doing that very thing, they weren't allowed to get away with it. Now, even after months, and the huge mess she'd been and was still involved in, she couldn't quite believe it. Even with the very real threat of a war over her head, she couldn't help but be absolutely, radiantly happy…

"So, that's the crux of the matter." Uryuu went back to the main topic. "You've failed us all… again. You went behind our backs, called in a bunch of strangers, very powerful strangers who, for all we know, could be working for the enemy!"

"Shinji and the Visored would never…" Urahara began.

"How do you know that?" Tatsuki interrupted him. "Have you seen them, talked to them, at all in the last century? I mean, aside from when you went to them behind Ichigo's back to tell them to come. And for a reason you hadn't even confirmed, might I add."

"Yoruichi saw the mask!" Urahara tried to defend himself. "Tessai and I could both sense the corrupted reiatsu during the fight against the Bount, and again on the aftermath of the battle against Grand Fisher…"

"And you thought it was alright to go behind Ichigo's back and call others in, instead of facing him with your suspicions?" Rukia asked sarcastically. "What part of 'next time, ask', did you not get Urahara?"

"I think…" Orihime spoke unexpectedly. "I think he's just not used to not being in control. He feels the need to be…that's why he keeps going behind our backs. He somehow believes he's doing what's right, for everyone."

"Yeah well, he better realize how wrong that is, and soon." Karin said with a snort. "I don't promise to be patient about his stupidities for much longer."

"But there was a mask!" Urahara insisted. "And dark reiatsu! And…"

"So what?!" Ichigo practically snarled. "I never asked you for help, or the Visored for that matter. I don't need you to meddle into my business! If I ever need help, I will ask for it, from Rukia, Uryuu, or some other Nakama, but certainly not from you!"

Urahara shut his mouth with an audible clink as his teeth clashed, he didn't actually know what to make of Ichigo's rant. Did he have an Inner Hollow and didn't need the Visored? Did he just not want others to interfere? Had he actually gotten everything wrong? Urahara had no idea what the answer to the enigma was, and that frightened him more than he cared to admit, even to himself. Inoue Orihime had been absolutely right when she had pointed out the true problem of the situation, he was so used to being the genius, to knowing everything that was going on and planning accordingly, to being at least two steps ahead of everyone else…not knowing things was something he wasn't quite sure how to handle.

"Under normal circumstances we would leave right about this point." Tatsuki growled, before making a rather rude gesture and turning away.

"But these aren't normal circumstances." Uryuu went on. "And while we do not trust you, we know it would be detrimental, to the safety, not of us, but of all the defenseless humans in Karakura, not to present the facts as they are."

"Wait." Rukia stopped him as she began dialing on her denreishinki. "If we're going to do this, we might as well make it official. You know we were going to have to report the happenings to Seireitei, in particular to Ukitake-taichou and Yamamoto-soutaichou, especially considering the latent risks as the situation continues to escalate."

"So we won't be doing the report in person, but by phone conference." Ichigo nodded. "I think it's a good idea. I'm not sure it would have been a good idea for any of us to leave Karakura at this point anyway, who knows when the next attack will be. And Aizen might actually send a competent group next time."

The comments just kept either shocking or just confusing the adults as they heard the teens talk. One thing was clear to everyone though: what had happened earlier that day, in relation to the stable Arrancars that had appeared in the human world, was like nothing any of the adults might have imagined…

"Ukitake-taichou?" Rukia called as her call was answered. "Good evening, this is Kuchiki Rukia, Nakama liaison, speaking…Actually, this is an official matter Ukitake-taichou…We are currently at former captain Urahara Kisuke's place, we've been asked to explain some things that happened earlier today and thought it might be a good idea to report to the Gotei at the same time…Yes, it was important…Ok, let me put you on speaker…"

After arranging for the speaker, Rukia put the phone on the table, right in front of her.

"Good evening Nakama, Kisuke-san, Yoruichi-san, and everyone else that might be present." Ukitake Juushirou's cordial voice greeted them.

The greeting was answered accordingly, and soon pleasantries were over.

"Nakama." Juushirou called, addressing the group in general. "First, to let you know that Shunsui and Ise-fukutaichou are both here with me. They will be giving their input when necessary. Does what you're going to be explaining relate to an unusually large amount of reiatsu, particularly hollow reiatsu that was reported by Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou to have appeared on Karakura earlier this afternoon."

"Yes, Ukitake-san, that is correct." Ichigo nodded.

"Then maybe one of you should contact the soutaichou, he will want to be informed of whatever may have happened, especially if we're to take measures to ensure the Living World will remain safe." Juushirou suggested.

"A good suggestion Ukitake-san." Uryuu agreed. "Originally two of us would have gone to Soul Society to deliver this report in person, but Ichigo has raised doubts on that, since there's the risk of an attack and no way of knowing when it will happen, it might be unwise for us to separate at this point in time."

They didn't call the man, or any shinigami for that matter, by their titles, since they didn't mean anything to the human teenagers, it wasn't like they were part of the Gotei themselves. Still, they respected at least a few of them, which is why they were at least somewhat respectful, if not of their rank, of their person.

"Completely understandable Ishida-san." Juushirou agreed. "And I'm sure the soutaichou will understand as well."

"He does." Ichigo informed them as he laid his own denreishinki on the table. "Yamamoto-san, like I was saying, the Nakama, as well as Yoruichi-san, Ishida-shishou, my father and the members of the Urahara-shouten are currently reunited; we have Ukitake-san, much like yourself, on speaker on a phone. If you would be agreeable to have us explain what's been happening recently. We believe it is important for everyone to be on the same page, especially considering what happened today."

"I agree." Yamamoto said sternly. "It might have been better for you to present a full, formal report before all captains and lieutenants, but if the current situation prevents it…"

"Yes sir." Uryuu agreed. "The situation has escalated, beyond what Rukia-san must have reported to you on her last visit. I believe an all-scale confrontation against Aizen is imminent, and it most likely will happen far sooner than the Gotei had anticipated."

"Explain." Yamamoto stated, stiffly.

"As you already know, two weeks ago, aside from the previously reported increase in hollow appearances in Karakura, a hamen made an appearance." Ichigo stated. "We knew what it was thanks to Karin, who remembered about the imperfect arrancars. We made our way to where we managed to track the origin of the reiatsu, but a few blocks before we reached it, it was gone. We have reasons to believe it was vanquished, by someone not in this room right now."

"Do you know who it was?" Ukitake inquired.

"No, we've been trying to find the person, but it's proven impossible." Ichigo declared. "However, we've come in contact with another person with the power and ability to fight hollows, she's also claimed to having previous experience."

"Who?" Yamamoto wanted to know, wondering if there was a rouge or something.

"A human teenager." Ichigo answered calmly. "Her name is Castelo Keeva, American, recently moved to Karakura. She appears to have gained powers in much the same fashion as most of the Nakama did."

"By the way, I have a doubt I was hoping one of you might be able to answer for me, sirs." Rukia spoke up unexpectedly. "When we spoke to Castelo-san, she said that, before Ichigo she had never seen a shinigami. She also seemed to imply that no one but she fought hollows in her former hometown."

"Where did she say she came from?" Kyouraku Shunsui asked, curious.

"She said she was born in Mexico, but had lived in several places, mostly America." Rukia answered. "Could she just never have seen a shinigami, despite her obvious ability to see spirits? I mean, it's not like there could not be a shinigami, right?"

Silence reigned for a short while, before Shunsui gave her an answer.

"Actually, Kuchiki, it is quite possible that there were no shinigami there." Shunsui admitted. "It's not a widely known fact, but there are some areas of the Living World that were long ago claimed by others, races of spiritually empowered humans capable of defending themselves, leaving shinigami to focus on other lands. Japan was one such area at one point, guarded by sacred miko with amazing powers, but as their numbers decreased, shinigami were forced to intervene. It's been theorized that, because of how long spiritually empowered humans inhabited your land, that is the reason the Juureichi came to exist where it does."

"However." Juushirou went on. "Even those areas are patrolled by a shinigami every once in a while, so we can be sure the humans who swore to protect it are still there. What you say about this girl, it seems to imply the possibility that the race that guarded the area exists no more, and yet the shinigami have yet to take over the guarding of the place. That is certainly a dangerous situation, one that we will have to look further into."

As the white-haired captain spoke, Uryuu couldn't help but remember with almost painful clarity, Keeva's words as she ranted at him: _you have no idea what really being the 'last one' is like! _If her words, and Ukitake's theory were to be believed, that might explain Keeva's situation, still, it didn't really explain how exactly she'd come to be the last one. Had her people been victims of genocide, much like his own had been? But then, wouldn't the shinigami know already and have picked up the slack? Then what, what could have happened to make a spiritually empowered race, one that was undoubtedly strong, just considering what Keeva had shown herself to be capable of, what could have caused them to disappear? To leave the girl all alone in the world?

By that point, Uryuu was the only who realized that Keeva wasn't just a human who had acquired powers to fight when the natural protectors of her hometown were all gone, but that she was most likely part of that race everyone else assumed to have become extinct at some point: the last one…He would make the others aware of his theory, but later; the last thing he wanted was to put Keeva's life at risk, he still wasn't sure the shinigami weren't somehow responsible, or related to how her people had disappeared; and regardless of how briefly he'd known her, the Quincy couldn't help the deep desire to protect her as much as he possibly could. Nothing would ever be more important to him than his father and his nakama, of course, but she came very close…

"Back to the main topic." Ichigo said after the captains agreed to further investigate the other matter. "Ukitake-san has told us that members of the 12th Division registered the hollow reiatsu that appeared on Karakura earlier today, even if no one knew the exact reason. Urahara confronted us on that same matter…We were there."

The statement was enough to send everyone reeling, though the Nakama could only see the badly-disguised shock in those in front of them.

Ryuuken, while not actually looking shocked, was very tense. He'd sensed the reiatsu that had appeared, and knew that whatever had happened it had been serious. The kind of danger his son, his student, and the rest of the Nakama must have been in…it was the very reason why he never wanted them to get involved with spiritual matters; however, they were all so stubborn, never understanding to reason, long ago he'd made the choice to help them train, rather than leave them to their own devices, possibly dying for lack of training…he just hoped it would be enough. It was too late already to keep the teenagers from what was going on, and the true war was yet to come…Ishida Ryuuken really hoped things would turn out alright, he'd lost too much already, Uryuu, and in a way Ichigo and the rest of the teens, were dear to him, the only people he'd allowed himself to come to care for after losing everything and everyone else, he couldn't lose them as well.

"By that point most of the students had left already, only seniors were left, and the soccer team since they had practice." Ichigo began his explanation. "We sensed the reiatsu, and immediately knew it was very close. So we rushed out of the classroom. Chizuru, Keigo and Mizuiro stayed in the hallway, to make sure no one would try to leave the building until things were over, while Rukia, Uryuu, Orihime, Chad, Tatsuki and I hurried to the front yard, Karin joined us there. We stopped a cero with a mix of shields before facing against our enemies. They were four, two females, and two males; and while one of the males was way bigger than any human could ever be, the rest looked very much like humans, except for the dark aura, and the fragments of masks on each of their faces. They also each wore a white outfit with black details, almost like an inverted shihakusho, except with variations."

"Four Arrancars?!" Nanao and Tessai expressed their shock at the same time.

"Four stable Arrancar." Karin clarified. "They were nothing like the hamen from two weeks ago, or even the incomplete arrancar Grand Fisher managed to turn himself into before he attacked Karakura again and was ultimately destroyed by Ichigo."

"They were way more powerful." Ichigo agreed. "They even introduced themselves to us, though…" he turned to his second in command. "Uryuu…"

Uryuu could have smirked in that moment, Ichigo had never been good with faces and names, not until he became very familiar with the individual, and he didn't have as much of an eye for details as Uryuu himself did. However, the situation in that moment was just too serious for the Quincy to truly want to laugh, or even smirk, so instead he turned to the phones on the table as he focused on everything he could remember:

"The two females appeared as teenaged girls." Uryuu enlisted. "They introduced themselves as: Loly Aivirrne, Numero 33 and Menoly Mallia, Numero 34. While we know what the particular title they used for their rank means, we have no idea what it means in this context. Are they numbers 33 and 34 in their creation, in their rank? Or is it something else entirely?" he shook his head before continuing. "With the males we were actually given a bit more of an explanation. They called themselves Espada, one of them claimed that meant they are two of the most powerful Arrancars serving Aizen…"

"Espada…" Yamamoto's interrupted was quite unexpected, but no one commented on it. "I've heard such a title being used…but not in a very, very long time."

"Soutaichou?" Rukia asked, half confused, half afraid.

"Continue Nakama." Yamamoto instructed. "I'll say my part when you're done."

"From the two males, the one who was considerably bigger, introduced himself as Yammy Llargo, Décima Espada." Uryuu went on without hesitation. "The other one…he said his name was Ulquiorra Schiffer and he was the Cuarta Espada…"

There were a few gasps heard, both in the room and through one of the phones, but it was impossible to know who they'd come from exactly. And it didn't matter that much.

"Did you go into battle against any of those Arrancar?" Shunsui wanted to know.

"We did." Ichigo retook the duty of giving the report. "Against all but the Cuarta, Ulquiorra. Orihime created a shield around the school to keep the students safe, anyone else who might have been in the vicinity when the Arrancar arrived had been consumed already by that point. Tatsuki fought against one of the females, but she couldn't access enough power in her human body to take the Arrancar down."

How insane it had been, for them all to have gone against enemies so powerful, without being in the form which allowed them to fight better…they obviously hadn't been thinking very clearly at the time.

About Tatsuki, the Gotei was well-aware that she was the reincarnation of a zanpakutou-wielding spirit, one that had never been a shinigami, even if no one but she and Renji knew why exactly. The facts had been accepted and no comment made.

"It was then that Keeva stepped in." Ichigo went on. "She helped Tatsuki take down one of the female arrancars when Tatsuki began getting some whiplash, while the other was soundly defeated by Karin, while she was still in her human body."

"Wait a second." Yoruichi interrupted. "You are telling me that you all, even those of you who are shinigami, fought these stable Arrancars while in your human bodies?!"

They all nodded.

"Are you insane?!" Isshin practically screeched.

Exactly what the Nakama had been thinking, not like they would admit it anytime soon.

"It's not like there was that much time." Tatsuki muttered. "By the time we even got out of the classroom the Arrancars were already practically at the school-gate; and seconds after we got out of the building they were firing a cero at it!"

"That's right." Uryuu nodded. "There was no time for us to actually get ready for a fight, all we could do was hurry and try our best."

"Which apparently somehow included defeating three stable Arrancar…" Yoruichi muttered, not quite believing it.

"Rukia and I were on our guard before Ulquiorra, though he didn't seem that interested about fighting at all." Ichigo continued with a sigh. "The Cuarta said he was there to test me, on orders from Aizen, at which point the other three attacked the other Nakama. And still, Ulquiorra never actually made a move to attack me. He gave me the chance to get out of my body, leaving it for Rukia to guard, and still seemed more interested in talking than actually fighting, which was rather strange. Meanwhile, Chad and Uryuu teamed up against Yammy, he fought dirty and managed to seriously injure Chad's arm, nothing permanent, but still; Uryuu got a few bruises and scratches, the most serious one on his side, I think he cracked a rib, regardless, he managed to cut off one of the Espada's arms with his arrows."

They had been so very fortunate that Yuzu was so talented at kidou, with Orihime out of commission after using such a powerful shield, it was been the young, gentle Kurosaki twin who had healed them all, and helped them restore at least enough reiatsu so they wouldn't be totally drained, it would have been just too risky with the danger upon them.

"At that point I was in bankai already." Ichigo went on with the recount. "I fired a Getsuga Tenshou at Yammy when he went again after Chad after managing to get Uryuu away. It wasn't the most powerful Getsuga I'd ever used, but it wasn't weak in any way either; it barely managed to cut into Yammy's side, their skin is incredibly hard…"

"Hierro…" Urahara muttered, and then clarified. "That's what it's called. The Arrancars reinforce their own skin with reiatsu, forming what is called Hierro, the more powerful the Arrancar is, the stronger their hierro can be."

"It makes sense." Chad commented. "Hierro…Steel…"

"At that point I told Ulquiorra that either he took his allies and got the hell out of Karakura or I would kill them." Ichigo deadpanned.

"You what?!" At least half of the adults, shinigami included, screamed at him at that.

"You actually think you would have had the power for that, boy?" Yamamoto asked, steel in his own voice.

"Maybe." Ichigo didn't allow any hesitation on his voice. "If it were to protect my nakama… I believe I could do anything."

"Infant." Yamamoto chided sternly. "You really have no idea the kind of enemy you were facing. Even feeling his reiatsu, even standing before him, neither was enough for you to realize how far outclassed you were."

"Maybe if Ulquiorra had fought." Ichigo agreed. "But like I said before, he didn't seem that interested, even after telling us he was there to test me. Yammy…he was all brawn and no brains, I was sure we could take him down if necessary; with the female arrancars, the only problem was that Karin and Tatsuki hadn't been in their spirit forms when fighting him, I'm confident that if they had been, they would have won easily."

"You overestimate yourself child." Yamamoto insisted. "And you overestimate your comrades as well. Arrancars are never pushovers."

"Neither are we." Uryuu stated, offended by the lack of trust the general was showing.

"In any case, they left, we're here." Ichigo stated. "Regardless of if we could have actually defeated them all, something we did was enough to make Ulquiorra choose to leave rather than continue the fight, than actually testing me; because I seriously doubt a sole attack against another fighter can be considered a test."

"You were lucky." Yamamoto insisted. "That doesn't make you the better fighter, or the more powerful, it only means you're lucky!"

"What aren't you telling us?" Uryuu demanded. "There must be something, a reason for you to be saying all of those things. What don't we know?"

The Quincy was really frustrated, and it wasn't just him; they had just vented against Urahara, and yet it wasn't enough, why was it that those around them were always keeping things from them? Especially when what they didn't know could end up killing them?!

"I believe you are aware of the existence of Menos." Yamamoto began his explanation, in a tone of voice akin of a teacher before a class. "How they're at least a thousand times more powerful than the average hollow."

"We are aware." Karin said calmly. "My brother slew one a few weeks before Byakuya-san and Renji-san came and took Rukia and her shinigami powers from him."

The insinuation was pretty clear in her words, but no one reacted to it. However, Nanao, and the captains of the eight and thirteenth division seemed more interested on the fact that Ichigo, while still only using Rukia's borrowed power, had been able to slay a Menos…especially since, according to the timeline, he hadn't had those powers even two months by that point… Ichigo was really something else.

"Yes, the Menos that appeared at that point was a Gillian." Yamamoto went on.

"Menos? Gillian?" Orihime inquired, a bit confused. "Aren't those two the same?"

"No." Karin whispered, as if just remembering that fact in that very moment. "A Gillian is a Menos, but a Menos isn't necessarily a Gillian…"

"Wha…?" Ichigo had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Yamamoto sighed, realizing that the human teenagers really didn't know, they had fought a Menos and thought that was it, that was as high as a hollow got in evolution, aside from the Arrancars they'd discovered…they really had no idea. And they were the ones who were supposed to fight them, at least until all-out war became imminent? It had to be insanity, to leave the fate of the Living World, or at least a highly important zone of it, to a dozen of spiritually empowered humans…

And yet, wasn't that exactly what they had done when making those pacts with the other races? Though, on that front, it was obvious that at least some of those areas had become high-risk zones as the usual defenders died, their lineages becoming extinct, and leaving no one to fight the hollows plaguing those lands…But they had done such pacts, because they'd been necessary, how could one organization, regardless of how big it might be, be expected to protect two worlds on their own? It just wasn't possible.

"Nakama." Juushirou decided to take over the lesson, even not knowing why exactly his own teacher hadn't continued, though he understood how worrying the whole thing was. "The Menos aren't one sole group, they're actually divided in three categories. The first are the Gillian, you can consider them the foot-soldiers among the Menos, they are all huge in size look pretty much the same as the next and do little except hunt hollows or souls to consume, can be as powerful as a high-seated Shinigami; next come the Adjuchas, they are smaller, their bodies more agile, are capable of reasoning, though not very advanced and their power is easily that of a lieutenant-level Shinigami, maybe even a low-level captain; the last, they are the Vasto Lorde, they have humanoid forms, are capable of perfect reasoning, of strategizing, their power is also superior to most Shinigami captains…"

The answer from the Nakama was instantaneous and unanimous: "What?!"

It was awful, it was worse than insane, how could they have not known any of that?! Karin and Rukia not remembering was understandable, particularly since the different categories of Menos had never been more than mere theory from their Academy Days for them, but still, how could no one warn them?! In particular knowing that Aizen was preparing an army and was likely to gather the most powerful hollows he could find!

"Wait, wait a second." Uryuu broke in before going into panic himself. "Where exactly do Arrancars, stable or otherwise, fit into all this?"

"An arrancar is a hollow, most likely a Menos, that has broken its own mask, gaining shinigami powers in exchange." Juushirou explained. "Most of their hollow powers are sealed in a zanpakutou, and they gain a somewhat-humanoid form. You have to understand that that is not an easy process by any means, for a hollow to be able to break its mask and gain shinigami powers instead of destroying itself, it must be really powerful already…"

"And Aizen has already more than 34 such Arrancars…" Orihime whispered, burying her face in her hands. "Oh Lord…"

"This is bad." Chad agreed, grimly.

"Yet again, why did we not know any of this?" Tatsuki complained.

"We didn't expect anything to happen for at least half a year." Kyouraku began.

"The Hougyoku was in stasis!" Urahara interfered. "He shouldn't have been able to unseal it for at least a year!"

"This is Aizen we're talking about, remember?" Karin said sarcastically. "The man who has been laying down plans to conquer heaven for over a hundred years? Who knows what kind of contingency plans he had already in place? And forget contingency plans. It's quite possible he planned ahead for the possibility of the Hougyoku being sealed, and on a way to unseal it, at least temporarily, whenever he needed its power. With how careful Aizen seems to be about everything, don't you think he would have thought that a possibility?"

"So, considering the time he's had to plan, his power and the fact he has that cursed jewel, we can assume he has quite a bit more than 34 Arrancars even now, and every day he could be making more, right?" Tatsuki deduced in a somber tone.

"I don't think it's that easy." Uryuu said. "I seriously doubt Aizen would use the Hougyoku on just any hollow, only the most powerful would interest him. Aside from that, I would say Tatsuki is most likely right."

"Oh Lord…" Orihime whispered again.

Silence reigned for what seemed like forever. Uryuu and Ichigo were the first to recover their composure and be able to reason and speak again.

"So, let's see what we know thus far." Ichigo began.

"It is likely that Aizen has found a way to awaken the Hougyoku, at least for short periods of time." Uryuu began enlisting in a very formal tone. "To that follows the assumption that he's using it to create as many Arrancar as he can, and right now he has at least 34, quite possibly more; it's also likely that most, if not all of them are Menos. The most powerful are the Espada, which most likely are ten and…"

"What makes you think that?" Nanao interrupted suddenly.

"The strength of the one that called himself Decima Espada." Uryuu answered stoically. "While he was able to seriously injure Chad, I was on par with him, and Ichigo was able to wound him even when not having much time to prepare an attack, it is likely that if the battle had gone for much longer we would have been able to defeat him, just like the two females. In few words, he was strong, but not outrageously so."

"He hadn't called on his Resurreccion yet." Juushirou pointed out morosely.

"What is Resurreccion?" Several Nakama asked at the same time.

"Like we explained before, when Arrancars break their masks they acquire a zanpakutou, along with shinigami powers." Shunsui said soberly. "Also, most of their hollow powers are sealed in their zanpakutou, as well as their fully-hollow forms. When they draw their zanpakutou, on that power that was sealed, that is called Resurreccion."

"What kind of a power boost are we talking here?" Rukia asked, feeling she wasn't going to like the answer. "I mean, if we were to compare it with a shinigami?"

"If we compare it to a shinigami, the power boost would be would be the equivalent of a shikai, maybe even a bankai, depending on the level it was." Shunsui answered softly.

"Oh Lord…" Orihime whispered yet again.

It was the third time she had done that in just a handful of minutes, but no one blamed her, things were seriously complicated in that moment, and incredibly dangerous. Even when they'd all agreed on fighting to protect those they cared for, and Karakura as a whole, they'd never imagined things being that bad…

"Ok, enough of the morose thoughts." Ichigo said strongly, cutting through the tension as easily as if he had used his zanpakutou. "Things are bad, that's true, but they also looked pretty bad a few years ago when we all first gained powers and hadn't the slightest idea of how to use them. We're going to train, like we've never trained before, and we're going to get ready to fight; because Karakura is our town, and I'll be damned if I won't do my very best to protect it. Besides, I promised Ulquiorra that if Aizen attacked again he would come to regret it, I have to keep that promise. So, are you with me?!"

"Yes!" The response from all the Nakama was unanimous and full of a power that just a second ago they'd seemed to be lacking.

It was like, somehow, Ichigo's words, the strength behind them, had given the Nakama back their own power, their will, their hope. In one instant their auras flared as one, and in the next they were slowly mixing, acquiring a mysterious silver tint, like they'd very nearly done a day, months earlier, as Ichigo prepared to call on his own shinigami powers consciously for the very first time.

All of those who heard, first Ichigo's speech, and then the Nakama's response, were absolutely amazed. Just what kind of person was Kurosaki Ichigo, that he could give back hope and strength when they had all seemed to be on the edge of despair a second before? How was it that he could hold such confidence, in himself and his companions, despite everything that they had all just been made aware of?

Under normal circumstances Yamamoto, and even the other shinigami, would have called the teens a bunch of blind fools, believing they could actually stand a chance against the kind of enemies that would be coming at them. And yet…until just a few months before, hadn't they all believed that Seireitei's walls were impenetrable, only to have them trespassed, and only made aware of the fact because the ryoka decided to let them know they were there? Hadn't all shinigami in the Gotei believed themselves to be so far above humans, only to have some of the strongest among them defeated by a bunch of teenaged ones?

The Nakama had gone against insurmountable odds and come out victorious before, maybe they would be able to work out another miracle? In any case, Yamamoto knew that the Gotei too would need to be prepared; able to work miracles or not, they Gotei wouldn't be leaving the fate of all worlds on a dozen of human teenagers. No, purifying hollows, defeating Aizen was their duty, and they would fulfill it, or die trying.

**xXx**

It was evening already when Keeva finally decided to try knocking on Serenity's door, hoping she was feeling better, in any case, it was never a good idea to miss a meal, they needed their energies, especially with the constant threat upon them.

She was just about to knock on Serenity's bedroom door when it was opened from the inside and there stood Serenity, looking just like always. Her room smelled heavily of incense, something Keeva was only half-aware of, having become so accustomed to the scent in the little over a year she'd been sharing living quarters with the young woman.

"Is everything alright Keeva?" Serenity asked the girl in a low tone.

Keeva just sighed, thinking that she should be the one asking that same question, though, what was the point when Serenity was obviously not going to be truthful in her answer?

"Dinner is ready." The girl informed her finally.

Behind her, Serenity sighed as she followed into the kitchen, she knew Keeva didn't like it when she lied, especially because she knew the truth, or at least part of it…and it was precisely because of what the younger girl did not know, that Serenity preferred to keep on with the lies, she believed it would be better in the long run. What use was it for Keeva to worry about something she could do nothing to change?

"Tell me about the battle today." Serenity requested of the younger girl when they were half-way through dinner.

"I thought you would have already seen it." Keeva commented offhandedly.

"I do not see everything, I'm not omniscient, or an Oracle." Serenity pointed out.

It looked like Keeva wanted to make a comment on that, but in the end she shook her head and focused on what the young woman had asked of her.

"It was like you said, they weren't enough." Keeva began. "They are all so incredibly strong, and yet…I don't know if it was because they were still in their human bodies, with human limits, but still…" she shook her head. "Today I finally began to understand why it is we need to be there…and my help alone won't be enough."

"You're not alone, Keeva." Serenity reminded her softly. "I'm here."

"I wish it weren't necessary, my lady." Keeva said mournfully. "But unless some kind of miracle takes place…even the two of us helping all of them might not be enough."

"Always believe in miracles, Keeva." Serenity said, smiling like someone who knows a secret she won't share. "One just might happen when you least expect it."

The short-haired nodded, not quite convinced but not willing to argue with her lady on that matter either. Serenity had always been like that, so full of Hope, and Faith, of belief in the impossible…and considering the kind of power she possessed, maybe it was normal; still Keeva found it harder to share such beliefs.

"There's one thing I wanted your opinion on." Keeva said unexpectedly, way more serious than she'd ever been before.

"Yes," Serenity nodded, noticing it had to be something important for the way the younger girl was acting. "What is it?"

"It's about Inoue Orihime…"

**xXx**

The sun had long since set, when a young woman found herself sitting by her window, watching the waning moon silently, its silver rays of light reflecting on shadowed eyes. Ever so slowly, crystalline tears began falling from the corner of her eyes and down her cheeks, while she did nothing to stop them or brush them away, all her attention still fixed on the moon, the only light in the dark night-sky.

She remained there, in that same place and position for what seemed like forever, and only one word ever left her lips: "Utokui…"

**xXx**

It was the middle of the night when a young woman rose rather abruptly from the futon she slept on. She silently thanked the spirits that she'd been given a private bedroom since her change in rank, even if she hadn't wanted the attention such a position would call upon her, at least she wasn't bothering others in the middle of the night.

Making sure to cover her nightclothes with a soft-pink robe, the young-woman stepped out of her bedroom and walked barefoot and in absolute silence the rather short distance from the back porch to the gardens.

For a few minutes she did nothing but walk through the moonlit garden, her eyes straying to gaze at the white crescent in the sky ever so often. Then, she began talking, not to anyone in particular, but to herself.

"Something's changed…" she whispered to the empty gardens. "And changed greatly, so much I cannot seem to be able to see the end of this anymore…" she sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "A decision was made, so huge that nothing is what it was just a short time ago anymore. Destiny has changed…"

Yes, destiny had changed, and she probably knew that better than anyone, dead or alive; the question was: would that change be good or bad?


	23. Royal Mess

Remember that I told you that along with the Hueco Mundo arc, I'd be including the plot of several of the filler arcs and movies? I promise I've tried to do it in a more logical way than the anime. Which means that some things will take longer to happen. The whole Winter War will not happen in a week, or a month. Some things will take longer to happen, but they will still happen. I promise everything's organized, I made a calendar and everything!

So... time for a little Rebellion! Toushirou and Hitsukarin fans, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 23. Royal Mess**

It was all a mess, a terribly huge mess, there really was no better way to describe it.

At least half the Nakama had been aware of the kekkai someone had erected in Karakura's limits, inside what was still considered the Nakama's territory; and yet, no permission had been asked of them, hell, they hadn't even been warned that anything was going to happen. Yet the Nakama let it slip, considering that they had better things to do anyway, like training, It had been just a few days since the Arrancars had appeared before the school, not even two weeks, and no one knew when the next attack would be. Hollow attacks had even seemed to pretty much stop for a full day, before going back to normal, or at least what, recently, had become normal for all of them.

The problem had come, the following evening, when at least ¾ of the Nakama were able to feel the flaring reiatsu that indicated a battle, through the kekkai. Worried, Ichigo and Rukia rushed to the place, opening a spot in the kekkai with no trouble; Uryuu and Karin waited outside to act as backup; the others were already on their homes, too far to be of any help at the moment, though they'd been alerted nonetheless.

That was how Ichigo and Rukia had come to be face to face with at least two dozen Onmitsukidou, as well as Sui-Feng, whose obvious dislike for the Nakama's presence only made their meeting even more stressful.

"_Sui-Feng-taichou." Ichigo decided to be somewhat respectful for once, knowing the woman didn't like him, and they were surrounded by her subordinates. "What happened here?" _

_He could barely hold back his swearing, which was understandable considering all the debris, blood and bodies that littered the clearing inside the kekkai. _

"_Kurosaki, Kuchiki." Sui-Feng named them grudgingly. "What are you doing here? I believe there was a kekkai in place." _

"_There was, and still is." Ichigo pointed out to the hole he'd made with his zanpakutou. _

"_We sensed the battle taking place and worried." Rukia added in a more polite tone. "Just… what happened here?" _

"_I really don't see how this would be any of your business…" Sui-Feng began. _

"_Because this is still Karakura, and Karakura is Nakama territory, that's why." Ichigo half-snapped, already beginning to lose what little patience he had. _

_Sui-Feng didn't like to be reminded of that fact, of the concessions that had been made and the authority that had been given to Ichigo; she felt it wasn't fair. _

"_That may be true." Sui-Feng answered. "Still, there was a kekkai, and this is Royal business." _

"_Royal…" Rukia was in absolute shock. _

"_If this was Royal business, shouldn't Karin have known about it?" Ichigo asked, brow furrowed, he knew for sure Karin hadn't been informed of anything. _

"_Nagaken Karin is a Guardian, and while that certainly connects her to the Konoe Shidan, she isn't really a part of it." Sui-Feng stated formally. "Still, considering how…delicate the current condition is, it might be a good idea for you to know." _

_And so the explanation had begun. _

By the time the explanation was finished and Sui-Feng along with her men were gone, though not without 'instructing' Ichigo and Rukia to inform her if they found the missing Hitsugaya Toushirou, who was wanted for interrogation and possible imprisonment, Ichigo was about to blow a gasket; and he just knew it was going to get worse once Karin found out.

He was, of course right, his sister most definitely blew a gasket, though that also might have been because he explained everything to her and Uryuu right as the two of them had just found a badly-wounded half-unconscious Toushirou, shortly after the kekkai fell.

The Nakama took the white-haired shinigami to the Kurosaki home, which was the one closest. Yuzu treated him of his wounds in s short while, before declaring that he would need a night's sleep to regain his reiatsu, since she didn't actually know how to do that. He was placed in Karin's bed, who had already decided to spend the night in vigil, looking after Toushirou, while Yuzu half-dozed in her own bed, waking up every so often to check up on 'her patient' and make sure he was recovering alright.

The following morning, instead of making things better, only seemed to make them worse. Ichigo and Rukia had woken to find Yuzu knocking on their bedroom door insistently: both Toushirou and Karin were gone, leaving only a short message with Nova, who was inside Karin's body, and due to the contents of the message, Yuzu was understandably worried.

_**Ichigo, Yuzu, Rukia: I've gone with Toushirou. What happened earlier, and what will be happening now, it's serious, complicated and extremely personal. Do not follow us. I promise we will be alright. Toushirou and I will solve this by ourselves, and return the Ouin to where it belongs. Truly, Karin.**_

Ichigo didn't like it, not at all, but he knew that the one who had written that message, the one he risked angering if he went against her request/instructions, wasn't his little sister Karin, it was Nagaken Karin, former shinigami, captain-candidate, noble princess and chosen Royal Guardian… so Ichigo chose to do as she asked, and extended the same instructions to the rest of the Nakama, they were to allow Karin and Toushirou to go as they pleased, and not get involved with their business unless it was a matter of life and death.

Of course, Ichigo should have known, it would soon turn exactly into that, it had taken only until that night when, shortly before midnight, Orihime had contacted him. She had been the one on guard-duty at the time (since they had agreed the situation was delicate enough to make such a thing necessary). Some shinigami, lead by three high-ranking officers, had found Karin and Toushirou in an abandoned temple, not far from where Orihime lived, a battle had ensued and while the two youngest shinigami had managed to run, things had already turned south.

_Ichigo and Rukia shifted into their shinigami forms and shunpoed to where Orihime was already waiting as fast as they possibly could. It was an old temple, seemingly abandoned, and it was quite obvious that a battle had taken place, judging by all the reiatsu traces floating around, as well as the pieces of ice, ash, debris and torn pieces of clothes. _

"_What the hell happened here?!" Ichigo demanded the moment he arrived. _

_He'd been stressed out all day, what with his sister gone doing who-knows-what, it had taken him a lot to finally go to sleep, only to be awakened shortly afterwards, and to find that his sister and her friend had been attacked by over two dozen shinigami! Ichigo was definitely not a happy man in that moment, and his barely-controlled reiatsu showed it. _

"_Kurosaki-dono! Kuchiki-san!" Two voices called at once. _

_Ichigo easily recognized the blonde lieutenant of the third division, even if Rukia had to remind him that his name was Kira Izuru; same with the dark-haired lieutenant of the 9__th__ Division: Hisagi Shuuhei. They were acting-captains, being the highest-ranked officers in their respective divisions since their captain's betrayal. The other obvious leader of the team, was someone Ichigo was sure he'd never seen before, and while her reiatsu was nothing impressive, Ichigo couldn't help the impression that she was much more powerful than she seemed to at first sight, she was also currently the highest ranked officer in the third betrayed division. _

"_Hisagi-fukutaichoi, Kira-fukutaichou, Skye-sanseki." Rukia greeted them formally. _

"_Right." Kira seemed really nervous, but still spoke to Ichigo directly. "Kurosaki-dono, this is Skye Kotori, third seat of the 5__th__ Division; the three of us were assigned with the capture and imprisonment of Hitsugaya-taichou." _

"_And how do your orders excuse what obviously happened here?" Ichigo demanded. "Did you know that my sister, Karin, was with Toushirou?" _

"_We became aware of that fact when we tried to force Hitsugaya-taichou to surrender." Hisagi pointed out in a low voice. "We weren't expecting it." _

"_No, of course you weren't." Ichigo practically growled. "Who even gave the order for something like this? Do you know the kind of damage you could have caused to Karakura, the kind of hurt you could have caused to innocents, if a full-out battle had happened?" _

"_Like Hisagi-san said, we weren't expecting for Hitsugaya-taichou to be accompanied, or for anyone to attack us." Kotori pointed out, trying to be helpful. _

_Ichigo took that chance to truly observe the girl, she was petite, and looked so very young, though he'd long learnt not to let a shinigami's appearance trick him, Rukia was a perfect example of how one over a century old could still look in their mid-teens. Aside from her apparent youth, the orange-head noticed the girl had shockingly red-hair, in a way even more shocking than Renji's, it was in loose but well-defined curls that fell down nearly to the small of her back, kept back by a clip and white ribbons at the nape of her neck; she was wearing the traditional shinigami attire, her zanpakutou resting vertical on her back. And while her appearance seemed somewhat exotic, Ichigo still couldn't sense any important reiatsu, even Ikkaku had had more of an aura of power…and weren't he and Kotori supposed to be the same rank? Was he missing something? _

_In the end Ichigo pushed the whole rant about Skye Kotori aside, there were things far more important in that moment than an apparently young and weak shinigami-girl, particularly because he'd never seen her before and probably wouldn't remember her after she was gone. _

"_First that kekkai in the outskirts of Karakura, then that battle that was strong enough we could feel it through the damned kekkai," Ichigo began enlisting things. "One of your captains getting angry with me, and thinking she can order me, order us Nakama around, when I think we were pretty clear how things weren't that way. And now this! The agreement was that as long as Seireitei and the Nakama were allied, Karakura would be our territory. We are the main authority here, not you, your captains, or even Yamamoto!" _

_There was total silence as he ranted; at first it looked like Kotori was going to react and lash back at Ichigo, at least verbally, but a quick shake of the head from Rukia, followed by Hisagi holding her shoulder and pulling her back was enough to stop her. _

_Rukia just sighed, she had known Ichigo would be snapping sooner or later, it was a miracle his reiatsu wasn't smothering anyone yet._

"_Karakura is our territory." Ichigo insisted. "And yet in the last 48 hours a lot of things have happened that we didn't authorize, that we would have never allowed." His voice turned serious. "I want you, your subordinates, and any other shinigami that may be in Karakura in this moment, to leave, right now!" _

"_But Kurosaki-dono." Kira said softly, hesitantly. "We have a mission." _

"_I don't care." Ichigo spat. "If our help had been asked, if we had just been informed that you needed to be here…But no, your Gotei seems to take longer to form a pact than it does to break it. And now, you've not just attacked a member of your own organization, you've also turned against my own sister. That's something I won't be forgiving any time soon!" _

"_She was interfering with our duty!" Kotori yelled at him, holding back the flinch the dark glare directed in her direction caused her. _

"_Like I said before, I don't care." Ichigo hissed. "You want to get to Toushirou, and whoever it is that is responsible for this whole mess…" _

"_What if they're the same person?" Hisagi suggested. _

"_The same?" Ichigo did a double-take at that. "You mean that you think that that battle was Toushirou's fault? You think he's a murderer? Are you all stupid or what?!" he brushed his hair with a hand and sighed. "Really, you have no faith at all in your own comrades, your own nakama, do you?" _

"_We used to, and yet you've seen what happened on that front, with the three traitors." Kotori pointed out scathingly. _

_Hisagi and Kira flinched at her words. Despite belonging to the fifth division, and how hard every other shinigami in either of the three betrayed divisions were taking things, it seemed like she didn't care at all for the three traitors. _

"_You don't even really know Hitsugaya-taichou, why do you defend him then?" Hisagi asked, half-exasperated by the whole situation. _

"_Karin knows him, she trusts him, and I trust her judgment." Ichigo said simply, before going all serious again. "I've made my opinions on all this matter clear. Now, like I said before, I want the three of you, and your subordinates, out of my town. Now!" _

_There was such power behind his words, none of the other shinigami could find in themselves the will to contradict him again. Kira requested enough hell-butterflies for everyone, Hisagi opened the Senkaimon, and shortly they were all gone. _

"_You know what you just did will have consequences, right?" Rukia asked him softly. _

"_I know." Ichigo whispered back. _

"_Ok." Rukia nodded softly. "Just making sure." _

_And he did, he had no idea what kind of consequences they would be, exactly, but he somehow knew they would be big and far-reaching, still, he was tired of others walking over him, over his Nakama, he wouldn't allow it anymore. If the only way to get respect with the Gotei was to act like a cold, stubborn, arrogant bastard, then he would do exactly that. _

"_Lets go back." Ichigo said suddenly as he turned around. "We have to be ready, and make sure everyone else is as well. I have a feeling the shit is about to hit the fan." _

"_With everything you just said and did it would be no surprise, really." Rukia commented as she began shunpoing by his side. _

"_I don't mean on that matter." Ichigo shook his head without stopping. "I mean with Karin, Toushirou, and whatever 'personal business' has had them jumping from one end to the other of Karakura since dawn." _

Ichigo and Rukia had managed to get a few more hours of sleep in before receiving an urgent call from Renji. Yamamoto had declared that it was priority to capture Hitsugaya Toushirou, and execute him if he resisted!

"_That is insane!" Ichigo yelled as soon as he heard the news. "Execution over what? A suspicion? They can't even be sure Toushirou had anything to do with that attack to the Royal caravan, or what happened to Kyouraku-san last night." _

"_Ichigo is right." Rukia agreed. "The second part is particularly impossible, considering that at the time of the attack on Kyouraku-taichou both Hitsugaya-taichou and Karin-san were in a rundown temple, here in the Living World, fighting Hisagi-fukutaichou, Kira-fukutaichou, Skye-sanseki and their subordinates." _

_Ichigo nodded, it just didn't add up. _

"_I know, but this wasn't up to me." Renji pointed out. "The only advantage Hitsugaya-taichou and Karin-dono have right now is that Yamamoto has ordered for all shinigami to leave Karakura. As long as those two stay in your territory the Gotei 13 won't touch them. However, unless the situation changes and soon, the soutaichou may just end up giving you the order to bring them in yourselves, or at least Hitsugaya-taichou." _

"_Does he think we would do that?" Ichigo hissed. _

"_You may not have a choice Ichigo." Rukia pointed out quietly. "If he orders it, and you don't cooperate you'll be accused of helping a criminal, all the authority you hold now, and everything the Nakama have gained, will be lost." _

_Ichigo growled under his breath, they were trying to put him between a rock and a hard place. _

"_Then we better settle this before that time comes." Ichigo declared. _

"_About that." Renji said, still through the phone. "We've discovered who Kusaka is." _

"_Tell us." Ichigo indicated instantly. _

_That was possibly the only bit of good news in the whole call. _

As soon as the call with Renji ended Ichigo was telling Yuzu to make some calls, the Nakama had to meet up. Regardless of what Karin had asked of them, they needed to bring things to an end, and sooner rather than later.

What they weren't expecting was the sudden explosion as Ichigo's window was blown up. It was the arrancar-lookalikes, they somehow knew Ichigo and Rukia were going to get involved in things, and wanted to stop them before they could.

So their fight began.

The rest of the Nakama got there just in time, to tip the balance in their favor, though the battle was still far from over, with all the hollows either the arrancars's presence in Karakura, or the Nakama's own flaring reiatsu were calling.

The worst part came when, after a flash of golden light in the distance, and a reiatsu so huge it made every spiritually aware person in Karakura stumble, all Nakama became aware that Toushirou and Karin were gone from the living world, along with another reiatsu that somehow held the same ice-coldness as Toushirou's, but was far darker than his.

"Do you think they've gone to Soul Society?" Rukia asked, though already suspecting the answer, it was kinda obvious really.

"If they are, things are not going to be pretty." Ichigo pointed out.

Rukia knew he was right. But what could they do? They were trapped in a battle against enemies that while not as strong as the Espada they'd met less than two weeks before, still were a danger, especially considering how they didn't seem to care who got hurt when one of their attacks missed or was deflected.

"Ichigo, Rukia, Yuzu." Uryuu said seriously when he did a pause in his attack. "Leave this to us. You go after Hitsugaya-san, Karin and that insane maniac."

"But Uryuu…" Rukia didn't like leaving the others.

"Uryuu is right Rukia." Orihime said. "You can get to Soul Society easily as shinigami. And we can handle this."

"It might even be a little boring." Tatsuki said with a pout. "Compared to the menos and arrancars I'd grown used to fighting every other day…"

Rukia shook her head, thinking Tatsuki had to be crazy, to talk so wistfully about fighting more powerful hollows. In any case, she was right that the human Nakama could handle it, and the three of them could get to Seireitei much faster if she opened a Senkaimon herself, if they waited for the others, aside from having to purify all the hollows and destroy the arrancar-lookalikes first, there was also the matter of getting Urahara to set-up his matter converter so Orihime, Chad and Uryuu could get through.

"Very well, we'll be going then." Ichigo declared. "I trust you to handle this, guys."

"Yes, yes Ichigo, now go." Uryuu said dismissively.

Rukia giggled slightly as she called on a Senkaimon, if she didn't know those two as well as she did, she might believe they actually hated each other.

Ichigo just shook his head with a chuckle before giving an exaggerated bow to Uryuu and then following Rukia and Yuzu through the Senkaimon.

**xXx**

Karin looked all around her, trying to process the fact that a second before she'd been in Karakura's warehouse district, standing beside one of the people she held dearest: Hitsugaya Toushirou, and facing the one person responsible for the whole mess they'd found themselves in, because really, what had happened in the last two days couldn't be called anything but the most disastrous and terrible mess, and suddenly they were in an entirely different place…

It had all begun with that thrice-damned kekkai someone had decided to place on the outskirts of Karakura, without consulting, or even so much as informing the Nakama. Karin would have snapped at that, but suddenly there were other things to worry about. Like the battle that was bad enough they could feel it through the cursed kekkai; or when she found Toushirou, laying face-down on a riverbank, a stab-wound on his stomach. Karin had made sure Yuzu treated him the moment they all got back to the Kurosaki home, and then convinced Ichigo to lay the recovering and unconscious shinigami captain on her bed, it wasn't like she planned on getting any sleep while he was in such condition.

Then, before dawn the next morning, he'd woken up.

_She was a very light sleeper, had been since her time as a shinigami, when she was paranoid either her Nii-sama would do another of his crazy schemes or Aizen would send someone to murder her in her sleep…she actually wasn't sure which one she feared the most. _

_Still, she didn't move, didn't even change the pattern of her breathing when she woke, just focusing on what she heard and sensed to know what was going on. It was obvious Toushirou was awake, for the soft sounds of clothes brushing together Karin guessed he was getting back into his shihakusho, which Ichigo had taken off him so Yuzu would have better access to the wound when treating him the previous night. _

_The raven-haired waited until she heard the window slid open, then she snapped her eyes open and straightened up in bed; the movement fast enough to make Toushirou freeze mid-motion, as he was about to jump out the window. _

"_Surely you wouldn't be leaving without me, would you Toushirou-kun?" Karin asked, a hint of mirth and pretended-offence in her voice. _

"_Ka…Karin…" Toushirou seemed actually at a loss for words for a moment. "I thought you were asleep." _

"_Ah ah." Karin shook her finger at him. "Wrong answer, try again." _

"_I'm very thankful for everything you and the rest of the Nakama have done for me." He said, sincerely, turning to face her, and the still-sleeping Yuzu. "This is the second time Yuzu-san has saved my life." _

"_She likes doing it, helping I mean." Karin commented, looking at her sister with a mix of great love and almost parental-like concern. "It hurts her when she cannot." _

"_Yes." Toushirou nodded, knowing Yuzu wasn't the only one. "I hope you will express my gratefulness to her when she wakes up." _

"_Why don't you do that?" Karin asked, eyes narrowing. _

"_Because there is an urgent personal business I have to take care of, I cannot stay." Toushirou answered stoically. "I must leave now." _

"_Bullshit!" Karin spat. _

"_Karin…" Toushirou wasn't expecting that response from her. "I…" _

"_I sensed the reiatsu trace from your wound before Yuzu treated you." Karin pointed out in a more subdued tone. _

"_Then you know." Toushirou said, just as subdued. "I still don't know how something like this can even be possible…" _

"_Just like none of us quite know how I'm back…" Karin snorted. "The hows don't matter that much, they don't change what needs to be done." _

"_True." Toushirou agreed. "You must then understand why I must do this alone…" _

"_No, this is precisely why you must not do this alone." Karin contradicted him. "Toushirou… this involves me too…" _

"_You weren't the one who killed him…" _

"_Neither did you! The Onmitsukidou killed him! Central 46 killed him! Not you Toushirou!" she shook him slightly. "Listen to me, you did not kill Kusaka-kun!" _

_Toushirou just turned away from her, not quite convinced. _

"_What happened, it wasn't your fault." Karin insisted. "I have no idea what kind of messed up situation caused him to try and take Hyourinmaru for his own, but that was never on his hands, or yours. Hyourinmaru was always meant to be yours. Right, Ryuu-san?" _

_Inside Toushirou, Hyourinmaru gave his answer, it made the white-haired shinigami prodigy shiver before nodding stiffly to both Karin and his own zanpakutou. _

"_I still don't understand why." Toushirou admitted. "Why Hyourinmaru would want me. Especially after I was willing to give him up…" _

"_You were willing to give him up because of your friendship with Kusaka-kun." Karin pointed out. "You knew it wouldn't be good if the two of you tried to wield the same zanpakutou. It was taboo. And you were a prodigy, you had only been in the Academy for a year, and everyone kept telling you how strong you were; you thought that even if it took you longer to manifest your zanpakutou, nothing would be lost. You didn't realize, the decision had already been made, and it was never yours to make. Hyourinmaru was meant to be your zanpakutou, just like Tenreikou was meant to be mine…" _

"_So this is related to us…to what we are." Toushirou murmured pensively. _

"_Somewhat." Karin answered. "Not completely of course, but there's a good deal of that." _

_Toushirou nodded, while still trying to wrap his head around everything he'd just been told. _

"_Kusaka-kun was my friend too, Toushirou-kun." Karin said softly. "If he is the one behind this whole mess, then I deserve the chance to be there to put an end to it, as much as you do. I may not have been there with you when that tragedy, that travesty they dared call justice happened; I couldn't be with you then, but there's no way I'm leaving you now. Not again, never again. That's a promise Toushirou-kun…" _

"_Thank you, Karin-chan…" Toushirou whispered softly as he embraced her tightly. _

_She embraced him back almost automatically, both of them taking a moment of that peace, to get ready for what was to come; they knew it wouldn't be easy, that it would be hard, and complicated, and neither of them would come out of it the same way they were going in; but they also knew they had to do it, for Kusaka, for each other, and for themselves… _

The two had left the Kurosaki home before anyone else woke-up, making sure to leave the note where Yuzu would find it and after having explained to Nova that they were leaving and no one was to follow them, they were dealing with personal business. Karin trusted that, as long as things didn't get too dangerous, Ichigo wouldn't go against their wishes.

They had traveled in their spirit forms, covered in special reiatsu-concealing cloaks Karin had gotten (from the Nagaken clan), Toushirou having left behind the haori signaling him as the 10th Division Captain behind, after all, he wasn't going as a captain, but as a man and a shinigami.

The two spent the whole day walking from one end of Karakura Town to the other, evading the Onmitsukidou looking for them and following two Arrancar lookalikes that kept using hit and run tactics on them, either they weren't very good fighters, or they were luring Toushirou and Karin in (and Karin would bet it was the second).

Of course, by the time night closed in the two friends were totally exhausted, mostly physically but also mentally; they decided to take refuge inside a rundown temple. They technically weren't in Karakura anymore, but still inside Nakama territory, so everything was supposed to be alright…'supposed to' being the key words there…

_Toushirou had been dozing off while Karin drank some water. She'd barely remembered to pack a bag with food and water before leaving her house, but it was a good thing she had, the last thing she wanted was for them to be weak and hungry when they finally had to truly fight. She was beginning to consider getting some sleep herself, when suddenly she became aware of the at least two dozen reiatsu signatures appearing before the temple. They were all so low she hadn't noticed them at first. The only ones worth any consideration were the two that she recognized as belonging to Hisagi Shuuhei and Kira Izuru…and there was something else, almost like an empty space very close to them. It wasn't logical, since the reiatsu should have filled that area since it was so close to them, and there was no way someone could erase their reiatsu so fully, was there? At least, not without a cloak like the ones she and Toushirou were wearing, and those were a Nagaken Clan secret. _

_A groan in that very moment signaled Toushirou's awakening. _

"_We've got company." Karin informed him calmly. _

"_I know." Toushirou answered. "It was their reiatsu that woke me." _

"_Think we can get away without a fight?" Karin asked, considering the possibilities. _

"_Highly unlikely." Toushirou said honestly. "If the Ouin is half as important as we suspect, they will stop at nothing to arrest me. Right now our only advantage may be that I don't think they know you're here." _

_Karin nodded. She suspected something like that. The Nagaken Cloaks were more attuned to her reiatsu, since she was part of the clan, so while it was possible that enough of Toushirou's reiatsu had gotten through for the Gotei to track him; the raven-haired was quite sure that, even standing just a few feet away from her, no one could sense her in that moment. _

_With that thought in mind Toushirou opened the temple's doors just enough to step out, allowing Karin to remain in his shadow, unseen and unsensed. _

_Looking over Hitsugaya's shoulder, careful not to be noticed herself, Karin counted two dozens of shinigami in loose formation at the temple's front yard, as well as another dozen hiding among the nearby trees. Then, between those formed before the temple, the three leaders could be seen, she recognized them all easily: Hisagi Shuuhei, Kira Izuru and Skye Kotori; all had been several years ahead from Toushirou and her in the Academy, in fact, she remembered that Kotori had actually taught a class at the Academy for a while, until a year or so before Karin and Toushirou entered the Academy themselves. _

_In any case, that wasn't really what mattered, what mattered was that the shinigami had been sent to arrest them, or at least Toushirou, and that couldn't be allowed to happen. _

"_Hitsugaya-taichou, this is a special emergency order." Hisagi stated formally. "Please return to Seireitei." _

"_I will not." Toushirou stated, dead-serious, a hand on his zanpakutou. _

_The moment Toushirou dashed against the two fukutaichou, Karin hurried to hide behind the shadow of one of the columns in the temple's porch. The moonlight was low enough and the cloak thick enough that no one noticed her. _

_She watched the first clash of swords between the three shinigami and waited for her moment to attack, a hand in the small of her back as she materialized her own sealed zanpakutou. _

"_Please, stop." Kira said. "They'll consider this rebellion." _

"_Back off, Kira, Hisagi." Toushirou said in his most authoritative voice, already knowing his orders would be ignored. _

"_Hitsugaya-taichou, you're under arrest." Hisagi said soberly. _

_Karin would have snorted, or smirked, at the young fukutaichou's words, except that in that moment she became aware of a third sword going for Toushirou. _

"_Coward!" She screamed as she rushed out of the shadow she was hiding in. _

_She shunpoed fast enough to stand at Toushirou's back, holding her kodachi in one hand and its sheathe in the other, using both to block the long, thin zanpakutou that had been about to hit Toushirou's back. _

_The change was so sudden, even for the shinigami there to arrest Toushirou, that for a moment no one seemed to know what to do. _

"_Who the hell are you?" Skye Kotori, who had been the one to go for Toushirou's back, demanded hotly as she failed to push Karin down. _

"_Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, shinketsu shinigami and Nakama." Karin introduced herself formally. "Now who the hell do you think you are, aside from a coward?" _

"_I am Skye Kotori, 5__th__ Division's Third Seat…and I am not a coward!" The offended woman snapped back at Karin. _

"_Then what do you call attacking at a warrior's back?" Karin hissed as she twisted her own zanpakutou and scabbard enough to push her opponent back. _

_Kotori hissed but pulled her zanpakutou back, still keeping her guard up, knowing she wouldn't be able to overpower the girl. While she'd never seen Karin, as she'd been too busy during the time the Nakama had been in Soul Society, covering for her absent superiors and trying her best to keep her division running; she'd heard quite a bit about her, including how she was supposed to be the reincarnation of another Karin, one Kotori had known well, if mostly from a distance…in any case, with the element of surprise lost, all they had left was direct combat, and the members of the Gotei certainly had the advantage in that moment. _

_Hisagi and Kira, for their parts, were trying to gather their wits. Karin's appearance had taken them off-guard, they hadn't been expecting for the missing captain to have company, less of all that of one of the Nakama…one of the presumably most powerful Nakama…While neither of them had ever actually seen Karin fight, they'd heard the rumors of her power, and coupled with Hitsugaya Toushirou's own, they suddenly weren't sure if even three dozen of average shinigami, a third seat and two lieutenants were gonna cut it. _

_The battle began at a silent signal. _

_Toushirou and Karin were easily able to push the three highest ranking shinigami quite a few feet away from them, leaving them to deal with the average ones. They did so easily. With their zanpakutou still sealed, weaving in and out of each other's path, mostly keeping their backs against each other, in a handful of minutes three dozens of shinigami were down and they remained without a scratch. _

_At the sides, Hisagi, Kira and Skye could only watch agape, they had never seen anything like that before. The synchronization, the harmony in both fighters' moves had been such they could only marvel at the whole thing. _

_However, once they were all down, they knew it was time to do something. _

_Kotori was the first to react, she threw herself at Karin, intending to at least push her away from Hitsugaya Toushirou long enough for Kira and Hisagi to take him prisoner. However, she wasn't expecting that this time it would be Toushirou to get in her way, a push of his reiatsu was enough to partially freeze her zanpakutou, and give frostbite to her hands. _

"_How did you do that?!" Kotori demanded as she jumped back. "Your zanpakutou isn't even in its shikai state!" _

_Toushirou just shrugged. If he was honest, freezing things with just his reiatsu had been second nature to him for a very long time, particularly when his feelings got the better of him. He'd stopped doing it after training in the Shino Academy, once he'd gained the control he needed, and recently he'd learnt that he could actually do it at will… _

"_Toushirou, beware!" Karin yelled even as she began moving. _

_Almost too late she'd realized that Hisagi was getting ready to use a Bakudou, she wordlessly called on her shikai, at the same time as the 9__th__ Division Fukutaichou threw a rod of energy at Toushirou; same which, midair, transformed into a hundred separate rods. The raven-haired jumped before Toushirou and began spinning her naginata as well as her own body at speeds that almost surpassed shunpo, without even needing to name her attack, all the rods her naginata touched burned down instantly. _

_Only a few seconds had passed, but when the spike at the end of the pole-side of the naginata touched the ground, just a few of the rods Hisagi had created remain, and none of them presented any risk to either Toushirou or Karin. _

_Yet again everyone present was shocked at the display of speed, power and talent. Hisagi and Kira in particular were quite sure that their mission was simply impossible, but they couldn't just give up, they had their orders… _

"_Karin…" Toushirou whispered as he changed his stance slightly. _

_The raven-haired didn't need him to say anything else, she knew him well enough; despite all the years that had passed, fighting alongside him still was to her as natural as breathing. In a fraction of a second she dismissed her zanpakutou and shunpoed to stand at his back. _

"_Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!" _

_The fight was over. _

Toushirou had actually held himself back. He didn't want to kill anyone, or to affect the Living World in any way, only to make sure he and Karin would be able to leave that place without being followed.

It wasn't until around noon the following day that Karin and Toushirou realized no one was following, or even trying to track them anymore. In fact, they couldn't even sense any shinigami reiatsu in all of Karakura, aside from Karin's family, the member's of the Urahara-Shouten and the very corrupted reiatsu of the very individual they themselves were tracking down: Kusaka…When asked what she thought about the whole thing, Karin had a one word answer: Ichigo, she just knew her brother had something to do with the whole change in situation, even if she had no idea of how exactly the situation had changed.

Shortly after that realization, the two finally managed to track down Kusaka's reiatsu, to the limits of the warehouse district, in the outskirts of Karakura; they followed the trace to an abandoned, huge warehouse.

_Toushirou and Karin walked slowly, all their senses on alert, it was obvious that Kusaka must have spent some time on the warehouse, his reiatsu could be felt in every corner, making it harder to pinpoint his precise location in that moment. Until suddenly Toushirou sensed the spike and turned to his left. _

"_You finally found me." A thick voice called. "I've been waiting for you." _

_A masked figure stepped out of the shadows, the same Toushirou had described to Karin when telling her about the attack to the Royal Convoy. And even before he took off his mask and they could see his face, Karin and Toushirou both knew who was standing before them, they could sense the reiatsu, it was a corrupted, darker version of the reiatsu they both remembered, even so many years later; it was still his, Kusaka's…and yet, that didn't explain how he was there, after dying so many years before… _

"_Kusaka…" Toushirou and Karin muttered at the same time. _

"_And you haven't come alone." Kusaka commented, finally noticing Karin. "Hitsugaya and Nagaken…guess I shouldn't be surprised." He shook his head. "Like I was saying, I've been waiting for you. That's why used Hyourinmaru to leave a wound on your body. You can't figure out how I'm still alive?" _

_Karin shrugged, like she'd said before, the hows weren't actually important, even knowing them wouldn't change their situation any. _

"_As indifferent as always, Nagaken-hime." Kusaka commented, noticing Karin's attitude. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised, you are a noble princess, after all." _

_Karin didn't react to the veiled insult, or the reminder of her old nickname, she wasn't about to allow Kusaka to distract her. _

"_It doesn't really matter, does it, Hitsugaya?" Kusaka asked with a shrug of his own. "Don't you think we've been on this detour long enough?" _

"_Detour?" Toushirou asked, not quite understanding. _

"_You should know very well what the Gotei 13 is like." Kusaka commented, before turning to Karin and adding. "Both of you should. So why do you stay with them?" his eyes bore into Karin's, even as he talked to Toushirou again. "Is it for her?" _

"_I make my own choices, as does Toushirou-kun." Karin deadpanned, then her eyes softened as she added. "Why are you doing this, Kusaka-kun?" _

"_This?" Kusaka asked, a brow raised. _

"_Attacking the Royal entourage, hurting Toushirou-kun, sending those arrancars after my family and friends, luring the two of us here…" Karin elaborated. _

"_Actually, I was just trying to lure Hitsugaya." Kusaka admitted. "I would have thought that a noble princess like you would have long ago gotten bored playing hero, or maybe scared…" _

"_I never got bored, or scared." Karin practically hissed. _

"_And yet you aren't exactly wearing the traditional shihakusho, are you?" Kusaka pointed out, he'd been intrigued by that fact since noticing her presence. _

"_I died, twenty five years ago." Karin pointed out calmly. "Reincarnated as a human ten-years later. Yet I only regained my memories and met again with Toushirou-kun this summer. Technically I'm not even part of the Gotei 13 anymore." _

"_I see…" Kusaka murmured thoughtfully. "Still, it's not like your presence here actually changes anything. Except…I'm curious, is he the reason you pushed me away?" _

_Karin's gray eyes turned to steel at that question, even as Toushirou began looking from one to the other, with no idea of what was going on. _

"_I always thought that maybe I wasn't good enough, since I wasn't noble and all that." Kusaka commented coldly. "And yet, after all these years, you've remained by Hitsugaya's side, and he isn't noble either. With the two of you, it's gotten to the point when even after dying and reincarnating, you're here now. So maybe I was wrong, maybe it has nothing to do with the blood, you just preferred him instead of me." _

"_It never was about one or the other, Kusaka-kun." Karin said, her voice changing to a more subdued tone. "It wasn't about being a noble either. I just…I couldn't love you the way you professed to love me." _

_Toushirou's eyes widened, he couldn't believe what he was hearing; Kusaka was, or at least had been, in love with Karin! Yet Karin hadn't loved him…and somehow Kusaka believed that meant she loved Toushirou?! _

"_Anyway," Kusaka dismissed the topic with a shrug, like he didn't actually care about it. "I guess that's neither here nor now. You've come here today, to me, for a very different reason, have you not?" _

"_Where is the Ouin?" Toushirou asked, as willing to change the topic as Kusaka. _

"_Right here, of course." Kusaka replied, his hand fisted around the golden-glowing object. "This is going to make my dreams come true." _

"_Dreams?" Toushirou asked, wondering what that had to do with anything. _

_Karin, meanwhile, tensed, unknown to anyone and everyone, she actually did know what most of the Royal Artifacts did; it came with the package of being a Celestial and, unlike her partner, actually being fully conscious of the fact. So, she knew about the Royal Artifacts, including the Ouin, and if Kusaka knew as well…_

"_What is the power of the Ouin?" Toushirou demanded, not noticing Karin's tension. "How do you know about it?" _

"_No need to rush." Kusaka answered with a smirk. "You'll know soon enough." He turned to Karin. "Though something tells me young Nagaken-hime already knows…Now, let's go." _

_Toushirou had just turned to Karin, hoping for some kind of explanation, but before any could be given, the golden light coming from the Ouin enveloped all three of them, and just like that, they were gone. _

And so, amidst what looked like golden lighting, the three once-friends appeared at the top of the empty Soukyoku Hill, right in the middle of Seireitei.

Beside Karin, Toushirou couldn't help but look around, totally speechless, and quite disbelieving of his own surroundings, even when Kusaka confirmed they were where he thought they were. Karin, for her part, was better ready for the sudden change of location; she took notice of the new place in an instant and got her bearings almost immediately; soon enough she was focused on the quickly approaching reiatsu, high ranking shinigami from all over Seireitei were approaching their location, fast.

"This is the power of the Ouin." Kusaka was explaining to Toushirou meanwhile. "The King's Seal is able to move space, time and matter into another dimension at the user's will. In short, this power makes teleportation trivial. I can transfer an enemy's attack into another dimension before it hits. If I'm injured, I can return my body to any time before it was hurt." He turned to Karin. "Isn't that true, Nagaken-hime?"

Karin took notice of what Kusaka had just said in a corner of her mind, while she had known what the Ouin could do, the particular use her once-friend had given it was more on the unorthodox side, it made her wonder what else could be done with it, or with any of the other Royal Artifacts. Still, most of her attention, remained on the situation all three of them were in in that moment, the rather…delicate situation.

"You forgot that, regardless of how powerful it may be, you cannot use it to break into the Royal Realm." Karin answered nonchalantly. "Not even the Ouin can break the barrier to that dimension, only one object can do that."

"True…however, I've never cared about the Royal Dimension or the Spirit King." Kusaka said with the same nonchalance.

Karin sighed mentally, thanking the spirits that, if anything, Kusaka hadn't somehow turned out to be another Aizen-like psycho. Though she still didn't understand what his purpose might be for all he'd been doing the last few days.

"Kusaka, that means you…" Toushirou gasped.

Karin turned to him immediately in wonder and confusion, it was obvious Toushirou had realized something she hadn't.

"Indeed." Kusaka nodded, apparently on the same wavelength as Toushirou. "I was transferred to Hueco Mundo and reincarnated there. And I've searched for the power of the Ouin since…in order to take revenge against Seireitei!"

As she heard that, Karin began to reconsider her opinion of Kusaka not being as bad as Aizen, as she materialized her zanpakutou and went into shikai without a word; it only got worse with what she heard next:

"Toushirou!" Kusaka called, an almost-maniac gleam in his eyes. "Cut it! Your bankai should be able to cut the seal!"

"Cut…the Ouin?" Toushirou asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes, and when you do, everything will evaporate!" Kusaka declared, smirking followed by a mad cackle.

"Cut the Ouin…" Karin repeated. "Are you absolutely insane?!"

No answer was given, Kusaka just continued laughing, even as Ikkaku, Yumichika, Hisagi and Kotori arrived on Soukyoku Hill. The last two immediately getting on their guard, they still remembered quite clearly the battle against Toushirou and Karin the previous night, and had the feeling that, without the worry for the humans hanging over them, things could be much worse in that moment.

Immediately the two members of Squad 11 began commenting on their luck, getting there first, even as Hisagi asked Hitsugaya why he was acting as he was. Karin just rolled her eyes, the lack of faith Hisagi, and most of the shinigami, had on Toushirou was truly insane! Shouldn't they know him better than that?!

"Going by the emergency alert and our orders, we have to take in Hitsugaya Toushirou and the Ouin's thief." Kotori stated formally.

"What?" Karin smirked at the third-seat. "Wanna give it another try?"

The shinigami actually gave a step back at that, which called everyone's attention, the two officers of the eleventh could only wonder what exactly had happened in the Living World to make the usually so impassive Kotori step back.

Ikkaku and Yumichika moved to attack, only to be blocked and pushed back by Toushirou and Karin almost instantly.

"Guess you are being serious…" Ikkaku commented as he took a battle stance.

He, like so many, didn't really understand what was going on.

"Stay out of the way." Hitsugaya told them all coldly.

Battle began yet again, but Karin and Toushirou focused only on keeping their attackers at bay, away from them and Kusaka, who just watched them in silence.

Things only got worse when several dozens more of shinigami arrived, along with half of the captains and lieutenants; Sui-Feng immediately taking charge.

"Surrender Hitsugaya, Nagaken." She ordered stoically. "And the man behind you."

Karin and Toushirou stepped back from the shinigami they were fighting in that moment, but didn't lower their zanpakutou.

Behind them, Kusaka laughed again.

"Who are you?!" Komamura demanded strongly.

"Hitsugaya, what are you doing?" Kusaka asked. "Let those fools experience our hate! Our suffering!" he turned to Karin. "Will you join us as well, Nagaken-hime?"

Karin rolled her eyes, deciding it was useless to even dignify that with an answer, particularly since she was busy keeping an eye on all the shinigami that might attack her or Toushirou any second; she knew she wasn't fast enough to defend from all of them at the same time… besides, she thought Kusaka was being overly dramatic.

"This is our revenge!" Kusaka cried out almost maniacally as he raised the Ouin above his head. "Cut it! Hitsugaya Toushirou!"

"Capture him!" Sui-Feng ordered instantly.

"This is none of your business." Karin hissed as she jumped high and swung her naginata in an arch. "Don't meddle! Enmouchou!"

That time, the bird made of fire was big enough to actually block most of the shinigami rushing at her and the others, forcing them to stop, and the moment the fire touched the ground, it left scorch marks that made everyone doubt if they should risk moving again.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

Ichigo's huge attack the second he arrived created a fissure on the earth, and seemed to drive Karin's message home: stay back.

"Need a hand?" Ichigo asked Karin, taking a quick look at her over his shoulder as he kept most of his attention on the other shinigami.

Karin rolled her eyes, she really should have known her family would meddle eventually.

"Just don't interfere." She said, signaling to Toushirou and Kusaka behind her.

"I trust you." He responded as he nodded once.

Even if neither he, Rukia or Yuzu knew exactly what was going on, they trusted Karin, and if she believed things should be done a certain way, they would help her.

In that very moment the shinigami were about to make another move to attack, and Ichigo decided he'd had it, enough was enough. Rukia could see he was about to snap and could only sigh, she really should have seen it coming…

"Stop!" Ichigo yelled at the top of his lungs. "Is fighting the only thing that you people can do?! You guys don't want to hurt Toushirou, do you? I don't think you want to hurt Karin either. Don't try to kill him just because someone ordered it!"

His words, his stance, Ichigo was talking so strongly, so passionately, that the shinigami around reacted almost automatically, lowering their zanpakutou and turning to look at each other with doubt and wonder.

"Shut your mouth Kurosaki!" Sui-Feng snarled. "Regardless of how things may be in the living world, you have no authority here. The Squads have a duty! Following the orders of superior officers is a model we must follow no matter what the cost."

It was obvious to Ichigo, Rukia, and everyone else who knew what had happened, that she had taken offense of the order that had been issued for all shinigami to leave Karakura and not to go back without the Nakama's authorization.

"And I'm telling you, you don't get it!" Ichigo insisted.

"No more talk!" Sui-Feng snapped. "If you, or any of your so-called Nakama, show any further aggression, I'll have you killed too!"

It was so instantaneous, one would say the reaction was practically instinctive, as Rukia unsheathed her own zanpakutou and wordlessly went on shikai; she and Ichigo stood side by side, on their guard, ready to fight. Behind them, Karin too adopted a more formal fighting pose and even Yuzu raised her hands and got ready to begin a kidou. The auras of the four flaring in unison, showing their readiness for battle.

For a moment no one knew what to say, even though the members of the Gotei were so many, and those opposing them so few…there was something almost intimidating about the way they stood, about the auras that enveloped them…and then…

"Halt!" The sudden, powerful, authoritative voice, stopped everything in an instant.

* * *

To those cringing about yet another OC... I promise Skye isn't that important, not like Keeva and Serenity. She'll be background character. And while there'll be a few scenes where her importance shows, she'll never be as important as the Nakama, or any of our favorite Bleach characters. There's one single reasons she exists at all: and it is that it was never logical for me the way Hinamori was handled in canon.

I'm issuing a warning right now. If you love Hinamori, this might not be the fic for you. Truth is that I cannot stand her. In my opinion she's either a naïve child, a stupid fool, or a villain that was never fully developed. Why? She either willing or unwillingly became so absolutely devoted to Aizen that even after he almost killed her, and he betrayed everyone, she kept believing in him. She turned her weapon on her oldest friend! Her (according to Kubo) love interest, because Aizen told her to! She'd known Toushirou her whole life (or afterlife, whichever!), and Aizen for less than fifty years, and she believed Aizen over Toushirou! That means that either she was foolish, stupid or manipulated. Regardless of which, in my opinion, she shouldn't have been in a position of authority at the time of the Winter War. Considering what little we see of her before the battle of Karakura, it's clear she's not doing well, and those around either don't care to help her, or haven't been able to do so. It makes me wonder how the hell the Fifth Squad was still standing... so that's the purpose of Skye Kotori. She's the 'power behind the throne' so-to-speak, she's the one really holding the squad together. So she'll be in the background, much like some of the lieutenants, and her character will be developed, but you don't have to worry that she'll ever be more important than our favorite characters.

As for why the notes have gone this long this time... it's become clear to me that not everyone likes OCs... nowadays I don't use them as much. But this fic was begun at a time when I did. Also, I had a plan for most of my OCs, and the Réalta as a whole, that would have become particularly important during the Thousand Year War... then I chucked the arc away entirely. So some of my OCs lost most of their importance, but some are important even without that arc. For those that might worry, I'll tell you this: only Keeva and Serenity can be considered as truly relevant characters, on the level with some of the Nakama. Though no OC will ever be more important than our favorites, like Ichigo, Rukia, Uryuu, Orihime... you get my point, I hope.

Having said that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next week, we'll see how the rest of the Diamond Dust Rebellion unfolds!


	24. Unbreakable Friendship

Here you go! The second half of the Diamond Dust Rebellion! One thing that stuck with me from the movie was how Matsumoto offers to bear the consequences of Toushirou's supposed betrayal. Someone, I think it might have been Yamamoto (haven't seen the movie in a while and thus can't remember exactly) mocks her for it. I saw it as a powerful scene, even with her being just his lieutenant, in this verse, with her being his mother...

I loved using this movie because it allowed me to flesh out Toushirou and Matsumoto as characters, as well as give you more on the 'old Karin', that's all very important for the progression of the story. Also, we're still setting the foundations for what I promise you will be a very different Hueco Mundo Arc! Things might be mostly the same as first, but trust me, changes are happening, and they will keep piling up until we reach the point of no return! (Some might say we reached that from the very first line of this fic, but anyway!).

On with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 24. Unbreakable Friendship **

In Karakura, Chad and Uryuu used their long distance attacks to bring down as many hollows as possible, with Tatsuki and Keeva doing the same using their own hands-on approach. The last one having arrived shortly after Ichigo and Rukia's departure and wordlessly joining the fray; she was proving to be stronger than Tatsuki when she still fought in her body, even if Keeva couldn't use her limbs like blades, she was still fast and strong enough to take average hollows down in a single strike.

Orihime for her part was hurriedly talking to her Rikka, preparing something she hoped would give them an advantage. They all knew the battle wouldn't end until they destroyed the two arrancars, since they were the ones continuously opening gargantas to allow hollows into Karakura; also, if the battle went on for much longer, who knew what kind of effect all that reiatsu would cause on Karakura… The town was already the Juureichi, could that situation be worsened somehow? They had no idea, but weren't about to find out either.

"Very well, we're ready." Orihime declared once all arrangements had been made with her Rikka. "Time to show everyone how much we've grown."

"Orihime beware!" Tatsuki yelled.

The orange-red haired girl turned in time to see a huge fireball one of the arrancars had thrown her way, it was the same attack that had given Chad serious burns until she'd rejected them.

"Get out of the way Orihime!" Uryuu yelled, half-panicked.

The Quincy tried to get rid of all the hollows surrounding him to go and help Orihime, but there were just too many, and while he could fire up to 1200 arrows per second, he couldn't fire them all around him at the same time.

"I will be alright guys." Orihime assured them as she focused. "Here we go. Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily, Tsubaki! Shiten Koushun! I reject!"

The huge fireball hit Orihime's shield, but instead of blowing up, or breaking through the shield, it seemed to be absorbed by it. At first, the Nakama didn't quite understand what made that Shiten Koushun any different from Orihime's usual Santen Kesshun, until they noticed the fourth Rikka in the center of the shield; it was what had absorbed the power of the fireball. It shone with that power, before abruptly firing it back, straight at its creator.

The red-haired arrancar seemed so absolutely shocked by the twist she didn't get out of the way in time and the attack hit her fully. It wasn't enough to kill her, obviously but it certainly gave the others the opening they needed to do it.

It was only a matter of seconds before Chad and Tatsuki managed to come at that arrancar at the same time, destroying her, while Uryuu did the same with the blue-haired one.

"That was awesome Orihime!" Keeva said with delight.

"It's my newest technique." Orihime announced. "I actually haven't fully perfected it yet."

"I didn't know you could do that." Uryuu admitted. "It was an amazing attack."

"I've been talking to my Rikka." Orihime explained. "I want to be useful in the war, but if I get so totally drained every time I use a Nibankyuu attack in the World of the Living, like what happened with that shield at the school…I just might end up being a nuisance…and then they told me about this, 'double techniques', what I get mixing what usually would be two different shields. This is the first time I've used one of these…"

"First of all, you're not a nuisance Orihime." Tatsuki stated strongly. "You could never be. That detail aside, I'm very proud of you!"

"I'm with Tatsuki on this one." Keeva pointed out. "I may not have been with all of you for long, but your powers are simply amazing!"

"Still." Uryuu commented. "It is good that you've discovered other techniques with your Shun Shun Rikka. It's good, not for us, not for what you could do in battle, but because it makes you happy. That's all we want Orihime."

Orihime nodded, a bright smile on her face. She'd found new power in her, new techniques, new ways to be useful…yes, that definitely made her happy.

**xXx**

Matsumoto shunpoed as fast as she could through Seireitei, in the direction of Soukyoku Hill. It had been nerve-wracking, to wait inside the locked barracks of her division for something to happen. In particular after she'd noticed his reiatsu returning to Seireitei; she'd never been very powerful, or a pro at reiatsu-sensing, but there was no way she could not notice his: her captain's, her son's!

That was maybe what had made things all the worst since the whole mess with the Ouin, the mysterious attacker and Toushirou's disappearance had begun: the fact that her son was in the middle of everything, and there was nothing she could do, not as his subordinate, and certainly not as his mother. When she'd realized how far Yamamoto was willing to take things she'd offered herself to be the one who paid for the crimes, even if it had meant her death she wouldn't have cared, she would have willingly given her life for her child's; only to be told that she wasn't good enough to be held accountable.

The worst part, worse even than not being able to help physically, was that she didn't even know anything that could help. Toushirou was her son, yet she didn't know anything about who his friends at the Academy might have been, other than Karin, what may have happened to him, or who Kusaka might be. She knew nothing at all.

_Renji couldn't have known the kind of pain it caused her, when she opened the package Ichigo and Rukia had sent her, only to find Toushirou's haori inside. What did that mean? Was he giving up his position? Was he turning traitor? Rangiku absolutely refused to believe that last part. Her captain, her son was not a traitor! Though he had certainly inherited Gin's penchant for going on his own to settle things he considered personal, leaving her to worry sick over them. Those two really needed to learn to let her in! _

_She could have chuckled, if just to herself, once she caught up with her thoughts, knowing that just a few months before Toushirou would have furiously refused to have any likeness to Ichimaru Gin, father or not. Still, she believed that after knowing the truth about him, after everything Karin had told them…things had changed. And yet…before she could even begin to smile, the strawberry blonde's lieutenant's eyes caught sight of a dark-red stain right in the middle of the haori: dried blood. _

"_He's hurt…" She gasped, beginning to panic right away. _

"_It's alright." Renji told her soothingly. "The Nakama found him right away, and Yuzu treated his wound with no problem." _

"_It seems I now owe Yuzu-chan my…captain's life twice over." Rangiku whispered, more to herself than to the others. _

"_Ichigo said Hitsugaya-taichou slept at his house that night." Renji informed her. "The twins looked after him. However, he was gone the next morning, before anyone else woke…except Karin-san, she's gone with him." _

"_Karin…" Rangiku couldn't help it, she smiled then. "Then he's safe." _

_She would trust that girl with her life, and even with the life of her son, she knew that even though she hadn't said it out-loud, she truly loved Toushirou. _

"_Wait." Something suddenly occurred to the ice-blue-eyed lieutenant. "You said the Nakama helped him. Won't they get in trouble for that?" _

_Renji shrugged. Thus far no one but him, and Rangiku, knew what the Nakama had done to help Toushirou, or that one of them had gone with the missing captain to wherever it was he was going. Renji was sure it wouldn't be pretty when the truth was discovered, and yet, he actually feared more Ichigo's response if anyone tried anything against his sister, than whatever the Gotei may come up with. _

Rangiku had spent many hours pacing, so many she eventually stopped counting them. When night came, she laid down in her futon, but her sleep was uneasy and restless. Only made worse when she heard yells from beyond the walls of her barracks, something had happened, something serious, and she had no idea what it was.

The whole situation, ever since Toushirou had left amidst the chaos of the attack on the Royal Convoy, was proving to be trying on Rangiku's nerves. It was worse than when Gin would disappear every so often, even when he became a traitor and followed Aizen to Hueco Mundo, because even though she loved Gin with all her heart, she'd long ago learnt to survive without him; Toushirou on the other hand…he was a part of her…her son…

_It was a couple of hours since the loud racquet she'd heard beyond the walls of her division when, unexpectedly, she saw a shadow creeping into the barracks unnoticed. She was about to call the attention of one of the Onmitsukidou keeping guard over the place when she suddenly saw the moonlight reflected on bright red hair. _

"_Renji!" She barely managed to hold back her yell. _

_For all answer, the lieutenant of the sixth division slipped inside her room, closing the shouji doors behind him, and making sure the windows were blocked. _

"_Renji, what are you doing here?" Rangiku asked in a low voice. "You aren't supposed to come in here. We're in lockdown. You could get in trouble." _

"_I thought you might like an update of what's happened." Renji said calmly. _

"_Does anyone know you're here?" Rangiku asked softly, while she was dying to know what had happened, she was still worried about her friend. _

"_You, obviously, and possibly my captain." Renji answered thoughtfully. _

"_Possibly?" Rangiku was confused by that. _

"_Well, he made sure I knew everything that happened a few hours ago, though it wasn't really necessary." Renji elaborated. "It's not like we're the ones in charge or anything. Or like I'm important enough to 'need' to know what's going on. Then he said that if I still had 'that errand' to run I better be quick about it, and make sure no Onmitsukidou saw me, they're all running on such a short fuse they might think I'm up to something…" _

"_Your…Kuchiki-taichou said that?!" Rangiku couldn't believe it. _

_At first she was going to ask what errand Renji had to run, until suddenly she realized 'she' was the errand, or at least, letting her know the situation. _

"_I really, really hope you won't get in trouble." Rangiku said in a low voice. _

"_If I do my captain will just bail me out…I think." Renji chose not to ponder on that for too long. "In any case, Sui-Feng-taichou is far too focused on other things to worry about crazy shinigami slipping past her guards to see you." _

"_What exactly is going on Renji?" Rangiku finally answered the most important question. _

"_A lot is going on, Rangiku-san." Renji answered, turning very serious. "You have no idea the kind of mess that's taking place outside these barracks." _

"_Tell me." Rangiku instructed solemnly. _

_Renji did a double-take, he'd never seen Rangiku so serious; he'd always known her as the almost-perpetually-drunk, happy-go-lucky, lazy, sexy and quasi-exhibitionist lieutenant of the 10__th__ division. More than once he'd even wondered how Toushirou, and whoever had been captain before him (he couldn't remember) put up with her. In that moment, seeing her so serious, so worried, he began to understand… _

"_Kyouraku-taichou is at the 4__th__, he was just attacked, badly…by Hyourinmaru." Renji dropped the first bomb hesitantly, not sure how Rangiku would take it. _

"_Hyou…" Rangiku shook her head. "That's impossible, Toushirou would never attack Kyouraku-taichou, or anyone else from the Gotei for that matter!" _

"_Yeah, well…" Renji shrugged, he had noticed her calling her captain by his given name, but filed that away for later study. "That's not all. Nanao-fukutaichou said her captain had gone out to get some air, right after they found out something about that name Ichigo mentioned to us. Kusaka is, or rather was, Kusaka Soujirou. Going by the registries, he was a classmate of Hitsugaya-taichou's, though he doesn't appear in the final list of graduates, and in another registry he's enlisted as deceased, though it doesn't say how he died exactly." _

"_Kusaka Soujirou…" Rangiku repeated softly. _

_The lieutenant tried, and failed, in remembering who that might have been. She hadn't actually been in contact with Toushirou during his brief time at the Academy, just helping to guide him there and then going to pick him up after her captain of that time informed her he was the new recruit. She really had no idea who Kusaka might be…though, if it had been a classmate, that meant Karin most likely did know, and it explained why she'd gone with Toushirou… _

"_That's not all." Renji informed her seriously. _

"_What else?" Rangiku asked, worrying even more. _

"_Hisagi, Kira and Skye-san just returned." Renji explained. "They had been sent, along with a dozen shinigami from each of their divisions, to track down Hitsugaya-taichou and arrest him. They found him in a rundown temple, just beyond the limits of Karakura. They tried to take him in, and he resisted. I don't actually know the details of what happened, only that they weren't expecting him to fight back, or for Karin-san to be there. They were all defeated, most of them before either Hitsugaya-taichou or Karin-san called on their shikai; then the two were gone in the confusion." _

"_Anyone was hurt?" Rangiku asked, though still smiling in satisfaction at the escape her son and Karin had managed, it made her feel proud. _

"_Nothing serious." Renji answered. "Anyway, the worse came when Ichigo found them, shortly afterwards." _

"_Ichigo found Toushirou and Karin?" Rangiku asked, confused. _

"_No, he found Kira, Hisagi and Skye-san." Renji answered. "I have no idea what he said exactly, but the bottom line is this: all shinigami except Rukia and the Kurosakis have been recalled to Soul Society, and no one is to intrude on Karakura or its vicinity, all of which is considered Nakama territory, again without their permission." _

_Rangiku was wide eyed in surprise. She really wanted to know what had happened there. _

"_I have no idea what Ichigo did, or said." Renji added. "I wasn't there when things were recounted, but one thing I know for sure: it had to be serious, and big, for Yamamoto-soutaichou to have given that order…" _

_It most definitely had, and Rangiku knew it as well. She was about to ask what else was knew, when suddenly she realized something: _

"_You said Hisagi, Kira and Skye just returned, right?" Rangiku inquired. _

_Renji nodded. _

"_And the attack on Kyouraku-san couldn't have been that long ago, not more than two hours in any case, I heard the commotion it caused." Rangiku went on. _

_Renji nodded again, not understanding just yet where Rangiku was heading. _

"_If Hisagi, Kira and Skye came back after talking to Ichigo, and that was after fighting Toushirou and Karin, that means their fight happened at least an hour ago, probably more." Rangiku went on, pondering on things. _

_Suddenly, Renji realized where she was going, and his eyes widened. _

"_How could Toushirou be here, in Soul Society, attack Kyouraku-taichou, and then, less than an hour later, be in Karakura to fight Hisagi, Kira, Skye-san and their subordinates?" Rangiku inquired. "It just doesn't add up. No matter how much power one has, you just cannot make a trip between worlds that fast. Besides, if Toushirou had been in Seireitei, wouldn't someone have detected his presence?" _

_She didn't know if the Onmitsukidou could have, Toushirou was a genius after all; and in any case, they hadn't detected the one who had in fact attacked Kyouraku…who she was beginning to suspect might be that Kusaka Soujirou…who somehow was wielding a second Hyourinmaru? It was too confusing. In any case, Rangiku knew for a fact that she would have known if her son had been in Seireitei, she would have known… _

"_Anyway, that's all for now." Renji informed her, getting up. "I'll try to keep you informed if I can. If not, trust that Hitsugaya-taichou will solve this. Regardless of what others may think, I don't believe he's a traitor. If he's doing things this way, it's because he believes it's for the best. Maybe because of the involvement of this Kusaka…even if I have no idea how that can even be possible…" _

"_I know." Rangiku nodded confidently, she knew her son was not a traitor, he could never be. _

"_And he has Karin-san." Renji added. "And I'm sure the rest of the Nakama will help him too if it becomes necessary." _

_Rangiku nodded again, she knew that was true, and while it helped her feel better, it didn't stop her from worrying, nothing could, Toushirou was her son, worrying about him was one of the many unofficial duties a mother always had… _

_By the time she pulled herself out of her pondering, Renji was gone. _

The ice-blue-eyed and strawberry-blonde lieutenant hadn't gotten a single straight hour of sleep that night. Even after Renji had told her everything he knew, and she knew her son was safe, at least for the time being, she couldn't stop worrying; she wouldn't, not until she could see Toushirou again, see him and know for a fact he was alright.

Which was why, the moment she was allowed out of her division, she was on the move, shunpoing as fast as she could, faster than anyone had ever seen her move before.

_She was on her room, sitting stoically on her toes, trying to convince herself that her Toushirou was alright, when suddenly she gasped, she could sense the weight of a huge reiatsu weighing on her, so big that for a handful of seconds she couldn't breathe. Then it was gone, and even as she took huge gulps of air, it hit her, the reiatsu left behind where the one to leave her gasping had first come from: _

"_Toushirou!" she half-screamed. _

_A second later, her subordinates were screaming outside. In an instant she was on her feet and rushed out of her room, to the veranda that went all around the main building of the barracks. At least a dozen of her subordinates were there, watching in the distance, Soukyoku Hill, and the strange yellow-golden lighting that seemed to be originating from there; it took Rangiku a couple of seconds to realize that her son's reiatsu was also coming from there. _

"_Matsumoto-fukutaichou!" Several of her subordinates called. _

"_What is happening on Soukyoku Hill now?" Several others asked. _

_Omaeda was yelling something to all of them, something about how they couldn't leave…no one was paying any attention, all totally focused on Soukyoku Hill. _

"_Rangiku-san!" Renji's voice somehow managed to call her attention, he was standing on top of the 10__th__ barracks walls, having foregone the gate. _

"_Abarai, like I told you yesterday, you have no authorization to be here." Omaeda said to the redhead in a scathing tone. _

"_Actually, I do." Renji replied with obvious satisfaction. "I've been sent to get Matsumoto-fukutaichou, on orders from Yamamoto-soutaichou. She's to come with me." _

_That made everyone in the 10__th__ Division very nervous, was Rangiku going to be punished for what was going on? Was the division going to be disbanded? _

"_Kyouraku-taichou has awakened." Renji said, locking eyes with Rangiku. "We now have all the pieces of the puzzle." _

_Rangiku's smile was soft, dazzling, more so than any of her usual, seductive or childish smiles could have been; and those who noticed it couldn't help but marvel. It was as if they were seeing her for the first time, as they realized there was more to her than the flirty half-ditzy extremely-well-endowed woman. _

"_T…Hitsugaya-taichou is at Soukyoku Hill." Rangiku barely managed to remember to address her captain correctly. _

_Quickly, and totally ignoring Omaeda and his own subordinates, Rangiku shunpoed to Renji's side, ignoring the gate as well. _

"_I know." Renji told her. "That's where we're going. It's time to put an end to this madness." Then he added in a tone so low only Rangiku heard. "Before Karin-san displays the same kind of temper Ichigo is already becoming famous for and vaporizes something…or someone." _

_Rangiku couldn't help it, she chuckled. _

_In that very instant, they both sensed Toushirou's reiatsu spiking. And then other reiatsu doing the same. A battle had begun. _

_Rangiku didn't need anything else to be said, she was off, shunpoing as fast as she could in the direction of Soukyoku Hill. _

Her move was so sudden it took Renji a few minutes and some effort to catch up with her, and even as he did he could only look at her amazed. The way Rangiku was pushing herself, the look of concentration in her eyes, he'd never seen her like that before, it was almost…if Renji didn't know better he would think she was hurrying after someone she loved rather than just her commanding officer…right…

Rangiku didn't stop until she reached the foot of Soukyoku Hill, where a few people seemed to be waiting for them, it took her a few seconds to realize just who they were:

"Yamamoto-soutaichou." She barely managed to remember to bow in respect, as wound up as she was with everything going on. "Ise-fukutaichou, Kyouraku-taichou, it's good to see you in the path to recovery though, shouldn't you be resting still."

"He just refuses to follow instructions." Nanao said in a mix of anger and worry. "Even when they're for his own good.

"Oh, Nanao-chan! I promise I'll be alright!" Kyouraku said dramatically. "You need not worry about me anymore! All I nned to recover is your love…"

"Taichou!" Nanao cried out in evident consternation as her face flushed red.

Kyouraku couldn't help it, he chuckled slightly.

Renji tried his best to keep his own amusement at bay, even after such a bad wound, Kyouraku kept acting exactly the same way, it seemed that nothing at all could cure him of his attitude. How Nanao survived with him, he had no idea.

"It's good to see you too, Rangiku-san." Kyouraku added with a tired smile. "Now I think we should get on our way. Before an innocent man is punished for a crime he never committed, or our young guardian-friend burns something in an attempt to protect him…" he shook his head. "And I'm sure you must be eager to set the record straight in regards to your…" his voice broke slightly as he coughed. "Captain, right, Rangiku-san?"

For a moment Rangiku could only blink, wondering if the pause in that very point had been accidental or intentional. In the end, she decided it didn't matter, in that moment only one thing mattered: finding her son, and letting everyone know he was innocent.

Beside Kyouraku Yamamoto simply nodded, leading the way up Soukyoku Hill. Renji and Nanao both helping Kyouraku while Rangiku closed the march.

**xXx**

The tension at the top of Soukyoku Hill was about to reach a breaking point. Ichigo was already synced with Zangetsu and ready to call on Bankai the moment anyone moved; Karin too was on the edge of bankai; Rukia held her zanpakutou in one hand, the other hand ready to begin firing kidou; while Yuzu already had her first kidou on her lips. They knew it was insane, particularly with how many potential opponents stood on the other side of the crack created by Ichigo and Karin, but they just weren't about to let their nakama down…

Then, right when it seemed like everything, and everyone would snap, a strong, authoritative voice gave an order that seemed to almost freeze time.

"Halt!"

In an instant shinigami stepped aside to open a path for the newcomers, all but the captains and lieutenants dropping to their knees in respect.

Rukia very nearly did the same, but Ichigo's hand on her arm stopped her, subtly reminding her of the authority she held as a Nakama.

The joy in several of those present, at seeing Kyouraku Shunsui up and about was obvious, particularly Ukitake Juushirou's, being his best friend.

There was also some confusion in regards to Rangiku's presence, but no one dared say anything, guessing that if she was walking with the Captain-Commander, then something must have drastically changed.

"So you are alive, Kusaka Soujirou." Yamamoto said, more a declaration than a question.

"I thought you were killed, right?" Kusaka half-quoted what he imagined the old captain would be saying next.

"And apparently someone else knew about those forbidden events." Yamamoto added, turning to look at Karin.

The raven-haired Nakama just shrugged, uncaring of Yamamoto's hard stare; she wasn't about to apologize for being there when Toushirou needed her, not even for finding out about things supposed to be secret in order to help. And it's not like they could punish her for it, either, technically speaking, that 'crime' hadn't been committed by her, but by someone who'd died twenty five years before; and even if they could accuse her of it, her nobility would protect her from most punishments. While most of the time she hated being a noble princess, every once in a while it turned out to be quite convenient…

As Karin reflected on that Yamamoto explained his theory on what had happened with Kusaka, reincarnating and growing up in Hueco Mundo…most of which Karin and Toushirou had worked out already, though at least Karin still didn't care much about it.

"Yes, I came back." Kusaka said with a calculative expression. "Thanks to the Ouin I got my life back. And now I will wield the Ouin to become the King of Soul Society!"

Karin couldn't help but roll her eyes deciding it was official, Kusaka had snapped.

"The King of Soul Society, you say?" Yamamoto inquired, though he didn't really wait for an answer. "How arrogant."

"You're the arrogant ones." Kusaka retorted hotly as he raised the glowing Ouin high up. "Learn your place!"

"Karin, now!" Toushirou yelled unexpectedly.

To everyone's shock, Karin's zanpakutou vanished at the same time she spun around and went into shunpo, one second she was upon Kusaka, and by the next she was back to her original position, though this time facing the opposite direction, the Ouin secure in her hands.

There was a loud metallic clash, and everyone turned back to Kusaka, where they realized that the moment Karin had shunpoed away with the Royal Artifact, Toushirou had leapt against Kusaka himself.

Suddenly no one understood what was happening at all.

"T…Taichou!" Rangiku cried out, rushing to the fighting duo.

"Stay back M…Matsumoto!" Toushirou yelled at the same time he broke the deadlock with Kusaka and prepared for another clash. "This is my fight."

"It's alright, Rangiku-san." Karin said softly from her place, a few feet away from her. "Toushirou-kun knows what he's doing."

"And that makes one among us all." Ichigo quipped.

It took a second, but then Rukia kicked him on the shin; she was finally beginning to relax, realizing she wouldn't have to fight the Gotei after all. Ichigo ignored the stab of pain and just chuckled, it was good to see things were getting underway, even if, like he'd said, none of them except Toushirou and probably Karin had the slightest idea of what was really going on, what had been happening since the beginning of the mess.

"What's the meaning of this, Hitsugaya?" Kusaka demanded.

"I never had any intention of joining you." Toushirou answered impassively. "Neither did Karin, for that matter."

Kusaka looked at him and then at Karin blankly, as if trying to understand something that was just beyond his comprehension.

"Didn't he betray the Gotei 13?" Kurotsuchi asked, puzzled.

"Idiots." Karin hissed, quiet audibly to everyone in the hill.

"Then why did you attack us?" Sui-Feng directed her question to both of them.

"Like I told my brother, this was our business." Karin answered simply.

"Are you going to strike me down?" Kusaka asked Toushirou directly. "Kill me again?"

"Stop that stupidity!" Karin snapped, this time at Kusaka. "Toushirou-kun wasn't the one who killed you, neither was it his fault that you were killed."

"I'm just trying to atone for my crimes." Toushirou said at the same time.

In an instant, any anger that might have been in Karin left her, and her expression instead reflected a deep sadness. She realized in that moment that Toushirou hadn't gotten over it yet, she just hoped what they were doing, what he was doing, would help him move on, otherwise he would suffer forever.

"And what's your crime?!" Kusaka cried out in turn. "Do you think that you can atone by killing me?!" he turned to Karin. "You've taken the Ouin from my hand, destroyed my plan, and now you'll have him kill me?!"

Karin didn't answer, just turned her eyes away. While she'd never loved Kusaka, he'd still been a dear friend, the second and last one she'd made in the Shino Academy, and one of just a handful of sincere friends she remembered having in her life as Nagaken Karin. One of the few that didn't treat her different just for the family she was born into. And yet…and yet the man, the almost-monster that stood in that moment in front of her…he wasn't the Kusaka Soujirou she remembered, he wasn't her dear friend, or Toushirou's…just a corrupted remnant of him. While it was true that Kusaka shouldn't have died, it was also true he shouldn't be there in that moment, maybe if they purified him he would return to the cycle of reincarnation and finally have peace…maybe then all three of them would be able to have peace…

Then, as Toushirou made a dash at Kusaka and their duel began yet again, Karin could only stand there, loosely holding the again-dormant Ouin, remembering the past, how different the relationship between the three of them used to be:

_It was the beginning of the Winter term for the Advanced Class in the Shinigami Academy and Karin, decked in her white and red uniform, could hear the rumors going on around her about 'another so-called prodigy' joining the class. The first so-called prodigy being herself. _

_Of course, in her case no one dared question her about how she'd managed to go through the first four years of the Shinigami Academy in just one year, fifth year in a few months, and finally get to sixth year, where she would be graduating that following Spring. And the reason no one dared question her was her name: Nagaken Karin, she was the younger sister of the Head of the Noble Nagaken Clan, the First of the Four Great Families. Still, that no one dared approach her didn't mean she didn't know what they all thought and whispered behind her back. At first no one could believe that a noble princess wanted to be a shinigami, then it had become worse, because they'd begun saying that she was doing it only to pass time, like it was a caprice or something and eventually she would quit. They didn't know her! They had no right to stick their noses into her business! _

_Finally class began, and the teacher announced the new student: _

"_This is Hitsugaya Toushirou, our youngest prodigy, please make him feel welcome." _

_Karin looked at him carefully, he was young, just like her he looked like he would be eleven or so in human-years; though both she and he had obviously lived several times that. His hair was pure-white, like newly-fallen snow, and his eyes were such a shade of turquoise-blue, like nothing Karin remembered seeing before. There was also an air of power around him, something that went beyond pure reiatsu, something she'd only sensed in experienced shinigami like her Nii-sama, or Byakuya-san, or Kotori-sensei…_

_Most of the class tried, in their own ways, to do as the professor had asked, and make the new student feel welcome; however, Karin soon realized he didn't seem to like anything. His eyes were narrowed, and he kept looking around him, as if searching for a way to get away from the hoarding masses. By the time free period rolled around Karin noticed that things had gotten so bad, the new kid would bolt at the slightest provocation. _

"_I can't believe I'm doing this…" Karin muttered to herself before taking her asauchi in hand and approaching the white-haired boy. _

_When other students noticed her approach all conversation ceased. It took a couple of seconds, but eventually the new student turned to look at her, obviously wondering what was going o. _

"_Hey Hitsugaya." She called calmly. "Wanna spar?" _

_He recognized her offer for what it really was, and immediately took his own asauchi and followed her away from their classmates. _

_As soon as they got into the nearest empty training room Hitsugaya let out a sigh. _

"_Thanks for that." He said to Karin. "Though, I'm curious, why did you do it?" _

"_Honestly?" Karin asked, and yet went on immediately. "I know what it is to feel like you're being talked at instead of to." _

"_You're the other prodigy." Hitsugaya realized right then. _

_He, of course had been told he wasn't the only prodigy in the Academy at the time, though the other one hadn't gone through the courses as fast as he had. _

"_If you don't mind, my name is Nagaken Karin." She introduced herself. _

_She waited for a few seconds, for him to react the same way everyone else did. He didn't, it seemed like he didn't react at all, instead he just kept watching her. _

"_What?" She asked, beginning to feel strange under his stare. _

"_So in your case it's not just because you're a prodigy." He said, finally. _

"_Yes." Karin shrugged slightly. "Guess it's my own fault, for wanting to go through the Academy rather than just hiring some private tutors and presenting the exam to get into the Gotei 13." She shook her head. "Maybe Byakuya-san had the right idea when he decided to pull Rukia-san out of this mess." _

"_Byakuya-san?" Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he suddenly realized who that had to be. "Kuchiki Byakuya? The 6__th__ Division Captain?" _

_Karin nodded, eyes narrowed, wondering if the boy was going to let noble titles affect his perceptions after all. Byakuya wasn't a bad person, not at all, but he wasn't as great as some rumors tended to make him either. _

"_I've heard his zanpakutou is quite powerful." Hitsugaya added right then, then considered it and added. "I've also heard the same about Nagaken-taichou…" _

"_Yeah, yeah…" Karin said dismissively. "I swear my zanpakutou is going to be far more amazing than either of theirs!" _

_Hitsugaya couldn't help it, he chuckled. _

"_So, seeing as we don't really have anything better to do." Karin commented as she twirled her asauchi in hand. "Wanna spar?" _

"_I thought that was just an excuse." Hitsugaya actually smiled a bit at her. _

_Karin just shrugged. _

"_Sure." Hitsugaya got on a stance, before unexpectedly saying. "And by the way, I'm sure my zanpakutou will be better than yours." _

It might have been a strange way to begin a friendship, but it worked for them. They became each other's partner, confidant, best-friend…theirs was a friendship that lasted twenty years, till the day she died; and when she returned they fell back into it so easily, it was almost like she was never gone.

And yet, it hadn't always been just the two of them, for a while there had been a third member to their group:

_Karin and Toushirou were sitting across each other in a table near the corner of the Spiritual Library, working on some homework. They were at ease with each other, and since Toushirou began hanging out with Karin no one bothered him, so everything was fine for him. Karin decided it was one of the very few times her nobility was good for something. _

_What they weren't expecting was for someone to approach them right then. _

"_Hello, you must be Hitsugaya Toushirou." A boy who looked a few years older than them, with ashen-black hair and garnet eyes said. "And you must be Nagaken Karin." _

_Hitsugaya nodded, not quite sure what the other boy pretended. _

"_We are." Karin said with narrowed eyes. "The question here is: who are you?" _

"_My name's Kusaka Soujirou." He introduced himself with an easy smile. "I'm actually your classmate, just got moved from the Basic Class to the Advanced One." _

_The other two nodded, they'd known that to happen, even if never that late in the school year, especially since they were in the last year already. _

"_Anyway, I was wondering if you would mind if I joined you." He deposited several books he had been holding on the table, next to Toushirou's. "To be honest, I'm not very good at Soul Society's History or Kidou Theory and would be grateful for some help, I can help with Spiritual Law if you wish." _

"_I'm quite good at it." Karin began, then decided to give him a chance. "Though I guess you can help me help Hitsugaya, he just seems to be helpless at it!" _

"_Nagaken!" Hitsugaya called out offended. _

_Kusaka didn't seem to be able to help it, he laughed. _

And so the duo became a trio. They were sure their friendship would be like that of legend, that it would last forever, or at least for as long as they existed in those incarnations in Soul Society. Of course, at that point all three were still very young, young and naïve.

Kusaka was always talking about his dreams of being a shinigami, about the honor and glory he hoped to bring to the Gotei 13 as well as attain for himself; Karin soon realized that what had begun as an escape from being a noble princess had turned into something she truly enjoyed, she couldn't help but look forward to being an official shinigami, she hoped to one day surpass her Nii-sama; Toushirou didn't seem to have any particular ambitions for himself, he'd only gone to the Academy to learn to control his power, but he too seemed to like the prospect of working with the two who had become his best friends.

Their friendship was so strong, it seemed to be able to survive anything. Even after Kusaka confessed to Karin that he was in love with her and she told him that she just didn't feel the same. There was some awkwardness for a while, but still, their friendship never broke.

Then, as Winter began to fade into Spring, a special session was prepared for the shinigami hopefuls to get the chance to find their zanpakutou. All three friends were thrilled, continually saying each of them would have the best zanpakutou, none of them could have ever imagined the tragedy that would befall them…

_Karin had been one of the first to go through the test/ceremony to gain her zanpakutou, meeting Tenreikou for the first time. It had been an amazing experience for her, and the raven-haired girl couldn't wait to return to the Nagaken estate and tell her brother she had a zanpakutou, and not only that, her zanpakutou's spirit was a phoenix! She was quite sure that beat her Nii-sama's old-man-looking Engetsu, and most likely Byakuya's Senbonzakura too… though Karin didn't actually know what Byakuya's zanpakutou-spirit looked like, most said it was a female, but Karin just wasn't sure. _

_The only reason the girl was still at the Academy was because she was waiting for Hitsugaya and Kusaka, it was their turn, and she really wanted to know what their zanpakutou were like. Maybe they could even begin to plan some team strategies, after all that's what they were, what they'd been for years, since first meeting: a team. _

_It took a while, but eventually Karin could sense Hitsugaya's reiatsu again, she was so thrilled, because she could sense the change in it, the marker that he'd gained a zanpakutou, that for a few seconds she didn't notice that she still couldn't sense Kusaka. _

_Then Hitsugaya was standing a few feet away from her, holding his new zanpakutou so tightly in both hands his knuckles were white, his face was totally drained of color, and it looked like he would be sick at any moment. _

"_Hitsugaya-kun?" Karin asked, suddenly fearing that something was very, very wrong. _

_Hitsugaya raised his head at her voice, his eyes were empty, and that scared Karin like she'd never been scared before; in that moment she knew for a fact something was wrong. _

"_Kusaka…-kun…?" She asked, almost fearfully. _

_For all answer Hitsugaya tightened his hold on his zanpakutou even more and closed his eyes tightly, holding back tears. Karin covered her mouth with her hands, all the joy and pride from scant minutes before totally forgotten. She still didn't know what had happened, it would take many hours with both of them locked in her private quarters and a lot of smuggled sake to get it out of Hitsugaya, and then even more sake to try and forget everything she'd just learnt. After all it was all over she would try her best to never think about it again, yet she would never be able to fully forget it either. And yet, knowing or not, it didn't change the end result: Kusaka Soujirou was gone, and for the two that remained, nothing was ever the same again. _

Of course, when Karin had thought that, she never imagined the possibility of Kusaka ever coming back, and especially not as a corrupted spirit.

"Karin?" Ichigo, Rukia and Rangiku called her at the same time.

The raven-aired soon became aware they'd been calling her for a while, but she'd just be so lost in her memories, and in the battle going on before.

"What is going on, really?" Ichigo asked in a low voice.

Yuzu said nothing, just watching her twin in silence, instinctively knowing that whatever it was that was going on was very, very hard on her, and on Toushirou too.

"Kusaka Soujirou…" Karin whispered, her voice filled with grief. "He was once Toushirou's and mine best-friend. Actually, Toushirou-kun and I met him a week after we met and became friends ourselves. He was the first and only person to ever approach us, not because he was hoping to gain something, or because he considered us freaks: me being a noble-princess and both of us prodigies, and there was also the fact that we looked so young, the youngest-looking in all the Academy. Still, Kusaka-kun approached us, and he became our friend. Soon all three of us were inseparable. We were…nakama…"

Ichigo drew in a sharp breath, if there was something he understood it was that term, with how important it was for him, and his own nakama.

"Then the time came for us to graduate." Karin went on blankly, holding back her emotions. "A session was arranged for all of us to find our zanpakutou. I was one of the first, and I gained Tenreikou. Ichigo, you don't know this, but even though zanpakutou are part of our own souls, at least here in Soul Society, shinigami hopefuls still have to go through a spiritual trial to gain them. Toushirou-kun and Kusaka-kun were some of the last. At first I didn't actually notice they were taking too long, I was just thrilled to have Tenreikou, wanted to share my happiness with them…" she shook her head. "Then I saw Toushirou-kun, his eyes were so empty…I knew something was wrong. What happened…it's complicated…"

"And forbidden." Yamamoto added. "Even you should have never known about it."

"I'm not going to apologize for doing what was necessary to help someone dear to me." Karin retorted strongly, before going back to the story. "In any case, it's not my story to tell. Suffice to say that Kusaka-kun died and Toushirou-kun blamed himself, even though it wasn't his fault at all." She sighed. "After that attack on the Royal Convoy happened, the wound Toushirou-kun had was made by Kusaka-kun's sword, and it allowed Toushirou-kun to know who was behind the attack. When we helped him, I too realized the truth. That's why we left, Kusaka-kun was playing a game, a dangerous game indeed, but he was our business. He came back for us, or at least for Toushirou-kun, so we had to be the ones to sort it out."

"If Kusaka-kun is your friend, shouldn't you want to help him?" Rangiku asked, still a bit confused about everything.

"Kusaka-kun was our friend, a very dear friend." Karin agreed. "But that one fighting Toushirou-kun isn't the real Kusaka-kun, just a corrupted form of him. The real Kusaka Soujirou would have never done such a travesty as trying to use a Royal Artifact to destroy Soul Society, he was such a loyal follower of Seireitei, of the Laws…he would have never done that. In any case, what happened all those years ago was terrible, but this time…this time they fight for themselves. That's what matters."

There were some people who still didn't really understand, them or the significance what was going on had for them, but at least they knew it was important that Toushirou finished that battle himself, so they didn't interfere, instead they just watched, watched and waited to see the resolution of a conflict decades in the making.

"So, from the very start you…" Kusaka, who had half heard Karin's summarized and censured recount of things couldn't quite believe it.

"That's right." Toushirou nodded, noticing that Kusaka had finally seen the truth.

"I see. I misunderstood you." Kusaka said tiredly. "You have even more loyalty for this place than I ever did…or maybe your loyalty is to her."

"If you were the real Kusaka you would understand it." Toushirou answered simply.

He and Karin weren't being idiots, they knew it was Kusaka Soujirou's soul there, and yet, his heart wasn't, his heart had been corrupted by the tragedy and brutality of his death as well as the dark reiatsu of Hueco Mundo; so, in a way, it was Kusaka, and at the same time it wasn't. Maybe once it was all over, the real Kusaka would finally be free, as would them all.

It happened in an instant, Toushirou and Kusaka had yet again moved to strike each other when with a sharp clang Kusaka's zanpakutou broke, falling into pieces at Toushirou's feet, at the same time the white-haired shinigami's own blade pierced the corrupted version of his best male friend through the chest.

"Karin!" Toushirou called sharply.

"Here, take this." Karin threw the Ouin at Ichigo before shunpoing to her two friends.

It looked like Ichigo was going to say something, particularly about the fact that Karin had just thrown a bloody Royal Artifact at him without any warning or care! But Rukia placed a hand softly on his arm, before directing a sorrowful look at the three friends kneeling together. Ichigo just grumbled lowly before relaxing again.

Meanwhile, Toushirou was holding Kusaka's dying body in a fierce grip, keeping him upright, while Karin knelt beside Toushirou, and right in front of him.

"Kusaka…" Both Karin and Toushirou whispered softly.

It was obvious the two prodigies were deeply pained by what was happening, they were losing their best friend all over again…though at least this time they had the chance to say goodbye.

"I'm sorry I hurt you…both of you…" Kusaka whispered brokenly. "I never meant to."

"It's alright, Kusaka-kun, we know." Karin assured him, caressing his face briefly.

Kusaka closed his eyes briefly, enjoying her touch.

"Nagaken-hime…" He whispered softly.

"The name is Karin…Soujirou-kun…" Karin whispered, on the verge of tears by then.

"Karin-hime…" Soujirou said, a small smile on his face, before turning to his other friend. "I'm glad this time we got to finish our fight, Toushirou…"

"Soujirou…" He nodded, trying to keep his own tears back.

Toushirou had known that was what Kusaka wanted all along, didn't meant he had to like it. He didn't want to let go, even though he knew there was nothing he could do to really keep his friend with him, just like he hadn't been able to with Karin.

"Hey…" Soujirou muttered suddenly. "maybe one day I'll come back, like Karin-hime did. Then we'll all be together again, right?"

"Right." Karin nodded, trying to convince herself it was possible. "We'll always be best friends, Soujirou-kun." She pushed herself slightly and kissed his brow.

"Yes, always best friends." Toushirou agreed, trying, and failing to hold tighter onto him.

"Always…" Soujirou echoed. "I wish…"

And then he was gone, nothing more than reishi particles in the air.

* * *

Anyone wanna take a guess as to what's coming next? I cannot help but wonder how predictable some of my ideas for the future might be. I promise if you guess and it's something important I'll give you a special mention when the moment comes.

I hope you're still enjoying this fic. If anyone's interested in doing any fanarts, remixes, podfics, translations, etc... do so! I'd love that, just please don't forget to credit me, and let me know so I may go take a look! (And so I can give mention of your work in the ANs so everyone can go admire your work too!).

See ya next week!


	25. In Memoriam

The aftermath of the Diamond Dust Rebellion, one more chapter with Mama-Ran, and we continue laying the groundwork for what's to come...

Hope you'll enjoy the chapter!

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**Chapter 25. In Memoriam **

Ichigo, Rukia and Yuzu spent that night in their rooms at the Nagaken Estate. Yuzu had called Uryuu's denreishinki to inform him that they would be returning until the next day and ask him to excuse them with everyone; Ichigo was too busy thinking on what he'd seen on Soukyoku Hill and Rukia trying to help him to remember anything else.

Ichigo was having a hard time dealing with his emotions. He could count the times he'd seen, or heard, Karin cry with the fingers of one hand: first shortly after their mom had died, before she'd closed off and put up a strong front so as not to make anyone worry about her; the second was when that mess with the possessed parakeet had happened, the boy's spirit in the bird had broken through her blocks and Karin had seen his last moments of life, as the little boy watched his mother being murdered before accidentally killing the murderer himself, and all he'd suffered since, with all the people that believed him insane, or possessed, until the murderer-turned hollow had truly cursed him to an existence as a soul bound to a bird; the boy's pain became Karin's own, and she had cried, for his pain, and hers; the third had been shortly after she regained her powers, after learning what had been of Tenreikou; the fourth Ichigo had never seen, though Yuzu had told him about it, about how Karin had yelled and cried at the sight of Hitsugaya Toushirou's bleeding and half-dead form deep in the Chambers of 46…and in that moment she was crying for the loss of a friend.

If Ichigo was honest to himself (something very hard indeed), he would admit that the problem wasn't that Karin cried, it was that he felt useless. He somewhat understood why she was crying, she'd called Kusaka Soujirou nakama, and if there was anything Ichigo understood it was that. But the point was that the whole situation was just a painful reminder to the orange-haired of how little he actually knew his little sister, of how she at times wasn't really his little sister, she was someone else…someone who, technically, could have been his aunt, would have been if Aizen hadn't been so intent on killing her twenty-five years before.

"Ichigo…" Rukia whispered.

It took several tries, but eventually he turned soulful, tired chocolate brown eyes to her, their expression almost dull, showing his feelings as clearly as if they had been written down in a language made especially for Rukia to understand.

"Tell me what you're thinking, Ichigo." Rukia half-pleaded.

"I'm thinking that I don't know my sister anymore." Ichigo answered honestly. "At times I wonder if she's even my sister anymore…"

"What do you mean?" Rukia wasn't sure she understood.

"The way she was acting today at Soukyoku Hill, the way she's been acting since we found Toushirou wounded in Karakura…" Ichigo tried to explain. "That wasn't Karin-chan, not my fifteen-year-old sister…no, that was someone else, someone authoritative, independent, powerful…someone who doesn't need me."

"Oh Ichigo…" Rukia embraced him tightly. "I understand it's hard. It's hard for me as well, the way Karin-chan seems to change at times. What you may have not noticed is that she isn't the only one, Tatsuki too, and…sometimes others as well. I think it may have to do with their past lives, with how different their current lives are to others they remember. It's like certain things make them react in different ways. And I'm sure it's not only hard for us, it must be hard for them too, to have to deal with memories of two lives, at times a previous that happened so long ago, and that might not have been a happy one…There's a reason why souls forget their lives, you know? Everyone deserves a clean slate, to begin anew."

Ichigo nodded, he realized Rukia was right, he, they weren't the only ones having a hard time.

"Besides." Rukia went on. "Regardless of how strong Karin might be, I don't think she'll ever stop needing you, not completely. Maybe she won't need you to protect her all the time, but then again she could defend herself even before all this began." she sighed. "What I mean is that, even if she doesn't need you to protect and save her, she'll always need you to be there, for her. You'll always be Karin's big brother Ichigo, and Yuzu-chan's as well."

"What would I do without you?" Ichigo asked as he pulled Rukia onto her lap, burying his face in her silky hair.

"Be terribly miserable for the rest of your existence?" Rukia quipped with a chuckle, as she buried her own face in the crook of his neck.

Ichigo didn't answer just held her tighter against him, though careful not to hurt her, the last thing he wanted to do in that moment was to admit she was probably right, if she wasn't there he probably would have been miserable for the rest of his existence…

**xXx**

Karin and Toushirou, for their part, spent that night in each other's arms, in Toushirou's room; while Rangiku kept vigil outside, it had been a long day…

The morning came, eventually, and while they all knew the worst was over, they also all knew some things still needed to be addressed.

"Good morning." Toushirou greeted half-unaware as he stepped into the kitchenette of his captain-quarters, then did a double take as he realized who was there. "Mo…Mat…huh?"

"Good morning Toushirou." Rangiku smiled as she served some tea and offered him a cup. "Here, I prepared some tea."

"But you hate tea." Toushirou stated suspiciously even as he took the offered cup.

"Actually, I've not always hated tea." Rangiku commented as she served herself a cup and took a sip. "I just…kind of got tired of it."

"Tired?" Toushirou didn't understand.

"After nine months of being able to drink nothing but tea you probably would get tired of it too." Rangiku commented offhandedly with a wink.

"Nine…wha…?" Toushirou was thoroughly shocked.

"Tea and sushi." Rangiku specified. "And ice-cream. God, how I hate sushi! Though the ice-cream wasn't so bad…I actually still like that."

"Tho…Those were your cravings, when you were pregnant with me?" Toushirou asked after a few seconds with his mind blank.

"Mostly." Rangiku answered as she thought about it. "There were other things of course, but those three were the most common. Food aside, you just seemed to like cold, even the tea, there were times I wanted iced-tea instead of hot; it drove the few people that knew about my pregnancy and wanted to help me crazy."

"Who knew about your pregnancy?" Toushirou wanted to know.

"Well, Unohana-taichou and Isane-san, obviously since, like I said before, it's so rare for a soul to be able to get pregnant." Rangiku enlisted. "Isshin-taichou, it's why he helped me so much when I was still his subordinate, your grandma…and Nanao-chan."

"Nana…Ise Nanao-fukutaichou?" Toushirou hadn't been expecting that one.

"Yes." Rangiku nodded. "She's my best friend, has always been. She too is a prodigy you know? Nowhere near what you, your…Gin, Karin-san or some others have displayed, but still, she went to the Academy while still being very young, finished in four years…though it's been said that she was held back at first, because of her youth, and the fact that her power hadn't fully matured yet. I've always been good friends with Kyouraku-taichou, and not only because we tend to be drinking-buddies, like most people think."

"You and…Kyouraku-taichou?" Toushirou was beginning to believe he might be sick.

"Not like that!" Rangiku actually chuckled. "We're just very good friends. Shunsui-san is not all he appears to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Toushirou asked.

"He's not as much of a flirt as he appears to be." Rangiku answered honestly. "Nor is he that lazy and forgetful. Really, if you really think about it, if he were he wouldn't have gotten as far as he has, one of the oldest, strongest captains of the Gotei 13. I think he just does all that to push Nanao-chan's buttons." She chuckled again. "Anyway, I'm actually not sure if Shunsui-san knew about my pregnancy or not, I suppose it's possible, considering how much 'free time' Nanao-chan used to have back then, and on how many errands she was sent to the 10th division… especially if we consider he already spent quite a bit of time there, being a great friend of Isshin-taichou and all. Anyway, Nanao-chan was there with me, she of course soon realized I was pregnant, she helped me keep the secret."

"Does she know I…" Toushirou didn't actually know how to phrase the question.

"She doesn't know you're my son." Rangiku shook her head. "She knows I had a child, a boy, but she believes he's still hidden, somewhere in Rukongai. When you were just a baby I told her I had to keep you away, for your own safety, and she never asked again."

"What about my f…Gin?" Toushirou asked.

Despite the fact that it had been several months since he knew she was his mom, he just had never seemed to be able to find the right moment to have that kind of conversation. It was nice, in a way he couldn't explain.

"He knows." Rangiku answered. "Though don't ask me how, as I don't have the slightest idea. Then again, Karin-san too knows, and I don't know how she found out either, though Isshin-taichou knowing might have had something to do with that at least. Other people, like Yamamoto-soutaichou and Sui-Feng-taichou might know, if for no other reason than the kind of authority they have in Seireitei and the fact that they have access to Unohana-taichou's records. And I think that's it."

"Aizen?" Toushirou asked.

"I don't think so." Rangiku answered, more slowly this time. "Regardless of what you might have believed at first, I'm convinced now that your f…that Gin loves you, that he loves us both. He would have done his best to make sure Aizen didn't find out about you."

Toushirou nodded slowly, he still found it hard to believe: the fact that Ichimaru Gin was his father, and not only that, the fact that he loved him, had protected him…it was all just so strange. And yet he knew it to be true, Ichimaru Gin loved both him and his mother, he wasn't really a traitor, he was trying to bring Aizen down, just like they all were, only that in a very different manner, and he was doing it all for them: for his son Toushirou, for the woman he loved Rangiku, and his friend Karin.

"You're very much like him, you know?" Rangiku commented unexpectedly. "Gin, I mean."

"What?" Toushirou spat the tea he'd just sipped in shock.

"Yes." As Rangiku spoke she went around the kitchen counter, to stand next to her son. "Always wanting to do things your own way, and the knack of leaving me behind, worrying about you." She embraced him tightly right then. "You better not do that again to me young-man! I have enough with your father doing it, I cannot take it if you do the same!"

For a moment Toushirou didn't know what to feel, or say, he was being reprehended, like a little child; he should be upset, angry for the way Rangiku was treating him, and yet it somehow felt nice. Because Rangiku wasn't just any person, she wasn't even just his lieutenant, she was his mother…and she worried about him.

"I'm sorry mother…" He whispered softly as he embraced her back.

"I love you so much, Shirou-chan…I don't want to lose you…" Rangiku whispered with teary eyes as she held him even more tightly.

"You won't lose me, I promise you…mom…" Toushirou said just as softly.

Rangiku just smiled as she held her son, at times he seemed so powerful and strong, and yet he was still young, and even if he weren't, she knew he would always be her son. So she smiled, a soft, caring, warm smile, a special smile she had reserved for her son, for the few times he called her mom…

From the doorway, Karin watched the exchange in silence and smiled as well.

**xXx**

Around midmorning a messenger arrived to the Nagaken Estate to inform Ichigo that his, and the other Nakama's (those currently in Soul Society at least) presence was required in a meeting with the Captain-Commander in an hour. Ichigo sent a Clan messenger to Karin; he knew that if the meeting was in regards to what had happened the last few days, like he thought it was, then another messenger must have gone to inform Toushirou already, but just in case, he would make sure Karin was informed.

An hour later, as asked, Ichigo, Rukia, Yuzu and Karin were standing before the doors to the 1st Division HQs, as expected, Toushirou and Rangiku were already inside, as were all the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13; Karin had informed Yuzu, Ichigo and Rukia, after being informed by Toushirou herself, that Skye Kotori would be in attendance as well, in representation of the 5th Division, since Hinamori, the only one who ranked higher than her apparently wasn't yet in condition to attend meetings.

The doors were opened and the four Nakama went in, Ichigo at the center, flanked by his sisters and wife (even if most still didn't know that part).

"Very well, now that we are all here." Yamamoto said seriously. "We're here to discuss the events that took place in the last 48 hours, in both the Soul Society and the Living World, in relation to the Ouin and the criminal: Kusaka Soujirou."

It was obvious, by the way they tensed, that two particular people didn't like the way Yamamoto was referring to him, so casually, so coldly…and yet there was nothing they could do about it, because they knew that no matter how events were interpreted, how many justifications they tried to come up with, or the fact that they understood why things had happened as they had; there was no erasing the fact that Kusaka Soujirou had been, indeed a criminal: he'd attacked a Royal Convoy, killed dozens of people, stabbed Toushirou, attacked Kyouraku, stolen the Ouin, and then attempted to use it to claim vengeance on Soul Society, and through it all he also did his best to frame Toushirou for all his crimes!

One by one Sui-Feng, Rangiku, Shunsui, Nanao, Renji, Byakuya, Hisagi, Kira and Skye reported what had happened during the last two days, leaving aside any personal grudges (though it was obvious some of them had them).

When the Nakama's turn came, Ichigo and Rukia went first, most of the shinigami from the Gotei 13 couldn't quite believe everything those two, and the rest of the Nakama, had done and not done, just because one of them had said that what was going on was a personal matter. Still, Ichigo kept saying that he trusted his sister, her independence, power and judgment; which is why he only got involved when it became a matter of life and death.

Yuzu said nothing, just nodding when Ichigo mentioned how she'd treated Toushirou after the first battle; other than that, she really hadn't done much.

When Karin's turn came Toushirou left his spot in the captains' formation and went to stand by her side. The two together then went into a detailed explanation of everything that had happened, carefully avoiding any personal conversations, between them or with Kusaka, it's not like they changed anything, really.

No one said a single word was said while Toushirou and Karin related their side of things, no emotion showing on their expressions, even when most of those present had seen the rather emotional goodbye on Soukyoku Hill the day before.

Eventually it was over, and it came Yamamoto's turn to speak again.

"As you all have seen by now, Hitsugaya Toushirou has been fully reinstated to his rank, with all responsibilities and privileges it allows." Yamamoto declared. "For all intents and purposes the guilty party in these events is Kusaka Soujirou, and he's been punished for his actions, by the very person he tried to frame for his crimes."

It was obvious some people, like Sui-Feng, didn't like that Toushirou wasn't going to be charged for anything; not even the attack he and Karin had been responsible for, against the shinigami who had tried to arrest them. But Yamamoto's authority was absolute and she had to respect it, as did everyone else in the Gotei.

Toushirou and Karin once again clenched their fists slightly, but neither said nothing. As much as they may want to defend their once-best-friend, it wasn't like it would change anything.

"The involvement of the Nakama: Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin will be considered to be under her duties as Royal Guardian, therefore it was outside of the authority and responsibility of the Gotei 13 or Seireitei." Yamamoto added.

Karin nodded stoically, she knew, as did Yamamoto, that if anyone had tried to pin anything on her, she had more than enough aces under her sleeve, her current duty as Royal Guardian, being only one of them; in particular there was the fact that she was the only one who knew where the Royal Heir was, even Toushirou, despite being her partner, didn't know. That was also why Toushirou wouldn't be judged for anything, Yamamoto knew if he'd tried Karin would rather have revealed he was the other Royal Guardian than allow it, and he agreed with her plan of keeping his real power and position a secret, at least for the time being.

Some, like Sui-Feng, Hisagi, Kira and Skye could only mutter low under their breaths the unfairness of it all.

"Now, there is one more topic of discussion for this meeting." Yamamoto declared before more whispers arouse. "In regards to the demand made by the Nakama-taichou to Hisagi-fukutaichou, Kira-fukutaichou and Skye-sanseki, a demand for all shinigami to stay out of Nakama territory unless authorized by the Nakama themselves…"

The moment Yamamoto began his explanation of the last topic Ichigo and Rukia immediately straightened up. Karin and Toushirou had returned to their spots, and while Karin was Nakama, and a powerful one, she'd never wanted to have a position of power in the group, so Ichigo and Rukia were the highest ranking Nakama present in that moment, they just hoped things wouldn't get so complicated before the meeting ended that they would regret not calling Uryuu to join them before it began.

"It's ridiculous." Sui-Feng hissed, finally losing her patience and composure. "We cannot let a group of immature human brats decide when we can, and when we cannot do our job!"

"Yes, because you're doing so great at it…" Ichigo muttered sarcastically.

"Wha…?" Sui-Feng was furious by that point.

"Ichigo…" Rukia whispered, trying to calm him down.

"You have something to say, Kurosaki-Nagaken-taichou?" Yamamoto inquired.

At least half of those in the room understood what he was doing, referring to Ichigo using a Gotei-title, even when the teen had constantly refused to use any and every military title when addressing other members of the Gotei himself, and the rest of the Nakama seemed to follow his lead in that as well. The Commander was trying to make the orange-haired part of it all, if indirectly, hoping to pull him and his people into their organization…something that, from the very beginning, the teens had refused. Yamamoto, and a few of the captains, could only hope that would change in due time.

Rukia kept a hold on Ichigo's arm, trying to make him calm down, but in the end it just wasn't possible. So much had happened in the last two days, Ichigo decided he'd had enough, it was time to make everyone in that room understand that if they wanted the Nakama's to respect them…they would have to take the first step; after all, respect was a two way road, and it wasn't forced, it had to be earned.

"Actually, I do." Ichigo focused on projecting all the strength and authority he could, something he'd done before but only subconsciously, never on purpose, then began: "Just in the last two days we had several situations, beginning with the placing of a kekkai inside our territory without our permission, or even our knowledge. While we understand the necessity of such a thing, if we at least had known we might have been able to do something, help stop the disaster, or at least make it so it wasn't as bad. In any case, even with the kekkai, the battle that took place was bad enough that most of us sensed it anyway, that should tell you how it wasn't enough, and how there wasn't enough preparation to handle an emergency. If there had been any more power used the kekkai would have fallen and that part of Karakura would have been destroyed!" Ichigo was getting into the topic, passionately. "We told you before, for us Nakama, Karakura is our priority, that's why it was decided it would be our territory. What you did could have hurt countless innocents there!" before anyone could interrupt him, he went on. "Then, if that weren't enough, the following night you tried to ambush Hitsugaya-san and Karin, you caused yet another battle to take place. There was no kekkai at that point, if your captain and my sister hadn't held back a lot Karakura would have ended up affected, again!" he growled lowly. "I know several of you do not like that we Nakama take charge when it comes to protecting Karakura, but the truth is you don't exactly do a better job than us when you are the ones taking charge!"

"How dare you?!" Sui-Feng was furious.

Even some others looked affronted by Ichigo's accusations.

"Want examples?" Ichigo asked, though he didn't wait going on. "First: a hollow that attacked Karakura this spring, skilled enough to hide its real power, powerful enough to take down my sister (even if she wasn't as powerful then as she is now), with some kind of trick that blocked me from accessing my basic powers, and then it also managed to take Rukia down! She had been following that hollow all day, if you had as good technology as you claim by that point you would have realized you would need to send someone else, or at least that Rukia would need support. Karakura is the Juureichi! You cannot tell me powerful hollows never appeared in this town before, I know for a fact they have, so why weren't you better prepared to handle that kind of emergency?!"

Silence was the only answer, even those still angry at the 'human brat' for what he dared accuse them of, didn't quite know what to say.

"I'm not even going to go into the matter of Rukia's near-execution, you can always claim it was Aizen's fault." Ichigo said dismissively before moving on. "Then there was the Bount incident. We let the Onmitsukidou handle things for the first couple of weeks, because we were told it was your business, and yet humans kept dying, the Bounts kept growing stronger, you weren't achieving anything! In one night we won all our fights and Uryuu, with the help of a member of the Urahara Shouten, destroyed half of the bittos!"

"You sent the Bounts here, where they would be stronger!" Captain Komamura declared in a cold, accusing tone.

"They were supposed to be your enemies!" Surprisingly enough it was Rukia who replied. "Enough humans had died already, because of something shinigami did in the first place! It was only right that the war with them ended here, in the place where they were created!"

It looked like quite a few people wanted to tell Rukia to shut up, but they didn't dare, they had been informed that she was acting as second-in-command of the Nakama in that moment, and she was still the sister of the head of a Noble Clan. There was also the fact that the whole Meeting-Hall was suddenly several degrees colder than it had been just seconds before, something that the leaders of the Gotei noticed had never been done by anyone other than Hitsugaya Toushirou until that moment. Before becoming one of the Nakama Rukia had been an unseated officer, and yet some knew that was only because Byakuya had been trying to protect her in his own way, which bequeathed the question: just how powerful was Kuchiki (Kurosaki-Nagaken) Rukia really?

Ichigo, for his part, was extremely proud of his Rukia in that moment, she'd come a long way since the two had first met: from a shy, excessively polite, closed-off and emotionally-scarred girl, to a wonderful, empathic, and very strong (physically, spiritually and emotionally), beautiful young woman. Ichigo truly loved her. Also, the orange-head could have sworn he saw Byakuya smirk slightly at Rukia's outburst.

Ichigo briefly considered mentioning the Shinenju, but in the end decided that he didn't know enough to make an accusation, and it was really kind of pointless when no one would really know what he was talking about anyway.

"Is that all?" Sasakibe asked, stoically though nervous, the irregular spiking of reiatsu was making breathing a tad difficult to him and others of his rank.

"There's one more thing." Ichigo said, he'd been about to forget that. "Recently we Nakama met the shinigami that was sent to Karakura in Rukia's place. There were several things we didn't like in regards to that, beginning by the fact that he wasn't at all informed of what had transpired here in the months since his appointment. He had no idea that Rukia was back, who the Nakama were, that Karakura was ours, or about the situation with the traitors. If there had been a true emergency…" he shook his head. "Also, while I'm sure he's a very good shinigami, there's no way he could have handled the kind of hollows that appear in Karakura regularly, especially if we consider the frequency with which they appear…"

"You must take in consideration that that shinigami's appointment happened before the situation with the traitors…" Komamura began.

"If that's to be your excuse, why wasn't he replaced when it happened?" Ichigo interrupted. "Or you could have at least informed him and have ready a backup in case he got in over his head! The only reason that never happened was because we were there! Most of the time we fought the hollows, not him…" he suddenly realized something. "Now that I think about it, I don't even know where that guy was during the Bount incident…" Ichigo shook his head again. "Also, the situation with the nearly hundred hollows, with that first Menos, it happened before Aizen, before Rukia was even arrested! So you should have had in record the kind of hollows that could appear, yet you didn't send someone more capable to handle things in Rukia's absence…"

"You handled it…did you not?" Hisagi asked. "You and your Nakama."

"Of course, that's not the point." Ichigo hissed. "The point is that back then you didn't know the Nakama existed! As far as you were concerned the human who had had Rukia's powers was badly injured, possibly even dead, and there was no way there could be others!"

Hisagi actually flinched at Ichigo's words.

"Like I was saying before, this is Karakura, this is the Juureichi we are talking about." Ichigo went back to his speech. "The appearance of powerful hollows is nothing new…" his eyes narrowed and his eyes glinted dangerously as he thought of one more thing. "Tell me, any of you, do you think an unseated shinigami, heck, do you think most seated shinigami would be capable of defeating Grand Fisher?"

For a while, there was nothing but silence, until…

"Grand Fisher?" Skye Kotori asked, quite disbelieving. "The hollow who's known to have killed over a dozen shinigami in the last fifty years? He has to be one of the most powerful and dangerous hollows known…aside from the newly discovered Arrancars that is. Most shinigami wouldn't last against him. It's suicide going against him! That would be a job for the Onmitsukidou, or a top-ranking shinigami!"

"Well, too bad, I did their job for them." Ichigo deadpanned.

Those who didn't know this did a double-take as they heard those words, before refusing, loudly and insistently, to believe it.

"Silence!" Yamamoto ordered after a few seconds. "He is telling the truth."

That left everyone in shock.

"Grand Fisher appeared a total of three times in Karakura." Ichigo explained. "The first two you already know about, I had to explain about them when all of us Nakama presented ourselves before you. The third, was a little over a month ago." Then he added in the coldest voice anyone had ever heard coming from him. "The bastard thought he could go after my sisters, that he could kill them like he did my mother. I wasn't about to allow that. Now, he won't be able to hurt anyone again. Grand Fisher is well and truly vanquished."

Only silence was the response to Ichigo's statement, as many of those presents finally realized what they'd failed to see before: Ichigo had a protective nature, at times to the extreme, it was what had allowed him to do so many things that should have been impossible, and in such little time too. It was also what had brought him to be there, before them all, again; it was what wouldn't allow him to ever give up.

Yamamoto just sighed, hoping that what he was going to do next would give the teen, and his companions, some peace of mind, and maybe it would allow him to worry more about the plans for the upcoming confrontation with Aizen instead of the petty conflicts between his subordinates and the humans guarding the Juureichi.

"I have decided to allow the Nakama's demand to stand." Yamamoto announced formally. "No member of the Gotei 13 will set foot in Karakura or its vicinity without direct permission from one of the leaders of the Nakama, least it is an emergency or direct war against Aizen and Hueco Mundo has begun. Is that understood?"

"But Soutaichou…" Several were obviously not in agreement. "How can this be allowed to stand? How can a mortal's authority be allowed to stand?"

"This is not the first time the Gotei makes deals with groups of humans." Yamamoto stated formally. "Though it has been a long time since one has been made, and most of those no longer stand, since the races have long since become extinct."

"If I remember correctly, the last such deal was made with the Quincy, and that didn't end very well." Komamura stated strongly. "The balance was compromised. And there is a Quincy involved with the Nakama."

"The balance won't be compromised because Uryuu can create arrows that purify, not just those that destroy." Rukia stated just as strongly. "You know this Komamura-taichou, everyone in this room knows it, because Uryuu demonstrated it before you all."

"It is true that the deal with the Quincy of that time didn't work out, but that was actually the exception, not the norm." Shunsui pointed out. "Many other deals have been made, and have worked, with races like the ancient mikos of Asia, the monks of Tibet, priestesses and priests and other spiritual people of many ancient cultures all around the world. It is what has allowed the Gotei 13 to focus on the more dangerous areas, as well as on Hueco Mundo and Soul Society itself; otherwise we would have never been able to patrol all the world on our own. It is true, like Yama-jii said, that a seal like this hasn't been made in centuries, but then again, never before a group like the Nakama had existed."

Silence reigned. While the older captains knew already about such deals, those that had reached their positions in the last century or less, had no idea such a thing was possible.

"So, like I was saying, the decision will stand." Yamamoto went on.

"What about Kuchiki Rukia?" Kira asked, curious.

"I am Nakama." Rukia stated calmly. "I will remain where I belong. Also, Yamamoto-soutaichou, I believe it might be a good idea to have someone act as an emergency contact, someone who can go to Karakura without need to ask for permission in case you need to get to us and cannot reach us through the denreishinki."

"A good plan." Byakuya agreed. "I propose my lieutenant, Abarai Renji, since the Nakama are already familiar with him, have even worked with him."

"I propose my recently promoted fourth seat: Yamada Hanatarou for the position, for similar reasons to those enlisted by Kuchiki-taichou." Unohana declared from beside him.

Yamamoto for all answer, turned to look at Ichigo.

"I believe it is a good idea." Ichigo declared after some thought. "And both would be welcome in case of an emergency, or even for a visit, as long as their presence does not affect Karakura negatively. Later on, I believe, we could make better agreements regarding how things will be handled once the war against Aizen actually begins."

"The first attack has taken place already." Yamamoto said thoughtfully. "Do you think it will take him too long to mount a full-scale attack?"

"We don't really consider that an attack." Ichigo pointed out. "The enemies weren't strong enough to be a real threat, the only one who might have been didn't actually fight. For the time being Aizen is still waiting, and playing some games. When the war truly begins, it will be pretty obvious, but I don't think it will happen just yet. In a month or more, but not just now."

"What does the Nakama expect of the Gotei 13 for that moment?" Yamamoto asked, wondering how the boy planned to handle things.

"I believe that any small attacks that may come we can handle." Ichigo answered confidently. "The problem would be if too many high-leveled Arrancar, or even one of the traitors, appear at Karakura, then innocents would be at risk. I think plans should be made, on a way to keep civilians safe from any possible high-scaled confrontation; other than that, I believe that whatever is necessary to bring down Aizen's forces should be done."

Yamamoto nodded, Ichigo and the other Nakama present had realized that the moment war became imminent their 'permission' wouldn't be asked anymore for the Gotei to act, they might not even be explained when some things were to be done; they knew that, and they accepted it.

Yamamoto decided it might not be so bad to have a deal with the Nakama. It didn't seem like the power would get to their heads, even Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo didn't seem to be interested in exercising any power other than when it came to his town, and in that point, it was understandable to most of the captains.

"In regards to the risks of a full-scaled battle in the town known as Karakura, plans are currently being made between Kurotsuchi-taichou and the former captain Urahara Kisuke." Yamamoto informed the Nakama. "Other plans will be made in the coming weeks.

Ichigo, Rukia and even Karin weren't sure how much they trusted Urahara to do anything important, but it wasn't like they could do any better either, so they really had no other option but to let things be and hope Urahara wouldn't screw up, again.

"Very well." Yamamoto declared, finally. "If that is all, this meeting is adjourned."

**xXx**

Meanwhile, in the world of the Living, in Karakura, a sixteen-year-old gray-eyed, black haired was guiding a girl two years her senior with red-orange long straight hair and strangely violet-gray eyes in the direction of her home. They were just a few blocks away when they both became aware of the hollow that appeared, very close to the very building they were going to.

"That's a hollow!" Orihime cried out.

"I know!" Keeva replied, beginning to run rather than just walk.

They'd just turned around the last corner when they could suddenly see the hollow begin to fragment, the effect lasted a handful of seconds before simply dissolving completely into reishi particles which then vanished into the air.

"Wha…What was that?" Orihime couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

Keeva didn't answer, instead choosing to rush for the staircase and begin running up as fast as she could. It took a couple of seconds, but soon Orihime was at her heels.

They both reached the last floor and the apartment door at almost the same time; though, while Orihime took the time to politely take off her shoes before stepping into the front-room, Keeva ignored it all to rush all the way to the balcony door.

As expected, Serenity was there, holding onto the railing as if her life depended on it.

"My lady?!" Keeva cried out as she saw her.

It was almost an instant transformation, as Serenity practically forced her own body to relax as she straightened up, let go of the railing and turned to see her protégé.

"My lady, you really shouldn't strain yourself." Keeva began. "You know I'm more than capable of handing those corrupted spirits."

"I am no less capable." Serenity replied in a chiding tone. "And an opponent of that level is really no strain at all…" he looked beyond Selene, to the shocked teenager standing in the middle of the living-room. "It's good to finally meet you, Inoue Orihime-san."

"Keeva-kun told me you wanted to see me." Orihime replied almost automatically. "It's a pleasure to meet you…though I have no idea how you know me…"

"I do not know you, though I do know of you." Serenity answered cryptically.

"Keeva…" Orihime deduced.

"Mostly, but not everything." Serenity replied honestly. "Let's just say, I have my ways of knowing things, ways I'm sure you might be able to understand better than most…am I wrong, Kiseki-hidenka?"

Orihime seemed absolutely startled at the address Serenity had suddenly used, while Keeva just gaped at each young woman alternatively, while her mind tried to fully process what she'd just heard and the possible implications of it…

"You're the one who defeated the menos that day!" Orihime cried out, as that fact suddenly became clear to her.

"True." Serenity didn't deny it.

"You must be Keeva-kun's sister, but she said you didn't fight." Orihime wasn't sure what exactly was going on, was it even safe for her to be there?

"I said she wasn't a fighter, not that she couldn't fight." Keeva clarified. "And you can calm down Orihime-san, we aren't here to hurt you."

"Huh?" Orihime wondered how she had noticed.

"Your body was completely tensed, natural when you're in a fight-or-flight mode." Keeva answered her unasked question. "I assure you, that whatever our intentions may be, they do not include hurting you in any way."

"Of course not." Serenity agreed immediately. "I would never do that."

Orihime wasn't sure why, but she had a very strong feeling that she could and should believe the women; however, that didn't mean she was about to trust them, not until she got some answers.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Serenity proposed as she made her way to a sofa, brushing her almost-fully-covered hand on Orihime's on the way.

Keeva followed immediately, heating up a kettle of tea as fast as she could and then taking it, along with three cups to the living room table. She served the three cups, offering two to the other women before taking the last for herself and sipping it carefully, as it was hot.

Both the younger and older woman signaled for Orihime to take a seat, but the sunset-colored haired girl seemed reticent for the time being.

"What do you know about Kiseki?" Orihime inquired, curious.

"I know a lot." Serenity replied, with the same honesty as before. "I know she lost her parents before she could get to know them, I know she died very young in a supposed accident. I also know she had abilities normal humans could never understand…and why she had them."

Orihime's eyes narrowed slightly, before she finally took a seat, silently signaling for her hostess to go on.

Serenity smiled at Orihime, it was the best she could hope for, for the time being, for Inoue Orihime to be receptive; later, they would try to get her to see, understand, and accept the truth, Serenity believed that, in good time, she would.

"Kiseki-hidenka was part of an ancient lineage." Serenity explained after taking a sip of her tea and sighing. "A very old, very powerful lineage, of humans with spiritual abilities."

"Like the Quincy?" Orihime couldn't help but ask.

"The Quincy are but one of dozens, maybe hundreds of the lineages, the races of spiritually aware that have existed in this world." Serenity explained calmly. "Most are extinct now, yet some still remain."

"Like the race that existed where you and Keeva-chan used to live?" Orihime asked. "We guessed that was why there were no shinigami, because one of those races used to exist there, it's extinct now, and yet the shinigami haven't realized yet."

"It's a good theory." Serenity agreed. "And yet, not the exact truth. The truth is, that the race that once guarded that territory is not yet extinct, not fully anyway; though for the last two generations it has tethered in the edge of extinction. There are so few left, it is likely that, unless a miracle happens, there won't be any left by the next generation."

"But then…" Orihime's mind was working a mile a minute, as she began to realize what the young woman's words meant, and yet it was so strange to her… "Does that mean Keeva-kun isn't really a human with powers?"

"That's what we all are, in the end." Serenity pointed out. "Regardless if you call yourself a human, or use some fancy name. After all, neither you, nor your friends have stopped being human just because you have spiritual abilities. Not even your Quincy friend…"

Orihime had to admit the veiled woman was right in that, though she still felt that Keeva had somewhat lied to them…

"You were going to tell me what you knew about Kiseki." Orihime decided it would be better if they just returned to their original topic of conversation.

"Of course, of course; please forgive me, I tend to digress." Serenity admitted. "What I know about Kiseki-hidenka, like I was saying before, is a lot; more, I'm sure, than what even you know, Inoue Orihime-san."

"What makes you think I know less, or even anything at all?" Orihime couldn't help but ask, half-upset by the woman's manner of speaking.

"The mere fact that you show interest in who she is…or rather was." Serenity replied.

"Will you give me an answer up-front, without all the cryptic comments or the too-heavily spun words?" Orihime half-demanded, finally growing tired of the enigmas.

"It depends on what answer you seek." Serenity asked, not in the least affected by Orihime's reaction. "On if you can find the right question to ask. After all, without a right question, there cannot be a right answer."

"You're not an Oracle, are you?" Orihime asked unexpectedly. "I mean, you certainly talk like one, and yet you're offering me answers in a very complicated manner."

"While my Sight, indeed, reaches far, it isn't far enough." Serenity asked, before explaining further. "No, I am not an Oracle, though one does exist, or at least she did until recently. She was lost in this very land just a handful of years ago."

"What happened to her?" Orihime was very curious.

"That, I do not know." Serenity said with a sigh. "All I know is that she was lost. However, before leaving for these lands she told me that big things were coming, and I was to come to this land as well, along with Keeva, that our aid would be necessary in an upcoming conflict."

"So you are here to help us in the war against Aizen?" Orihime deduced.

"We're here to protect who and what must be protected." Serenity told her seriously. "We are never meant to take sides, it's not our way…"

"Your way?" Orihime was growing unnerved yet again. "Whose way? Who are you? How are you related to Kiseki? And what may you know about her that I don't? And how?"

"Answering your last question last, I know things about Kiseki, than even she didn't know herself." The veiled woman commented with an air of intrigue.

"How?" Orihime asked yet again.

"Letters, records, legends…" Serenity told her.

Silence reigned for several seconds, until Orihime finally decided how to ask the question she really wanted to know the answer to.

"What exactly do you know about Kiseki, and this lineage of hers you mentioned before?" She asked, carefully, thinking over every word.

Serenity smiled approvingly at the teenager, happy that she had found a good question to ask, and at the same time wondering just how she would react to what was yet to come.

"I know that Kiseki-hidenka herself never knew what she was, the power the blood that ran through her veins truly had." Serenity answered. "She could see things, but she never knew why, what it all meant, because her mother died before such knowledge could be passed on, and her mother's people never found her. As to what Kiseki-hidenka was exactly, she was the daughter of a Síoraí; that's the title her mother held among her own people, as one of the most powerful to ever exist. She died young, as all Síoraí always have, however, before dying she did what no other Síoraí before her, or since: she had a child. And her daughter was named Kiseki, Miracle, because that's exactly what she was, not just for her own mother, but for all her people." She sighed. "For the longest time Kiseki-hidenka's existence has believed to be nothing more than a legend, one very few ever believed in."

"Yet you're so sure it's true." Orihime commented.

"I've always liked believing in the improbable, even the so-called impossible." Serenity explained with a smile. "So Kiseki-hidenka was born as a living-miracle, the only ever child of a Síoraí. And yet, she died so young, before her existence could be confirmed, before she could ever know about her own people…my people."

"Your…" Orihime's suspicions had been confirmed with those words. "You're one of them. You and Keeva both, part of that race, the same as Kiseki, the same…"

"As you." Serenity finished for her.

"How can I be considered part of your lineage when I wasn't born from it?" Orihime asked. "I mean, I don't remember my parents but still…"

"Not in this life, maybe." Serenity pointed out. "But your aura gives you away…regardless of who may have sired you in this life, you have the soul of one of my own race. I could sense it when I touched you a short while ago, Keeva suspected it since that battle outside the school."

"How?" Orihime wanted to know.

"The way you use your powers, the way you manipulate reishi." Keeva answered. "Even if the way your abilities manifest is nothing like ours, still…"

"Tell me, Inoue Orihime." Serenity commented unexpectedly. "Who did you inherit your hair-color from? That red-shade…"

"I…I actually don't know." Orihime admitted. "My brother had brown hair, I don't know about my parents, but I don't think either of them had hair this color. Sora-nii-san used to say I was special, unique, and my hair showed it."

"He may have been right." Keeva commented. "If you are indeed Kiseki-hidenka reincarnated, that may be why your hair is that color."

"Keeva is right." Serenity added. "It would show the influence of a past-life in your current one. It would explain why no one else in your family has hair that color."

Silence reigned for several seconds, no one daring to break it as Serenity took the chance to drink her tea, and Orihime to process everything she'd just been told.

"I have one question still." Orihime spoke after what seemed like forever. "This race you keep mentioning, to which this Síoraí belonged, to which Kiseki…I once supposedly belonged; of which you are the last. What is this race? What is your power?"

"Such complicated questions, such difficult answers." Serenity commented with a sigh. "Our powers can manifest in many various ways, unlike the Quincy, Priestesses, or most other races, who always manifested their power in the exact same way. However, that doesn't mean they were any better or worse than us, just different." She sighed before, mostly, going to the point. "While our powers can manifest in many different ways, their origins are always the same ability. Our actual ability is to manipulate reiatsu, the power we can absorb from the reishi in our environment, we can manipulate it inside us, and use it in many different ways, some can even affect the exterior, though most manifest powers while keeping the reiatsu strictly inside themselves. It's why many would believe that we had everlasting energy, it wasn't so, it's just that, as long as we don't actually expel the reiatsu, it remains inside us, and it can be used. Of course, there's a limit of how long this can be done before our bodies resent it. It's one of the reasons there are so few of us left…"

"They died." Orihime was horrified by that prospect.

"Some did." Serenity admitted. "However, others chose to forsake their own powers, in hopes of being able to live better, longer lives."

"Did it work?" Orihime wanted to know.

"For those who weren't killed by Corrupted Spirits, I suppose." Serenity sighed. "Obviously the descendants of those who chose to forsake their lineage don't know anything, their parents, or whatever ancestor made the decision to pull away, made sure the newer generations would have no connection to what was left of their 'race', of us…"

"It's so sad…" Orihime whispered with a sigh. "And yet…even with everything you've said, you've yet to tell me the name of this race, your race…"

"True." Serenity closed her eyes briefly, as if calling on some unknown force before she finished her sentence. "Our race, it's one that was believed to be lost a generation ago, was resurrected with us, and may be lost again, and this time definitely by the time the next one comes. Still, it exists, we exist, and as long as we do, we shall fight. We are the Réalta…"

**xXx**

That same evening, in a hidden part of the woods of Junriran, a memorial service for Kusaka Soujirou was taking place, and even though only Karin and Toushirou had really known him, that hadn't stopped Ichigo, Rukia and Rangiku from wanting to be there, and Ichigo had declared that the only reason the rest of the Nakama weren't present was because no one had informed them, or given them time to arrive. Toushirou's puzzlement at this comment had prompted Karin to explain about the 'tradition' the Nakama had of being there for each other when a death anniversary came up.

"But I'm not a Nakama…" Was Toushirou's not-so-eloquent answer.

"Neither was Rukia when we first met her." Karin pointed out. "And yet she is now. Renji is pretty close to being considered one, if he isn't already. Nakama isn't a title you are born with, it's just…it's something that's felt." She smiled melancholically. "Regardless of how little time we actually had together, for us Kusaka-kun was a nakama, you're still nakama to me, and one day you will be to everyone else."

"Maybe one day he'll also be more…" Rukia whispered under her breath.

"Shush you…" Ichigo whispered back.

Truth is, he knew Rukia was right, and yet, if Karin wasn't in any hurry to make her obvious caring for the white-haired shinigami official, Ichigo wasn't about to push her…

After the 'service', Karin insisted that they all go visit Toushirou's Granny. The old-woman was delighted at seeing Karin, she'd heard the girl was back but hadn't seen her before. The woman also insisted on having them all stay for dinner. They all agreed.

After dinner Toushirou and Rangiku made their way back to their barracks, where most of their subordinates had spent most of the day (in between their duties) celebrating that their captain wasn't a traitor, he was loyal and a hero, unlike what most of the high-ranking shinigami had thought during the 'Ouin debacle'; of course none of them had ever doubted their captain…

Ichigo, Rukia, Yuzu and Karin, for their part, took the Nagaken Senkaimon back to Karakura, since they would be having classes the next morning. They really hoped things would go calm down somewhat, however they didn't really have much hope for it…

**xXx**

_A young form laid among some small stones, twigs and grass, her once beautiful if slightly worn-out yellow sundress streaked with dirt and slightly torn, her usually peach-colored skin turning sickeningly pale, her beautiful sun-colored hair matted with dirt and blood, and her before bright almost-silver eyes already losing their light. _

_She was so young, not a woman, not even a teenager yet, just a child…an innocent girl, and already death was staking its claim on her. _

_And yet, even as her life left her, breath by painful breath, her eyes remained perfectly focused on the imaged before her, a sight only her eyes could see: a figure at least twice her height, half-crouched, paler than the moon, with hair darker than the night and eyes greener than any forest; he too seemed to be watching the prone form of the dying girl, as if finding something absolutely fascinating in the morbid image. _

_As the last breath left the young body, she somehow found the strength to smile at the figure, one small, painful smile that seemed to hold the secrets of the world. Then she was gone. _

In a mostly empty room, a lone figure whispered a name to the night: "Utokui…"

* * *

This chapter marks the halfway point of this fic (in chapters, rather than words or pages). I'd love to hear from as many of you as possible what you think of the fic thus far and what you might be willing to guess of what's to come in the second half. If anyone guesses I promise virtual cookies and a special mention in the chapter when what's been guessed happens. I'd really like to hear more from those reading this fic, your thoughts, your opinions, your theories...

Hope you enjoyed and see you in a week!


	26. Trust

I've been asked some questions, by a number of different people, that I haven't been able to answer because the answers would've been spoilery. Well, you're getting one of those answers here!

Also, credit where credit is due. Some time ago I read a fic called "A Protector's Pride", and some of the ideas for this fic, essentially the basis for this chapter, and some of Orihime's new attitude, come from that fic. If you'd like to read a fic where Ichigo faced the fact that he had an Inner Hollow with the same courage, instinct and wild abandon as everything else, rather than with self-doubt and fear you should really go read that fic. While it's not Ichiruki, that's a minor fact, the story's absolutely awesome!

Having said that, have you noticed we're now on the second half of this fic (at least where chapters are concerned?) Yay! Now, on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 26. Trust **

It was absolute mayhem, had been for a few hours by that point, ever since the sky had opened on several different spots and hordes of hollows had swarmed Karakura's sky. The Nakama didn't think things had been that bad for months, since that day Ichigo ended up overcharging his back-then nameless zanpakutou to defeat a Menos, since that day Rukia somehow did a miracle by earning Ishida Ryuuken's respect.

There were so many hollows in that moment…thankfully most of them weren't too powerful, barely any Menos and no Arrancars, it had allowed the Nakama to split so they could more effectively cover the town. There were so many enemies and yet, on the brighter side, none had been strong enough thus far to make any bankais necessary.

The Shinigami were using shikai freely, as they fought on the air to make sure not to destroy anything, Uryuu had his arrows, Chad his armored arm, Tatsuki her own zanpakutou, Yuzu her kidou and Keeva her own abilities; even the members of the Urahara Shouten were doing their part, though most still relatively close to their own turf.

Hours had passed, and finally it looked like the battle would end, when something else went terribly wrong.

"Ichigo, behind you!" Rukia yelled at him from several feet away.

She had just finished her last opponents and turned in time to see a Menos, the last one actually, attempt a swipe at her husband at the same time it opened a black hole in the space to the side, similar to what the Arrancars had used…

Ichigo reacted instinctively to his wife and partner's warning, he ducked slightly sideways and half spun around, hoping to evade the attack and at the same time turn around to face his attacker. He managed to dodge, mostly, however, as he was forced to raise an arm to keep his balance with the sudden movement his shoulder was hit.

"Cero!" Ichigo attacked just as instinctively.

Shiro had begun helping him halfway through the battle, since it became obvious it wouldn't be ending any time soon and it might be a good idea for his hollow side to begin absorbing all the reishi in the air to keep his own reiatsu at top levels; that and Shiro just loved a good fight, even if he did little more than use some powers through Ichigo, and give him suggestions every now and then.

The Cero wasn't as well-measured as the few he'd used before had been, and while it was enough to vanquish the Menos with little trouble, it also had the undesired effect of half-burning a nearby tree, causing some tension and mild-panic to the nearby humans (who had remained unaware of the happenings throughout the whole fight) and calling every nearby Nakama's attention to him.

"Ichigo!" Karin cried out in a scolding tone.

"What?!" Ichigo demanded as he spun around yet again.

Her intention was to scold him for using such volatile powers so carelessly, and he knew that, just like Karin knew he'd only done it because he wanted to end the battle already, they were all pretty stressed out and the battle had lasted long enough. However, moving so fast, so suddenly, while using an only-half-controlled attack, and when already in a precarious position, as his balance had been compromised, first with his first spin, and then further when the Menos managed to half-hit him; it had consequences.

Ichigo lost what little focus he'd left for his air-walking technique and then, as his body was already a bit sideways, he proceeded to fall to a side…and straight through the black hole the Menos had summoned before being destroyed and which had yet to disappear. It did so almost immediately afterwards.

It had all happened in a handful of seconds, from Ichigo hearing Rukia's warning and turning to face a last, surprising opponent, to disappearing into the now-closed unknown hole that had been in the sky. The react from the Nakama was almost instantaneous.

"What the hell just happened?!"

**xXx**

"Aibou, wake up!"

The shrill scream coming from his 'twin' very effectively woke Ichigo up, and right on time for him to roll to a side, avoiding the pincer-like limb from the masked entity attacking him.

"Ossan!" Ichigo called, his hand shooting to the side.

The connection between shinigami and zanpakutou was so tight that the orangehead didn't need to look for his weapon, it was always in his hand when he needed it. So the moment he called and shot his hand to the side, the hilt was immediately in his hand.

He didn't even voice an attack, just slashing at the air, at the space between him and his attacker, which he suddenly realized was a hollow; just the ken'atsu caused by Zangetsu in shikai (it had unsealed automatically the moment Ichigo called him) had been enough to destroy the hollow.

Looking around, making sure there was no one else trying to stab him, cut him, or something else, Ichigo took a moment to focus inward.

"Now, what the hell is going on?!" He demanded, not caring to not speak out-loud, it wasn't like there was anyone around to hear and call him crazy, or something.

*What's the last thing you remember, Ichigo?* Zangetsu questioned calmly.

"Hundreds of hollows…all Nakama fighting…Rukia yelled something at me…a Menos…" Suddenly he remembered. "I used a Cero to kill the Menos, then one of my sisters screamed, Karin I think…I fell…into the damned black-hole the fucking hollow made?!" he growled to himself, some people were going to have his hide for his idiocy. "That still doesn't answer the question, where are we exactly?"

*In the place where that hollow came from.* Zangetsu answered calmly. *The place all hollows come from.*

"*Hueco Mundo?!*" Ichigo and Shiro yelled/bellowed at the same time. "*We're in freaking Hueco Mundo?!*"

*The black-hole you went through,* Zangetsu explained patiently. *It's what all high-level hollows use to go from one world to another; very much like a shinigami Senkaimon.*

Ichigo nodded, it made sense, and he did remember seeing Ulquiorra use one when leaving with the other Arrancar after the stand off in front of Karakura High.

Ichigo became aware of another hollow moving in his direction right then, he waited biding his time until the creature was right behind him, then he spun around on one foot and slashed with Zangetsu, cutting the hollow in two instantly.

However, that was just the beginning, as suddenly more hollows came at him, one after the other, none too powerful, but still too many for him to handle with ease. For a few minutes, the orange-haired focused only on the fight, leaving finding out the details of his situation, for later.

"Shiro!" Ichigo called as he shifted Zangetsu to hold the blade with just one hand, freeing his left one and holding it before him.

*What's mine is yours, Aibou.* Shiro reminded him, thrilled at his power being used so openly. *Destroy the fuckers!*

"Cero! Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo shot both attacks at once.

It wasn't easy, manipulating his zanpakutou with just one hand, with enough precision to send his signature attack, but he managed, particularly since he had both Zangetsu and Shiro helping him through it.

It took a while, since the enemies kept coming and coming, but eventually Ichigo managed to destroy enough hollows to shunpo away and hide; while running away from a fight went against everything he believed in, he knew there was no way he could ever win that fight, not when he was in the hollows' own world.

The orange-head got to a small outcropping of rocks that formed what almost seemed like a cave, there he resealed Zangetsu and focused on suppressing as much of his reiatsu as he could, it wasn't as hard as it should have been…something understandable considering how depleted his reserves were after the two rather hard and difficult battles in the same day.

"That was…bad…" Ichigo muttered, mostly to himself. "We need to do something, before we end up as hollow-food…"

*Ichigo…* Zangetsu called in a low, solemn tone.

Ichigo could sense that whatever his zanpakutou wanted to say it was bad, and he most likely wasn't going to like it. And yet…the old man had never lead him astray, so whatever it was, it had to be important, and right…

"You know what I must do, don't you Ossan?" Ichigo guessed with a deep breath. "Tell me, you've never lead me wrong. I trust you."

In Ichigo's Inner World, Zangetsu smiled, he truly enjoyed being the orange-haired's zanpakutou, the trust he put not just in him, the spirit of his zanpakutou, but even on his 'darker' half.

*Ichigo, we're in a world of hollows.* Zangetsu explained. *They go after you because you're a shinigami, and they will continue doing so for as long as you are a shinigami…*

"For as long…" Ichigo broke off. "You don't want me to be a shinigami anymore, but how…?" suddenly, he understood. "Shiro…"

*I know you probably don't like the idea Aibou but…* Shiro began a bit nervously.

"How do we do this?" Ichigo asked, no hesitation in his voice. "Because something tells me this won't be like the times I've let him trash some gang or another, or even the battle against the freaky Bount's spider-woman doll…"

*No, it won't be like that.* Zangetsu admitted. *Those times you let Shiro make choices, you let him into your head, but the body was still yours, you still felt what he did, saw what he saw, all your senses were still active, and you could have gotten control back in an instant. For this to work you will need to surrender absolute control. Let yourself become hollow…*

That, there, was the problem of the whole thing. While Ichigo didn't really hate hollows on principle (specific ones like Grand Fisher and Shrieker notwithstanding, with those it had been personal), he knew what a hollow was about: humans who had lost their hearts, and because of that they always preyed on their families and loved ones first…that was the part he wouldn't be able to endure, if he were to become a hollow and then hurt those he loved: his nakama, his sisters, his Rukia…

*I swear to you Aibou, I will never hurt anyone you love, I…I love them too…* Shiro admitted in a quiet voice.

Ichigo remembered then: he remembered when he'd first met that 'white twin' of his around the time he turned ten; when he'd bared his soul to Rukia in his Inner World; when he'd revealed everything to his Nakama, and they'd accepted him, both sides of him; when his sister had embraced his hollow self, calling him 'nii-san'…

"I trust you." Ichigo announced strongly.

He didn't give Shiro a chance to hesitate any longer, or for Zangetsu to say anything at all; suddenly Ichigo knew exactly what to do. It was like taking a step back, not physically, but mentally. His own instincts fought him, even as his body spasmed in response to the change. Ichigo didn't let it stop him, he stepped back, giving a small mental push to Shiro to take the 'front-seat', fully and totally for the first time ever. Then, even as he heard the surprised yelp of Shiro as he was sent forward, Ichigo blacked out.

**xXx**

When Ichigo woke up he had to blink a few times to realize what he was seeing. He was laying on the roof of one of the skyscrapers in his Inner World; Zangetsu was at a distance… fighting against a Menos Grande?!

In that very moment the Menos shot a huge Cero, it hit Zangetsu on the side, burning him slightly and forcing him to twist to evade most of the blast; the problem being that the cero blast went on…straight in Ichigo's direction! Having very little time to do anything at all, the orange-haired's reaction was instinctive:

"Hado 33, Soukatsui!" He yelled.

The blue fire-like blast exploded from his hand with uncontrolled reiatsu and enough force to blow right through the Cero and then even injure the Menos.

Ichigo was still pretty atrocious at kidou, though Rukia, and even the twins kept trying their best to teach him. It'd been eventually decided that he should leave all Hadou and most Bakudou for emergencies only, and never with allies close, as they were as likely to explode as they were to work. He was beginning to be able to make half-decent work with his wife's favorite ones: Soukatsui and Shakkahou, but still nothing like her, or Karin (Yuzu was a prodigy and way over his level, even the other girls'); at least he was better than Renji…

Following the same instinct that made him attack, and deciding explanations could wait until the unexpected enemy was dealt with, Ichigo took his zanpakutou, shifted into shikai and cut through the Menos's mask in a fluid motion.

"There." Ichigo declared with satisfaction before turning to Zangetsu. "Now please tell me what the hell I just woke up to. And why did I need to wake up exactly?"

"Calm down Ichigo." Zangetsu instructed calmly. "Calm down and I'll explain everything."

Ichigo took a deep breath, following the old-man to yet another roof where the two got comfortable as the teen waited for the much needed explanation.

"Now then, to answer your last question first." Zangetsu told him. "Shiro taking over your body had some unexpected side-effects."

"What kind of side-effects?" Ichigo asked, doing his best to stay calm.

"We knew already your body would have to change to accommodate a hollow form." The zanpakutou spirit pointed out. "Apparently the shock of the change hit you instead of Shiro, which is what knocked you out; on the flipside, it also allowed Shiro to retain all his control and rationality, something unheard of in 'newly born' hollows." He made a pause before adding. "About you being unconscious, you were like that for twenty-four hours."

Ichigo's eyes widened, he'd been unconscious for a while, not as long as he'd been after his battle with Kenpachi, or with Aizen, but still. At least Shiro had benefited from the whole thing, and in the end that meant they should be alright.

"What of the hollow just now?" The shinigami asked, still confused about that.

"Regardless of the fact that the body we inhabit was originally yours, or how willing you were to put Shiro in power, that doesn't change the fact that he is a hollow; part of your soul, yes, but still a hollow." Zangetsu elaborated.

"Yeah, I get that Ossan." Ichigo really hated when Zangetsu got all cryptic and went on roundabout ways before saying something. "Just get to the point."

"Hollows feed on reishi." Zangetsu deadpanned. "Powerful hollows feed on each other, and Shiro, as could be expected being a part of your own soul, is particularly powerful, an Arrancar in fact, and a particularly powerful one…"

Ichigo blinked once, twice, and then he flipped out.

"WHAT?!"

**xXx**

Ichigo spent the next three days fighting alongside Zangetsu the hollows Shiro was forced to consume to survive; though the orange-haired tried very hard not to think much about the last part. He understood and accepted that Shiro was a hollow, and what that meant, didn't mean he had to like all the details. On the positive side, no hollow dare attack them since they had changed places, other than when they tried, uselessly, to defend themselves when Shiro himself was hunting them down.

The only problem was that in the strange forest they found themselves in most of the hollows were too weak to do or even mean much. The most powerful ones were Gillians, and even those didn't satisfy Shiro's hunger for too long. It was like Zangetsu had said, Shiro was an Arrancar, a mid or high-level Adjuchas; he was very powerful, and that power required reiatsu to sustain him, which meant he had to eat, a lot. Ichigo had been surprised at first that Shiro could be such a powerful hollow from the very beginning, him being an Arrancar was understandable, he got shinigami powers from Ichigo, just like Ichigo himself got hollow ones from him. And according to Zangetsu, this too was Ichigo's fault, because Ichigo was so powerful, and because of the trust all three parts of the soul shared, it made Shiro be just as powerful. He had begun straight as an Adjuchas which shouldn't have been possible, yet somehow was (which really, was pretty much the norm for them); however, on the flipside, the hollows in the forest around them weren't enough to hold him, and unless they solved that problem soon, Shiro's sanity would be at risk…

"We need to get out of here." Ichigo declared on the morning of the fifth day.

"Ichigo?" Zangetsu was a bit confused by his wielder's sudden declaration.

"This forest…" Ichigo elaborated, signaling up, to the real world. "We're supposed to be in the world of hollows, but this forest cannot be all there is to it. We need to find what else there is to this world; hopefully a place with more powerful hollows."

"You think that's a good idea?" Zangetsu asked, curious rather than doubtful.

"Well Gillian aren't satisfying Shiro anymore, are they?" Ichigo said rhetorically. "And we have no trouble getting rid of them when they get here either." He chuckled slightly. "At least this little trip is good as a hell of a training session."

Even if he hadn't been awake all the time since their abrupt arrival to Hueco Mundo, Ichigo had spent at least half of that time either fighting the hollows Shiro ate (to prevent them from trying to overtake the body) or training all-out with Zangetsu; the rest of the time had been spent training and learning more about Zangetsu, and in a way about himself.

He was growing, even in that short time, learning how to control his own power, to make his Getsuga Tenshou more powerful; he was also learning other ways of using that same technique, or his blade. And being in a place that could be destroyed and rebuilt with just a thought, he was also trying to practice some kidou. He hadn't managed much on that front, but at least he was able to use several hadou and a few bakudou without them blowing up when he focused enough.

"Hey King!" Ichigo hollered at the Sky. "We need to talk!"

A second later, Ichigo's twin materialized in front of him, he looked oddly pissed off…

"What the fuck is it with calling me King?!" He demanded hotly.

"It's what you say I am usually, right?" Ichigo said with a smirk. "Because I'm the one in control, then I'm the King; and since you're the one in control right now…"

"Not exactly my idea, remember?" Shiro grumbled with a pout.

Ichigo just shrugged, it's not like it changed anything, whoever's idea the whole thing had been, it was their reality in that moment.

For all answer, Shiro blew his opposite a raspberry.

Ichigo couldn't help it, he dropped to the floor, laughing very hard. Even Zangetsu began chuckling slightly, though he tried his best to hide it.

"What the hell, Aibou, Ossan?!" Shiro demanded.

"It's just that…what you just did…it was just…just so fucking hilarious!" Ichigo answered amidst more laughing.

Shiro rolled his eyes, yes, he was acting like a petulant child, he knew that, but hunger and him did not mix. It had been so strange at first, being hungry, since Ichigo had always been ultimately in charge, even when Shiro was allowed to 'deal with' punks or even an opponent. But with him totally in control, he'd actually become a hollow, a real one, for the first time ever, and while that made his own powers all the easier, it also had its drawbacks, like the damn hunger that just didn't seem to be satisfied!

After a while longer Ichigo calmed down. In few words he explained to his twin what he had been telling Zangetsu, and they all decided it was a good idea.

It took a while, and a handful more hollows consumed on the way, but eventually Shiro found a path that seemed to have been carved on the stone wall that limited the forest, it went straight up, through the 'roof'.

On the way they found their first Adjuchas, Shiro didn't even think about it and immediately went against the hollow, killing it and devouring it as fast as possible. It was more powerful than a Gillian, though not by much, Ichigo guessed it probably hadn't been Adjuchas for long, and it was no arrancar…

They kept walking, eventually reaching what looked like the exit of a cave, white, almost bleached white sand, covering the rock at the entrance, showing how different the other side, what was above the forest, actually was.

It was until that very moment, reflected on the shiny surface of what looked like some crystallized sand by that very entrance, that Shiro was able to look at him, at his hollow body, completely, for the first time.

In the Inner World Ichigo and Zangetsu were able to see the same, thanks to Shiro allowing it. It was almost creepy just how much he looked like Ichigo, only with the palest skin-tone, white hair and eyes that were yellow on black instead of Ichigo's brown on white. He was still wearing the shihakusho, though the clothes looked a bit worse for wear, a leg half-tattered, and the kosode opened and a bit ripped also; something expected considering what had happened in the four days since their arrival to that world.

Shiro was a bit more at ease by that point, while the Adjuchas they had consumed hadn't been at that level for long, it still had had the kind of power needed for his hunger to be abated, finally…at least for a while.

Once outside the cave Shiro looked around, allowing those inside him to do the same.

"Urg…" Shiro complained out-loud. "So much white…wonder if people around here even know what color is…"

*Well, I very much doubt there's any actual people around here.* Ichigo deadpanned mentally. *Except maybe…*

Truth hit the two younger parts of the soul at the same time:

"*Aizen!*" They both cried out at the same time.

Zangetsu rolled his eyes, not quite believing that they hadn't realized it earlier. It was so obvious. And they were all seeing that odd, gigantic construction in the distance…even if Ichigo and Shiro didn't seem to be fully aware of it yet.

*This could pose a problem.* Ichigo contemplated.

"Why? it's not like I'm going to join the psychotic bastard and his freaking cult." Shiro retorted in a defensive tone.

*Precisely because of that.* Ichigo replied as if it should be obvious. *If they sense us…you… our power, they will want to recruit us, when you say no…it will complicate things, especially if they notice our likeness…"

Shiro cursed loudly and colorfully, knowing his twin was right.

"What me to return control to you, then?" Shiro asked hesitantly.

The hollow half of the teen didn't want to ask the question, it was the first time ever he'd been in full control, and even if he wasn't doing much he was enjoying the freedom immensely. It wasn't like he hated Ichigo for having control all the time, Shiro had never fought him for dominance of the body after all, it was just…he knew it was unlikely he would get such a chance again and wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

*Of course not!* Ichigo answered instantly. *Even if there don't seem to be as many hollows up here, we're still in Hueco Mundo. It's better if you stay in charge. I trust you to keep us alive. Besides, me taking over would just make our presence even more obvious to Aizen and his minions…* he sighed. *You just be careful, okay?*

Shiro nodded.

Before anything else could be said suddenly there was a rumble in the distance, followed by what sounded like a shrill scream. Shiro spun around, one hand on Zangetsu's hilt, the other charging a cero; however, what he saw, made his stagger. There was a huge hollow in the distance, pursuing what looked like two smaller hollows and…

*They're going after a child?!* Ichigo yelled, furious at the whole thing.

"How are there even other humans here?!" Shiro didn't understand what could have happened, and for a child to be there…

*Less talking, more action.* Ichigo demanded of his twin.

Shiro nodded, seeing the cloaked child running from the hollows, some even looked like arrancars, had hit too close to home, reminding them of Karin, Yuzu, and all the children, human and spiritual, they had seen in their lifetime…

Shiro began moving at great speeds, the hollow equivalent of shunpo, though it made sound, Ichigo had told him it was like he'd broken the sound barrier or something like that.

Considering that the potential enemies were three, and he couldn't exactly use kidou, Shiro chose to use a mid-level cero to at least call the hollows attention upon himself, he shot it with great precision, in the space between the fleeing child and the pursuing hollows.

And while Shiro considered the cero to be about mid-level, it was still very powerful, enough to make all three hollows freeze in place, turning to look at him in absolute silence; even the child turned back.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Shiro demanded hotly, already charging another cero. "Trying to hurt a child, really?"

"Huh?" The hollows didn't seem to be able to understand him.

"What do you want?" The small child demanded in a shrill tone. "You a b-bully? What did we ever do ta you?"

At some point during the tirade, the cloak finally fell, allowing Shiro to see that the child in question was actually a female, straight sea-green hair to her chin, big, bright hazel eyes, an odd red mark that went across her face, and a somewhat big scar that went from the top of her forehead to nearly the tip of her nose; also, a most noticeable detail was the piece of mask, which looked like the upper half of a skull, which rested over her head.

"*Arrancar?!*" Ichigo and Shiro cried out in unison.

"Hey!" The girl complained childishly. "Whadever do you 'ave againsh Arrancars? Yar one yarself mishter!"

It was true, and the only difference between Shiro in the Inner World and when in control of the body, he had a quarter of a mask going from a point on his hair to his eyebrow, it was white with the same red tribal-like designs of the mask he'd materialized several times to protect Ichigo during the 'adventures' in Seireitei.

"I know what I am." Shiro drawled. "And you still haven't answered my question: what the hell is going on here? The only reason I even interfered was because I thought you" he pointed at the child. "Were being chased…"

"Nel was!" The girl announced brightly. "Tis a game!"

"A…a game…" Shiro sputtered along with Ichigo in the Inner World. "But you were screaming, and crying…"

"Yes!" The girl nodded, still smiling. "Nel is a huge maso-kiss! It no fun if I don' cry a lil…"

*This is totally twisted…* Ichigo muttered with a sigh.*What kind of things are the others teaching this kid?*

"You said your name was Nel?" Shiro asked suddenly.

"Yes!" She smiled at him. "Nel Tu, the Arrancar." She turned to the other hollows. "An' those are my brothers: Pesche, Dondochakka, and our pet Bawabawa!"

"Hello!" The other hollows chorused.

*I didn't even know there could be a child arrancar?* Ichigo commented thoughtfully. *And she doesn't feel anything like the ones that attacked us in Karakura…*

*Haven't either of you noticed the scar on her forehead? Or the way her mask is cracked?* Zangetsu pointed out.

Instantly all the attention of the teen's halves turned to those details.

*You think there's a relation…?* This time Shiro focused on speaking only in his mind.

*Maybe…* Ichigo pondered the mystery for a short time. *We know that Arrancars are powerful hollows that break their masks, which allows them to gain some shinigami powers… but there must be a limit to how much that mask can be broken before they risk losing their hollow ones…right?*

*It's an interesting theory.* Zangetsu agreed.

*So you think she was a normal Arrancar, her mask broke further and she ended up like this?* Shiro summarized.

*It's the only thing I can think of.* Ichigo told him.

*Note to self: never, ever, allow my mask to be broken.* Shiro declared seriously.

Ichigo and Zangetsu both heartily agreed.

"Hey!" Nel yelled, suddenly right in his face. "Nel's talkin ta you!"

"I was thinking." Shiro answered dismissively. "What were you saying?"

"I's askin who you are." Nel declared with a pout.

"My name is Shiro…saki, Shirosaki Kamen." Shiro announced after some consideration.

Ichigo mentally approved the name, it seemed somehow fitting, he knew that the syllables added to the name made it sound very much like Kurosaki, something he thanked his hollow counterpart for, and Kamen…Mask, definitely fitting.

"Shiro!" Nel cried out brightly.

"How long have you been here?" Pesche asked in a veiled tone. "I do not remember seeing you before today…"

"I'm kinda new." Shiro admitted calmly. "Spent a few days on that awful quartz-like forest before I got bored and found my way here…"

"You do not look like a normal Arrancar, even with that mask fragment on your face." Pesche pointed out, in the same tone.

"Tha's right!" Nel agreed, still smiling. "The clodes you wearin, you look like a…like a…" her eyes grew wide in sudden terror. "SHINIGAMI?!"

Shiro cringed at the loud volume of the shrill scream, Ichigo wincing sympathetically himself, the hollow had very sensitive hearing.

"I am not a shinigami!" He said as he rolled his eyes *Technically, I'm not.*

"You're not?" Nel asked, confused. "But dose black clothes…"

"I've been wearing them since I 'woke up', so to speak." Shiro tried to explain.

"You're an Arrancar, and a very powerful one…" Pesche muttered suddenly, his own eyes widening. "Are you an Espada?!"

The reaction that followed that question was one Shiro certainly hadn't been expecting. In an instant Pesche was in front of him, on-guard, while Dondochakka took hold of Nel, trying to pull her away and Bawabawa began yelling some nonsense.

"What the hell…?" Shiro was shocked at the intense reaction.

*Why do they fear so much the possibility of us…you, being an Espada?* Ichigo asked, doubtful and just as surprised.

*They're Arrancar, yet they are obviously not allied with Aizen.* Zangetsu declared.

*What makes you reach that conclusion?* Shiro and Ichigo both inquired at once.

*The child.* Zangetsu answered simply.

*True.* Ichigo agreed. *I mean, Shiro, can you imagine Aizen accepting a child, particularly one as, well…childish, as Nel, as part of his army?*

*So, in that case, me being an Espada would put them in danger…* Shiro understood, then turned his focus outwards again. "I am not an Espada."

"Really?" Nel smiled brightly as she got away from Dondochakka and rushed back to Shiro. "That makes Nel very happy!"

It was obvious by the stance that Nel's 'brothers' still didn't trust him. Shiro didn't care much for that. While they were obviously Adjuchas, they were nowhere near as powerful as him, they were no threat; and Nel, she was a child, Shiro just couldn't see her as an enemy, and regarding her possible power…he had no idea…

**xXx**

Hours passed, Shiro had chosen to hang around with Nel and her so-called brothers, not like he had anything better to do. In the time with them he'd learnt: he learnt that the world he was in was called Hueco Mundo, that the speed-technique he was able to do instinctively was called sonido; he also learnt that the huge building in the distance was called Las Noches and it was Aizen's fortress, it was also a place Nel's brothers avoided like the plague. In all that time one thing came particularly clear to Shiro and the other spirits inside him, even though nothing had been said about it: Nel was someone, someone important, and the other hollows were trying to keep that fact, along with the child herself, hidden.

Ichigo for his part kept practicing kidou, it was slow going, particularly since there was no one to help guide him; at least Zangetsu had nearly eidetic memory and could dictate to him the full incantation of the kidou he (they) had witnessed either Rukia or Tessai teaching Yuzu. As well as those Rukia used the most.

By the night Shiro had to admit to himself to being surprised that he had felt no more hunger yet. Zangetsu commented that his exaggerate hunger was probably his lack of reiatsu, since he had stabilized it would no longer be as bad. That was good; especially in case they ever needed to shift control while allies were nearby.

That night, or what they guessed was night, it was unclear since the sky never really changed much, the group was searching for a spot to rest some, without being easily found, as the last thing they wanted was to be hunted by other hollows that may find them with their guard down. When, abruptly, they were found.

The attack was totally unexpected, Shiro's instincts just warning him in the very last second; his response was also instinctive, as he scooped Nel into his arms and then threw himself to a side, rolling several feet to get away from the attacker.

The whole move took less than two seconds, and just as instantly Shiro was back on his feet, with Nel behind him, Zangetsu already in hand. The child looking at him with absolute awe and worship for having saved her.

"What the heck just happened?!" Shiro demanded as he looked warily at the attacker.

He looked a bit plain for a hollow, dressed in a body suit and what could pass for boots, a hood covering his head and a full mask on his face. However, what called even more attention were the three dog-wolf-monster like creatures, all black, with masks and mouths that seemed to be filled with only fangs, growling from around him, and straight at him.

*They look like the wargs from Lord of the Rings.* Ichigo commented, remembering the movie his friends had insisted on going seeing years before. *Except worse…*

The creatures all looked straight at Shiro, before letting out what seemed like a shrill whistle, one sharp enough to make even Ichigo's ears ring painfully; Shiro wanted nothing more than to hold his head and groan in pain, but there was no way he was letting his guard down with the unknown enemies before him.

"Pesche!" Shiro demanded sharply. "Explain!"

"Cazador!" Pesche answered as he tried to go around the creatures. "The hollow is called Cazador, and the other are his Hounds. They are trackers, and hunters, they work for Aizen and the Espada…"

"What the fuck are they doing here?!" Shiro demanded, before turning inwards. *They cannot know already I'm here right? It's not been that long…*

*Didn't you notice?* Zangetsu said seriously. *That Cazador…wasn't looking at you just now, he was looking at the child you just saved. The first attack itself wasn't directed at you at all, you just moved his target…*

*Nel?!* Ichigo and Shiro cried out mentally at the same time. *They're after Nel?!*

Shiro had no idea what has going on, but he knew one thing for sure, the Cazador couldn't be allowed to get what he'd gone there for, whether that was Nel or Shiro himself was a minor and mostly unimportant detail.

"Cero!" Shiro blasted his attack full-power at the Cazador and his hounds.

He managed to kill one of the hounds, seriously injured another one and dealt a minor injury to the last one and to the Cazador himself. It seemed like a huge victory for the first attack, and it was, until three more Cazadores arrived…

"*Shit!*" All parts of the teenagers cursed at the same time.

"Cero!" Shiro attacked again, the first thing he could think of doing.

He didn't manage to injure anyone or anything that time, as they sonidoed fast enough to evade it completely, to his anger.

Shiro cursed again, they had dodged, and he couldn't keep wasting reiatsu like that, not unless he wanted to risk getting too-hungry again.

*We gotta do something!* Ichigo snapped, growing nervous in the Inner World, he turned to the zanpakutou spirit. *Isn't there some way for him to power-up or something, like I do with bankai or with his power?*

*He's already using his power, that's what makes him an Arrancar.* Zangetsu replied. *And bankai is a shinigami art, he does not have access to it, same as with kidou…*

*So Bankai's out of the question…* Suddenly Ichigo remembered something. *What about Resurreccion?*

"I like the idea." Shiro declared as he kept dodging and parrying two Cazadores. "How do I call on that power exactly?"

Silence, they had no idea, or so it seemed at first.

*I am your zanpakutou Shiro, just like I'm Ichigo's, because the two of you are one.* Zangetsu reminded the teens.

"I know that already Ossan!" Shiro snapped, she really didn't like not being able to just trash all his enemies.

"Focus Shiro." Zangetsu admonished. "Just like Ichigo must summon my power in a certain way when it is sealed, you need to do the same."

"Summon…a certain way…?" Shiro couldn't focus on what the old-man was trying to teach and on fighting at the same time, particularly not when he also had to keep Nel safe.

*The shikai-release command.*Ichigo understood right then.

*The release command, are not just random words or phrases.* Zangetsu pointed out. *They are connected to what you expect me, as your zanpakutou spirit, to be able to do, and what you expect to be able to do with me…*

*Like I somehow expect to pierce the skies to reach True Heaven…* Ichigo commented, still not fully comprehending what that was supposed to mean.

*Yes.* Zangetsu nodded, not giving any more detail.

"What I expect to do…to achieve…" Shiro muttered to himself.

He fired another Cero when the Cazadores got too close to him, and suddenly he somehow knew exactly what to say and do.

"Tear the skies asunder, Zangetsu!" Shiro cried out as he held his sealed zanpakutou, tip against his chest, with both hands.

It was a strange, yet somehow compelling sight, the blade seemed to pierce into his chest on its own, before seemingly melting away, on the spot where it had stabbed Shiro a hole began to appear and then…an explosion of reiatsu.

Three hounds end up being caught by the storm of reiatsu Shiro's sudden transformation had caused, being destroyed instantly by it, while one Cazador lost an arm.

When the reiatsu cleared again, a very different Shiro was standing in place. He no longer had a kosode, as it had been blown off in the explosion, and one of his hakama legs was torn and missing the lower half; at the same time almost every visible part of Shiro's body had been covered by a white substance, one that seemed to be the same material the mask was made of; the mask itself had doubled and lowered, making it so half of his face was covered in it, the same half that was covered in red tribal-like marks, the same kind of marks that also decorated the rest of the 'armor'; also, his feet were suddenly bare and his hands resembled claws. However, even with all those changes, perhaps the most disconcerting part was the thick white black-tipped tail that he could feel shaking behind him; Shiro could feel how the appendage worked, and moved and answered to his thoughts, despite the fact that he'd never had a tail before, it just felt somehow…natural.

"Nice." Shiro nodded approvingly, then he noticed he had no blade. "Now I'm only missing…" With just a thought a blade made of completely black energy formed in his hand, in the same form as Zangetsu's shikai, mostly… "Zangetsu no Anbu…" Shiro smirked, a bloodthirsty chuckle escaping his lips. "Now it's perfect."

*Yes it is.* Ichigo agreed from his spot in the Inner World. *Though…that tail…* he shook his head, not liking that part.

After that, the fight ended quite quickly. Shiro was familiar enough with Zangetsu and the Getsuga Tenshou that he had no trouble handling three of the Cazadores and half of the Hounds by himself, Nel's brothers dealt with the rest of the enemies.

As soon as the confrontation was over, the group decided to find a different place to rest for the night, it wouldn't do for more Cazadores to follow the first ones and find them already tired and resting from the first fight.

In all their hurry to get away, no one seemed to notice the Naga-like hollow with a broken mask who had watched the entire thing from behind a dune.

**xXx**

Shiro waited until the next morning, a while after they'd begun moving, to begin asking questions. Since he'd fought to defend Nel, and by extension all of them, the group of Arrancars who called themselves family seemed to be more at ease with Shiro, particularly since the white-haired one had even use his Ressurección to aid them…never mind that he'd gotten in halfway through the battle itself.

"So…" Shiro began, trying to sound casual.

It didn't work.

"I got what those Cazadores were supposed to be, what I'm not sure I understand is who exactly they were after…" Shiro commented, purposefully leaving the statement open.

"They were probably just after you, don't-cha know?" Dondochakka commented quickly, too-quickly actually.

"Please, no one aside from you and the hollows I ate in the damn forest know I even exist!" Shiro snapped slightly.

His tone was enough to stop Nel's childish games (as she'd been jumping and twirling around them), she turned to look at the group arguing.

"You sound like you know the answer already…" Pesche commented, already on edge.

"I have my suspicions." Shiro admitted. "But I want to hear you say it. Tell me who the Cazadores were after exactly."

"Yes, Nel wanna know too…" Nel declared unexpectedly.

That caught them all totally by surprise; though, to Shiro, Pesche's panicked expression in and of itself was enough of an answer.

*But why?* Shiro wondered internally. *If they know she's being pursued, by such powerful hollows, why not say anything…?*

*It's actually quite obvious Shiro.* Ichigo declared from the Inner World.

The moment Ichigo gave the answer, Shiro realized it was, indeed, quite obvious, and he wasn't sure if he ought to congratulate the three hollows or laugh at their naivety…no, not naivety, their sheer idiocy, for thinking it would be enough…

"You're trying to protect her." Shiro blurted out. "I was right, it is She they are after, and you're trying to protect her, so much you even hide that she's being pursued. Hide whatever it is that is making her be pursued…whatever she did, or was…" his mouth suddenly felt very dry, as realization came *It cannot be, can it?*

*I would say it should be impossible…but you know our track record on that area.* Ichigo deadpanned drily.

Yes, they had quite a track record where it came to impossible happenings, and their current situation was probably no different, which meant that Nel was being pursued for who she'd once been, and that was…

"Nel was an Ethpada once, wasn't Nel?" A low voice said slowly.

The phrase, said in such a low, childish, yet surprisingly serious voice send everyone into shock at the same time; a reaction that, coming from Nel's brothers, once again seemed as a confirmation on its own. Shiro also realized that it would explain why Pesche had been so weary when believing Shiro might be an Espada…

Silence reigned for the longest time.

"Answer her Pesche." Shiro pretty much ordered.

"But…" It was quite obvious neither of the 'brothers' wanted to do that.

"You may want to protect her, but what you're doing right now only puts her in even more danger." Shiro pointed out stoically. "If she doesn't know she's in danger, or even why, how do you expect to even be ready to keep herself safe. Nel needs to know the truth, and she needs to try and recover her memories, and her true form and power, only then will she stand a chance at truly being safe."

"True form, you know…?" Dondochakka's words were more statement than question.

"An educated guess." Shiro admitted. "I had never seen a child arrancar, and it just didn't seem logical. And if she truly was an Espada…"

"Nel wanna know who she is!" Nel demanded shrilly.

Silence lasted for a few seconds longer, before Pesche finally gave up.

"You are a very special person Nel-sama, have always been." Pesche informed her. "You were always so strong, even before being an Espada. You did not like fighting, it made you sad when you had to do it, and when life was lost needlessly. Someone took advantage of your compassionate nature. You were betrayed, your mask cracked, your power depleted, and then you were abandoned outside Las Noches, left to die or go insane…" he shook his head, half in sadness, half in anger. "Yet neither of those happened. Somehow you shifted into this child-form you are in now, all memory of your past forgotten, and most of your old power gone as well. We knew things wouldn't go well for you if anyone from Las Noches found you, so Dondochakka and I got you out. And we've been wandering the desert ever since…"

"You were her Fraccion, weren't you?" Shiro guessed.

Pesche nodded, no longer surprised that Shiro's guesses were so accurate.

"What is Nel's real name?" The girl wanted to know. "Who was I really?"

Somehow, even just in the lapse of those two short questions, something seemed to change, like some kind of switch inside her had flipped; she knew she was someone, someone different from who she'd believed herself to be for so long…and even if she didn't remember anything about the individual she'd been yet; what little knowledge she had gained (or regained) already was enough to compel her to change.

"You are you, Nel-sama." Dondochakka said, somewhat seriously.

"Yes." Pesche agreed, just as seriously. "Though your full name was Nelliel Tu Odelschwank, former Espada Tres…"

Shiro could only gape in astonishment.

*It's official.* Ichigo declared from the Inner World. *Nothing is impossible.*

**xXx**

The quintet spent the rest of that day wandering around the desert as Dondochakka and Pesche told Nel about who she'd been before her attack, before her memory was lost. Ichigo couldn't help but marvel as he listened.

*I had always thought that Shiro was an anomaly, different from any and every hollow I had seen before.* Ichigo commented thoughtfully. *He was rational, and…well, good. He helped me, he didn't hurt me, and the same can be said in relation to our nakama. I never imagined other hollows could also be like that…care. And yet Nel…she cares, so much she ended up like this. And Aizen didn't care…obviously for the very same reason.* he sighed. *And it's not just Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka, they could have just left her, served someone else, and yet they chose to stay with her, protect her…* he contemplated the facts for a moment. *Is it because they are arrancar, does having shinigami powers make them slightly like shinigami. Or maybe since they're only one soul, since they no longer have to be constantly fighting for dominance, it allows them to be more rational; or is it just a matter of experience?*

*Who knows?* Zangetsu asked in turn. *No one has ever cared to know before you Ichigo. For most Shinigami hollows are nothing more than corrupted souls that need to be purified. And, to be honest, that's the case with most.*

Ichigo nodded in acquiescence; it didn't make the mystery that was Nel, or anything related to her, any easier to understand.

**xXx**

It was near the end of the next day, the third since Shiro had met the other hollows and the seventh since his arrival to Hueco Mundo, that things truly went south. The group was still wandering around, no destination in mind when, unexpectedly, they were surrounded by four Cazadores and a dozen hounds; all looking even more dangerous than the ones from before…

"Cero!" Shiro sent a wide-spread attack to get a chance to call on his resurreccion, knowing he better go all-out from the very beginning. "Tear the skies asunder, Zangetsu!"

Like the battle before that one, Shiro did his best to destroy his enemies as fast as possible, however, when he was halfway through, someone else joined the party. A male, with dark skin, small yellow eyes and dressed in white…an Espada.

"So you're the one who has been destroying the Cazadores…" The Espada commented as he watched the lizard-like hollow. "Name is Zommari Rureaux, Septima Espada in the service of Aizen-sama, who might you be?"

"Shirosaki Kamen, what do you want?" Shiro replied stoically. "What do you want?"

He knew he was in a precarious situation, with Nel right behind him, Bawabawa, Pesche and Dondochakka surrounding her protectively; they were also all being surrounded by the remaining Cazadores and hounds and, of course, the Espada.

"You obviously are a strong Arrancar, to have been able to fight off so many Cazadores." Zommari commented. "Even if you came out of nowhere, Aizen-sama will be interested in you. You should come to Las Noches, join us."

Shiro's eyes narrowed, he knew that even though the words sounded like an invitation they were anything but; things wouldn't be pretty if he responded with anything but yet. And still, he would never join Aizen. Who would be crazy enough to join a madman who had already betrayed one world, particularly one that respected him as much as the Soul Society had?!

Behind him, Shiro could hear Pesche mutter, the former Fraccion probably thought Shiro was going to betray them, leave them to their luck…had Shiro been anyone else, had he 'grown up' in any other way, he might have…but he wasn't, and he hadn't, he was Shirosaki Kamen, he was a Nakama, and too damn stubborn to do follow anyone but his own will…and maybe Ichigo's…sometimes…

In the Inner World Ichigo could just chuckle at his twin's rant. It was just like him, and it only proved how right the orange-haired had been to place his trust in his counterpart, now they only needed to find a way to get out of Hueco Mundo, back to the Human World, to Karakura, the Nakama and…Rukia…he missed his wife so much…

"It's an interesting offer…" Shiro commented as he began mentally preparing for what was to come. "Very interesting indeed…but I'm afraid I'll have to decline…"

He didn't even give the chance for the Espada, or anyone to react, he just spun around, yelling at the others to get down in the last moment, before slashing the air with Zangetsu in a wide arc, sending the most powerful Getsuga Tenshou he could in an instant. The remaining Cazadores and hounds fell.

"Run!" He growled at Pesche and Dondochakka.

They didn't need anything else to be said; Pesche took Nel and ran off, followed closely by the other two; they used Sonido to get as far away as they could, as fast as they could.

Shiro for his part finished the spin and then attacked at where Zommari still stood, firing a half-powered Cero.

"How…?" Zommari seemed to be shocked. "I'm the fastest among the Espada…my gemelos sonido is the fastest there is…and yet you…just now…"

"Speed, is my specialty." Shiro declared with a smirk. "Now, let's get this show on the road." he charged another attack, firing it at point blank. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

The battle was crazy, and very fast paced. Shiro managed to mostly keep up with Zommari; and yet that wasn't enough, not when his enemy was an Espada.

"Insect!" Zommari yelled, angry. "You cannot possibly believe you'll ever be enough to defeat an Espada! One of the elite!"

Suddenly, his hand was on the hilt of his zanpakutou, Shiro didn't notice, but Ichigo did.

*Shiro!* He yelled with all the strength. *He's gonna use Resureccion!*

Neither of them had the slightest idea what his Resurreccion might be, however, they knew it wouldn't be good, and that was enough.

It was an instinct, knowledge that had always been there, in a corner of his mind, just like the knowledge of how to use Cero, or Resurreccion, or any other hollow power…in an instant, he opened a black hole, a Garganta, as was explained to him, jumped in…and he was gone.

**xXx**

"Shiro! SHIRO!" Nel kept screaming the name over and over.

Pesche, doing his best to ignore the screaming, kept going as fast as he could, never letting go of Nel; Dondochakka and Bawabawa following.

They didn't stop until they found another hollow standing on a dune, looking straight at them. It was tall, but had no feet, instead there was a thick, dark tail, his mask was broken, but what was left of it was bigger than any fragment any of them had seen before on an Arrancar.

"Who…Who are you?" Dondochakka asked.

"We won't let you hurt Nel-sama!" Pesche added instantly.

They were still on edge after what had just happened, and the fact that Shiro hadn't joined them; they didn't want to really think about it, but a part of them knew there might be a chance he wouldn't be.

"I'm not here to hurt you, or your charge." The hollow, who looked pretty much like a Naga, declared stoically. "My Master sent me to get you."

"Master…you work for Aizen?!" Pesche was nearly hyperventilating by that point.

"I do not." The hollow said. "My Master is connected to him, true; however, I assure you this is related in no way to him…My Master just wants to help you, but mainly, to help her…"

"Why would you want to help us, help Nel-sama?" Dondochakka inquired.

"No." Pesche thought there was another, more important question. "Who is your Master?"

When the answer was given, it was to the former fraccion's satisfaction.

"Very well." Pesche nodded. "We'll go with you."

* * *

And cut!

So... anyone wanna guess what's coming next?

See ya next week!


	27. Hurt and Comfort

**Chapter 27. Hurt and Comfort **

"Ichigo?!" Rukia screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What the hell just happened?!" Karin demanded yet again as she shunpoed to her sister-in-law's side in an instant.

The rest of the Nakama rushed to their side as well, their eyes fixed straight on the spot where the black hole had been, the hole Ichigo had just disappeared through.

Some of the teenagers began suggesting possibilities. Karin remembered the hole was called a Garganta, and while she couldn't be sure, she assumed that one lead to Hueco Mundo, which meant her brother was pretty much lost somewhere in the world of hollows. That thought was enough to send Rukia off the edge, she blacked out.

"Rukia-san!" Orihime cried out in panic.

Uryuu was fast enough to catch her before she reached the ground, and everyone else conveyed around them.

"I think the whole thing was too great a shock for her." Uryuu commented as he held the unconscious shinigami.

What he didn't say, and Karin noticed, was the way Rukia's reiatsu had seemed to be reaching for something desperately right before she'd lost consciousness…

"I think we all should get some rest." Tatsuki declared, putting her sealed zanpakutou back inside the sleeve of her yukata. "We've all been fighting since before dawn…"

And around them the sky was bright blue already, the sun shining…

Everyone agreed and made their way to their homes. Uryuu following the twins to the Kurosaki clinic and laying Rukia on the bed that still held her empty gigai and Ichigo's body.

They had all left…and it wasn't like they didn't worry about Ichigo, they did; but they trusted him to be strong enough to survive whatever was happening; meanwhile, they would research for ways of getting him back, and make sure Rukia and the twins would be okay.

**xXx**

Three days later they still had no answer, and the tension just kept building. Rukia hadn't gone to school at all, though Ririn and Kon had been sent in Rukia's gigai and Ichigo's body respectively to keep rumors to a minimum. And it was just that Rukia couldn't handle it, the thought of having to act with Kon like she would with Ichigo…everyone knew they were dating, after their eventful summer the two had refused to hide their relationship; of course, as far as most were concerned, the two were just dating, only the Nakama knew about the 'first marriage', or that they had plans of getting married (again) the following summer.

The rest of the Nakama, twins included, kept going to class as well, though they spent all their free time combing Karakura Town from top to bottom and side to side, trying to find a way to get to Ichigo. They let Isshin deal with Urahara, as none of them liked the guy, and they weren't desperate enough to try and get his help, yet. Same with the Visored…whom they actually weren't sure they could even find.

On the morning of the fourth day Karin finally decided that enough was enough, giving no explanation whatsoever she opened a Senkaimon and went to Seireitei, returning less than an hour later, followed by none other than Kuchiki Byakuya.

The Senkaimon had opened in the sky (since Karin didn't have the precision required to open one on ground level always). When they stepped in they saw an orange-haired head peek from the clinic before disappearing again behind the door.

Byakuya just blinked once before turning to Karin, waiting for an explanation for what exactly that was, and what it was supposed to mean.

"That was Kon, in nii-san's body." Karin explained, knowing what he wanted to know.

"Kon?" Byakuya wasn't familiar with that name.

"One of the Gikongan, nii-san's to be precise." Karin elaborated. "We each have specialized gikon, it helps when we have to leave abruptly, particularly when we're in class or in another environment where the use of the generic Gikongan would complicate matters."

Byakuya knew exactly what she meant, generic gikongan had all kinds of strange quirks, and most were quite crazy.

"Anyway, it would complicate matters for Ichigo to be absent for days with no explanation, especially since Rukia is refusing to attend school as well." Karin sighed. "We've been sending Ririn, her Gikon, in her place too. Rukia refused to go with Kon, as they are known to be dating, she refusing to act in any way romantically with him. In any case, the Gikon stay in the clinic, Rukia cannot stand Kon, not with Ichigo missing."

The noble nodded. The humans around them who didn't know the truth wouldn't understand if Rukia changed the way she acted towards Ichigo, and since his sister knew the one in that body wasn't really Ichigo…however, that didn't explain another thing Karin had just said…

"Dating?" He inquired, brows furrowed, confused. "I thought the marriage wasn't legally binding in this world."

"It isn't." Karin didn't elaborate, stopping finally at a door.

Byakuya realizing the girl wasn't going to say anything else knocked twice on the door. There was no answer, but he'd been told already not to expect one, so he simply opened the door and stepped in. He certainly wasn't expecting what he found when he entered the bedroom his sister shared with her husband. He knew they hadn't been intimate yet, it would be obvious in their reiatsu if they had, and yet they still shared a room and a bed, as was expected from a married couple…despite the fact that no one in the human world but the Nakama knew them to be married, and it wasn't really legal in the human world.

The bedroom looked small, at least compared to what the noble was used to. A Queen sized western-style bed occupied most of the space, a sky-blue comforter covering it. On a side a half-opened closet, on the opposite corner a desk with two chairs and over it a couple of shelves with schoolbooks as well as some poetry and literature, particularly Shakespeare. The bedside table held a couple of pictures: one of Ichigo and Rukia in a park, sharing some ice-cream, it looked like a candid one; the other seemed to be an old one of the Kurosaki family, both parents were there, holding each other, and Ichigo didn't seem to be even ten. Byakuya could only watch in silence, the smiling form of Kurosaki Ichigo, he looked so young, so innocent, so different from the young man that had stood up to the most powerful Shinigami to defend his (Byakuya's) sister. He could remember what had been revealed in that first meeting between the most powerful Nakama and the leaders of the Gotei, when the orange-haired had explained about his mother's murder; the picture obviously was from before that.

Rukia, for her part, was dressed in a simple house yukata, lavender with white cherry blossoms, with a light gray blanket over her; most of her body laid in what was obviously her side of the bed, except her head was buried in the opposite pillow, Ichigo's pillow.

Seeing her, Byakuya could see she was hurting, his little sister was hurting, and he had no idea what to do to help. He knew that was what Karin had gone get him for, and yet he had no idea what he could do. Rukia had been his sister for five decades, and until a few months before he hadn't cared enough to get to really know her, to connect him her; and even now, he just didn't know enough to be able to help her.

"Rukia?" Byakuya called softly.

Violet eyes opened briefly, registering Byakuya's presence by the bed, before closing again.

Byakuya had to stop himself from flinching, there had been such emptiness in his sister's eyes, it reminded him painfully of the day he'd stood before her, as she stood behind the bars of the 6th Division holding cell, as he informed her she would be executed and that they wouldn't see each other again until that day. Her eyes had been completely empty that day as well. It was also the only day he saw her like that, the next day had been the meeting which the Nakama interrupted to make their intentions known, a message that had reached Rukia too; according to Renji, Rukia's eyes had shone again that day, and never stopped shining since, her belief in her nakama so strong…she never doubted they would save her.

It hadn't occurred to Byakuya before, but in that moment it was so clear, what if, even back then, Rukia's eyes hadn't been empty because of her upcoming execution, because of the fact that she would lose her life…but because of what she believed to have lost already, her nakama…Kurosaki Ichigo? Just how much about his own sister did he not know?

"Imouto…" Byakuya whispered softly.

He sat down on the bed, below where his sister reached, extending a hand to touch her leg softly, hoping to call her attention.

"Forgive me Nii-sama…" She whispered in a low, broken voice. "I should be receiving you better, I just…I just have no energy for anything…"

Byakuya's eyes furrowed, he could sense there was something wrong with Rukia's reiatsu, like it kept leaking somehow, the level was also pretty low, explaining her lack of energy.

"Were you hurt, Rukia?" He asked, suddenly very worried.

"No Nii-sama." Rukia answered honestly. "I just…I feel so tired…"

"What happened three days ago, Rukia?" Byakuya got the feeling he was missing something, that they all were. "The 12th detected an influx of hollows, over a hundred, shortly before dawn, and the battle that followed lasted for hours. However, we never received a request for backup, or anything like that. The battle eventually ended, and we got a report from the Nakama lieutenant, the Quincy: Ishida Uryuu that the battle had been won, the hollows were gone and Kurosaki Ichigo was missing…"

"He fell into a Garganta." Rukia answered softly. "I'm not sure what went wrong exactly. The battle was almost over, I saw a last opponent behind him, yelled at him to warn him, he moved to attack, and then…something happened, I don't know what, the hollow was destroyed, but the black hole he'd called was still there, and Ichigo somehow fell in. I blacked out shortly afterwards, Uryuu brought me back."

Byakuya nodded, he'd been told that part.

"And you haven't left this room since." Byakuya added pointedly.

Rukia just closed her eyes tightly, she knew she was being a bother, and that she was making everyone worry, but she just couldn't help it, couldn't help the pain, the emptiness that gnawed inside her.

"When I woke up…" She whispered softly. "I had no idea what had happened, or that anything had at first, but I knew, I could sense instinctively, that something was very wrong. Even before they told me what that black hole Ichigo fell into was, I knew it was bad, I knew he wasn't here, that he hadn't come back yet…" she sobbed, her hands fisting around her blanket. "My soul, my spirit, keeps reaching to him, unable to find him, and it just hurts so much…like a part of me is missing…like I'm falling apart little by little…it hurts so much!"

With that declaration Rukia curled upon herself, forming as small a ball as she could, holding herself in the way she wished to be able to hold someone else, or more like, the way she wished to be held by that someone else. It was the first time she admitted the real reason why she refused to leave the room, why she seemed to be so badly sick; but it was Byakuya there, her brother, and regardless for how short a time he'd actually acted like a brother should, he still was family, and if anyone deserved to know what was really wrong with her, it was him.

Byakuya couldn't believe what he'd just heard, what his sister had just described, it was part of a soul-bond…he'd heard about those of course, but always in couples whose members were both spirits, very powerful, and who'd already been together for a very long time…Could it really be possible that a soul bond was forming between Ichigo and his sister? They had only been married for a handful of months, hadn't known each other for even a year, and yet…and yet it was the only explanation for the way Rukia was acting, her low reiatsu, and the emptiness in her eyes. She was reacted like one would expected a soul-bonded individual to react when his or her other half died, with their soul constantly trying to reach for someone who no longer existed…except Ichigo wasn't dead, and Rukia knew that, and that was maybe the only reason she hadn't begun to fade yet…

Byakuya realized something in that very moment: he'd been married once, to Hisana, but even if she'd not been his illegitimate sister, he could have never loved her, not like a man ought to love a woman, not like Rukia seemed to love Ichigo; that kind of love…Byakuya had never known, not many ever did…

"I'm sorry, Nii-sama…" Rukia sobbed softly.

"You have nothing to apologize for, imouto." Byakuya told her softly as he scooted over and held her against his body.

The reaction was instantaneous, as Rukia shifted slightly to be better held by her brother, in a way he'd never held her before.

"I know he's alive, I just…I can feel it." Rukia admitted brokenly. "And yet…that's not enough…it still hurts!"

"I cannot say I understand what you're going through." Byakuya admitted softly as he touched her hair slightly. "My relationship with Hisana…you know it wasn't what a real marriage should have been. But you need to keep believing that Ku…that Ichigo is alive, and that he's coming back; that he won't leave you…"

"I know he won't." There was a sudden confidence in her words that surprised even Byakuya.

With some effort, Rukia untangled her left arm from the embrace and the blanket before showing her hand to her brother, or more precisely, the ring on the third finger of said hand:

"We're getting married." She informed Byakuya with a small smile.

"Married…?" That threw him for a loop. "But you two are already…"

"Yes, we're already married in Soul Society, but that's not legally binding here." Rukia explained. "We're getting married here, in the Living World, next summer. Ichigo proposed to me a while ago, after his fight against Grand Fisher. And apparently he'd been planning it since before that, he designed the ring himself."

Byakuya had to admit the ring was quite something, not just the fact that it was obviously worth a lot of money, since it was completely made of diamonds, but it was obvious the design, the mix of colors and such, meant something. So Rukia explained it to him.

When the explanation was over Byakuya understood something else: it wasn't only the fact that his sister truly loved Ichigo, but he obviously loved her just as much. It didn't matter if their union had begun out of convenience, they truly loved each other, and they were going as far as 'dating', being engaged, and would be getting married in the World of the Living as well. He couldn't help but be very happy for his sister, for the happiness she had found, and at the same time, a part of him couldn't help the sadness, for it was a kind of happiness he didn't think he would ever find for himself…

**xXx**

When Rukia's revelations were shared with the rest of the Nakama, and everyone realized the implications the way Byakuya had, shock has the main response. Along with that, the group of teenagers put even more effort in finding a way of getting Ichigo back, and stopped trying to get Rukia to do anything.

No one knew yet how it was possible for a soul-bond to be forming already between Ichigo and Rukia, even if they loved each other as much as they seemed to, but still. The focus was on getting Ichigo back, though they hadn't found anything yet.

For three days Byakuya focused on being there for his sister, he had breakfast, lunch and dinner with her in the bedroom, and coaxed her to share with him stories about her time in Karakura, both before and after the ryoka disaster in Seireitei. It allowed him to, finally, truly see Rukia as her own person, see how wonderful she was. Those same stories also allowed him to get to know Ichigo somewhat, understand more why he'd done everything he'd done, the same could be said about the rest of the Nakama.

After all those stories Byakuya couldn't help but marvel about the teens: the strength, not just physical or spiritual, but their will, their faith, the trust they had in each other, the loyalty; he could finally see what Ukitake Juushirou and Kyouraku Shunsui, two of the oldest, most powerful and most respected captains on the Gotei had seen in the teens during that small lunch three days before the almost-execution.

That Saturday evening, the day before they would reach the week-mark since Ichigo's disappearance, Karin insisted that Byakuya took some time off. He'd stood vigil by his sister's side for most of the day, for the last three days, it would do him good to get some fresh air, she promised that she and Yuzu would stay with Rukia.

It took some effort, but eventually Byakuya agreed and decided to go for a walk. He had no gigai, hadn't deemed it necessary when first arriving to Karakura; though Karin warned him that there was a chance of people other than the Nakama being spiritually aware and noticing him even without a gigai. Byakuya had nodded and gone out anyway.

He walked through the streets for a while, since it was still technically dinner time they were mostly empty, and what few people rushed by didn't seem to notice him. Eventually he reached an empty park and he sat on a bench beneath a tree, it had no flowers or leaves, it couldn't have since it was already one of the first days of December, it hadn't snowed yet, but it was just a matter of time.

Some time passed, Byakuya had no way of knowing how long since he wasn't carrying a watch; some people had walked by the limits of the park, probably on their way to their homes after a long day, none seemed to notice him; even those who looked around, it was like he didn't exist. He was beginning to think that Karin had exaggerated when suggesting that more people than just the Nakama were spiritually aware, until he noticed a woman in a long skirt, blouse and whose face he couldn't make out for some unknown reason, who was also walking by the limits of the park…only to stop unexpectedly when turning in his direction. For a few seconds she seemed to be hesitating, as she turned to look at her own bag a couple of times; but eventually, unexpectedly, she turned and instead of continuing her way, walked into the park, where she went to sit beside Byakuya.

For a minute, not a word was said, she didn't even turn to look at him, Byakuya was beginning to think that maybe she hadn't really seen him and just happened to choose to sit there at the same time he was there; but then the situation changed.

"Are you alright?" A soft, strangely concerned voice asked in a low voice.

"Wha…?" Byakuya was caught totally off-guard, something that never happened, it was quite an odd experience for him.

"Yes, I am talking to you." The woman said, just as softly, still not turning to look at him. "And if you're wondering, I know you're not alive…not technically anyway."

"You…" Byakuya really didn't know how to handle the situation, despite Karin's warning, he hadn't expected something like that.

"You're a spirit, and I'm spiritually aware, have always been." She qualified. "Now, will you tell me what's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything is?" He asked, still feeling quite off-put by everything.

"My first question was a way to start the talk." The woman informed him simply. "I know something is wrong, I can sense it."

"Sense it?" Byakuya didn't understand how that could be possible. "How?"

"Just a talent I have." The woman replied simply.

And despite not being able to see her face still, either because of the darkness (the closest streetlamp didn't quite illuminate the bench were they sat) or something else; Byakuya somehow knew she was smiling as she said that.

"You know how I feel?" Byakuya finally understood what was being said, but didn't know how it was possible.

"Yes." The answer was simple, no further explanations offered.

"Why are you even interested in what I feel and why?" He inquired, confused by that.

Silence reigned for a few seconds, and he was almost sure he heard her sigh; for a moment he though no answer would be given, but he was wrong.

"I suppose I just don't like feeling the pain of others…" she took a deep breath before adding. "I have enough feeling my own."

Yet again something Byakuya hadn't expected, though he was quickly realizing he should have no expectations, it was easier that way.

"Why would I share my feelings with a stranger when…" Byakuya began.

"When you don't even do it with those close to you?" She finished for him, yet again with the same inflexion in her voice that showed she was smiling. "It might even be better this way. After all, if I don't know you, I cannot judge you, right?"

Byakuya wasn't sure why, but somehow her words seemed to be ringing with truth, seemed to be almost inciting him to do as she wished; to tell her what was on his mind, and his heart, to unburden himself for the first time in probably forever.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin…" Byakuya admitted as he contemplated things.

"Well, one would usually say the beginning is the best place…but to be honest, I think the best place is what you are the most comfortable with. Even if you don't tell me everything, even if I do not understand everything, or if I cannot do or say anything to help; at least I will listen, and my listening will allow you to let go of whatever burden you're carrying, and you'll feel better. Trust me, I know. Even if I cannot help you, I can be a tool for you to help yourself."

It was more or less what Byakuya had been thinking already. What was truly strange was that, until that very moment, he would have never considered telling his thoughts, his feelings, his weaknesses…to a total stranger; why should he if he didn't share such things even with those closest to him? And yet…there was something about her, he would think he was being somehow bewitched if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't feel any reiatsu coming from her at all. Even if she obviously could see him, and she claimed to have some kind of talent that allowed her to know what he felt, she didn't seem to be capable of much more…

"My sister is in love." Byakuya blurted out. "Not just like when young ones usually say they're in love one day, and the next they're after someone else. She truly loves him…and he loves her too, I think. And even though right now she's hurting, because he's missing, she still loves him with all she has, all she is. She believes he'll come back to her, and he better because if not I'm going to be really angry…" He quieted, as if he didn't know what else to say, how to continue.

"The one your sister loves, is his disappearance related to the Corrupted Ones that swarmed this town last week?" She inquired.

"Corrupted Ones?" Byakuya was unfamiliar with that term.

"Yes, corrupted souls, I believe your people call them Hollows…" She pondered on that. "I know there were over a hundred of those last week…" she shook her head. "So much negativity, so much grief, and pain and despair…"

Her words caught Byakuya's attention yet again as he began to wonder what exactly her power was, and how she even had any power at all.

Silence reigned again, it wasn't a heavy silence, just an expectant one; Byakuya kept trying to think of a way to continue, while at the same time wondering why he was even telling her anything; while she simply waited for him to speak.

"My name is Kuchiki Byakuya." He decided to explain things a bit more. "I'm…well, my age isn't important, not really; suffice it to say that I've lived for a very long time…" he took a deep breath before going on. "I was married once, many years ago and yet…" he shook his head. "It would be wrong to say it ended badly, it began badly…? Or maybe the real problem is that it never really began." another sigh. "I married a woman I was never in love with. I was married to her for five years and when it was over…I felt sad, because she was gone, so young and she was gone, and yet…I was also relieved, because I didn't have to pretend anymore…"

The sound that followed that declaration was like that of air rushing out…he was breathless, totally breathless, and at the same time he felt so light. For the first time ever he'd admitted to that, and it made him happy in a way, even if the woman beside him had no way of knowing, of understanding anything; at least he'd gotten it out.

There was silence still, like she was waiting for something more, and suddenly words were coming to him, and there was no more hesitance, no more doubt, he just talked:

"For the longest time I thought it was alright." He went on, unthinkingly. "Even if that marriage didn't work, it wasn't like I actually needed someone by my side to be happy. I thought it didn't matter. I was perfectly fine for more than a century before I ever met Hisana, why shouldn't I be just as well after she was gone? But I wasn't alright, not at all, and I didn't notice…or maybe I just didn't want to admit it, until now…When I saw my younger sister, when I talked to her, when I realized how much she loved Ichigo, and that she was loved just as much in return… suddenly it did matter, suddenly it wasn't alright. My sister has found a love so great, a love I don't think I'll ever find."

This time the silence only lasted a few seconds, until Byakuya let out a sigh, deciding he'd said enough, and wondering if the woman beside him would really be able to say or do anything at all to help, maybe she would rather remain silent; maybe he was insane thinking he would achieve anything revealing so much to a total stranger…

"Love is a fickle thing, you know?" The woman said after what seemed like forever. "And it's also a very complicated thing. Ancient philosophers, or something like that, even came up with a classification, for the different kinds of love: that of family, of friends, of lovers…but in the end, in the end it's all love, and it's all complicated, and crazy and, if you ask me, simply impossible to really explain." She stopped her rant a bit and took a deep breath. "Love isn't good or bad, it's the best and the worst, it's perfect and terrible, beautiful and horrible, all at the same time. And that's the point." She sighed again. "You say you were married to a woman you were never in love with, but I think the real problem you have is looking at the whole situation that way. I don't believe you married someone you didn't love, you don't seem to me like the kind of person who would do that. You did love her, maybe not like a husband ought to love his wife, like lovers ought to, but you did love her. That marriage, it wasn't wrong, if you chose it, if you were happy, even if just a little, it could never be wrong. It might not be what you dreamt of, it might not be what you would choose now if given a choice, but that doesn't make it a mistake."

It was like her words were a balm, healing something deep inside him, a wound that had long since stopped bleeding, yet had never really closed. Like he was forgiven, by a power stronger than him, stronger than anything he knew, just because she said so; or maybe, maybe it wasn't being forgiven, it was feeling for the first time that there was nothing he needed to be forgiven for, because he hadn't done anything wrong…

"Love is such a fickle thing…" The woman said yet again. "You may see a person one day, for the first time, and know he or she's the one for you; you may see and spend time with people every day for years, or even decades, and one day suddenly realize one among them is the one meant for you; you may be with one, or two, or many different people before finding the one that is Right, or the right one may be the first person you're ever with; or you may go through a whole lifetime without ever finding that Right person…You may be wrong, or you may be right…"

Byakuya heard her chuckle suddenly, a sound that completely surprised him, and yet he couldn't help but like it, her laugh, it sounded like bells, and something else to him, something else he couldn't place, but he liked it.

Then the laughter stopped almost abruptly, in an almost breathless note, as if the woman had been as surprised by the sound as he himself had been.

"Anyway," she went on, ignoring her own laughter. "A lot of mays, I know, but that's not what really matters, or what I meant to say in any way. What I meant to say is that, in the end, regardless of how hard things may be, how complicated, how good or bad, I don't think it's ever a mistake to love…no matter what comes out of it, no matter how it ends. Love is such a wonderful thing…it can never be wrong."

After another long lapse of rather comfortable silence, Byakuya decided to talk again.

"What about you?" He asked the woman.

He wasn't sure why, but even when asking her a question he wouldn't turn to look at her, instead choosing to continue looking into the shadows and the pond several feet away, content with just feeling her soft, quiet presence beside him on the bench.

"Me…I'm not meant to find love." The woman answered in a suddenly empty tone.

Her voice, so different from how it had sounded as she talked to him about love before, as she helped him so much to heal from a wound that had existed for a little more than half a century… in that moment it was like she didn't feel a thing, or like she was blocking any emotion that could possibly exist…

"Doesn't that contradict everything you just told me about love?" Byakuya asked her. "And about all its possibilities?"

"No." She denied. "Love is still there, it's still just as terrible and wonderful, ugly and beautiful. Love still exists, I just am not meant to find it."

"Why?" Byakuya asked.

Silence. But this time Byakuya wasn't willing to allow it to stand. He didn't even know why, but there was something about that particular silence, about her refusal to answer his question, especially after he'd revealed so much to her, that he didn't like.

"Why?" He insisted, more strongly this time.

She didn't want to answer, she really didn't, but there was something about his tone of voice, about the power and will behind it, that wouldn't allow her to refuse…it wasn't the noble arrogance she might have expected, it was something else, something she couldn't name.

"I just…" It took all her effort to keep her voice and eyes completely blank, just in case he turned in her direction. "I do not have the time…"

It looked like Byakuya was about to insist she elaborate on that, when suddenly they both felt a ripple of power, incredible power they both recognized, one more than the other.

"Ichigo…" Byakuya whispered, getting on his feet and turning around before realizing he was even moving.

Beside him the woman got on her feet as well, stepping back to put some distance between them. She said nothing, just watching his expression, the mix of confusion, relief, surprise and something else that flashed in his eyes, so fast she would have missed the whole thing had she just blinked. It was dazzling.

"Go." She told him after several seconds.

"What?" He turned to her for the first time, surprised, having almost forgotten she was there at all. "I…"

"That's him, isn't it?" she inquired. "The one your sister loves, the one who has been missing since last week." She didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "You should go. Your sister is probably on her way already, and probably others. You should be there as well."

"I'm not sure they would want me in such an emotional reunion…" Byakuya commented lowly.

"You're family, of course they'll want you there." She insisted with confidence, after a few seconds adding. "Go Byakuya…"

It took him a few more seconds to realize that she'd had said his name, his first name at that, with no suffixes. Surprised, he turned back to look at her, only she was no longer there. She barely managed to catch sight of a departing figure as she stepped through the small area illuminated by a distant street-lamp, long skirt and long-sleeves flowing in the chilly night air; and he finally realized why he hadn't been able to actually see her hair, or face: she was wearing a white cloth that covered her from her head to below her shoulders.

Byakuya briefly considered following her, finding out more about her, but then another ripple of power reminded him that, somehow, Kurosaki Ichigo was back in the World of the Living; and not only that, from what he could sense Rukia was rushing in his direction at great speed, and other presences too seemed to be converging there as well.

He turned one last time, to see just an edge of white and mauve as the woman turned a corner and disappeared behind an apartment building located in the next block. He shook his head, sending a prayer to the heavens that he might find her, someday, again; then went into shunpo, following his sister's suddenly relit reiatsu presence.

**xXx**

In the Kurosaki Home, Rukia was pretty much dozing while Karin sat on the floor, reading some book and Yuzu hummed as she folded and put away the clothes from both Rukia and Ichigo that had just come out of the drier. They were doing as they'd promised Byakuya, and staying with Rukia, while at the same time keeping themselves busy.

Suddenly, Rukia's eyes snapped open, she straightened up in bed and instantly turned to look out the window; the whole move so fast and so totally unexpected, the twins could only look at her in silent shock.

"He's coming…" They heard Rukia gasp with some unknown emotion.

Then, before the twins could do or say anything at all, Rukia threw the blanket aside, revealing the jogging pants she was wearing along with one of Ichigo's shirts, she jumped onto her feet while still on the bed, spun, and then jumped out of the room, and the house, going straight to the window, as if it weren't even there (and since she was a spirit, it might as well haven't).

"What the hell just happened?!" Karin demanded.

There was no answer, but she wasn't waiting for or expecting one either. Instead she and Yuzu used their own ways to get out of their respective bodies, went through the window and rushed after Rukia. What they heard from her as they passed the first block from their house, and which was followed by a ripple of energy was enough to clear any doubts and make them all push even more reiatsu into their shunpo.

"Ichigo!"

In just a handful of minutes Rukia landed on the Karasu bridge, right over the river, not far from 'The Spot', the place where so much had happened: where Kurosaki Masaki had died to save her son from a hollow when her boy was nine; where Ichigo had nearly lost his own life to the same hollow at fourteen after making sure to get the monster away from his sisters and father; where Ichigo had finally confronted that very monster and vanquished him, for good, just a few months before; and most importantly, it was the place where, that very same day, he had asked Rukia to marry him, and had offered her the beautiful diamond ring she wore proudly on her left hand. Though during school hours she twisted it around so the blue, red and purple diamonds faced inwards, preventing others from realizing it wasn't any band but actually an engagement ring; the plan was to reveal the truth publicly sometime before they began College, the next spring, enough time to prepare for the wedding in the summer.

Rukia had been shunpoing so fast, faster than ever before, so much that she actually stumbled slightly when trying to stop, being forced to step off the bridge and straight to the river; she barely managed to catch up herself and solidify the reishi beneath her feet about an inch before actually touching the water. After stabilizing, she actually began walking like that the few yards still separating her from Ichigo…and how different she felt with him in the same world as her… her soul and heart were practically singing with joy at his return, at the way his reiatsu seemed to be already reaching to her, enveloping her in a gentle embrace, even before she actually reached the young man.

Karin and Yuzu too arrived to the bridge, managing to control themselves enough to not stumble. Just seconds later Uryuu was there, he'd used hirenkyaku to move as fast as possible. Orihime followed, getting off her Santen Kesshun, which she'd actually used to defy gravity and fly at top speed. Tatsuki followed, also in soul-form, which allowed her to use shunpo, which Renji had taught her the basic of, she still wasn't very good at it, but was getting better with practice. Chad was the last of the core of the Nakama to make his arrival, as his own speed technique was rather erratic, since he almost never used it, speed had never really been his thing, he was more one for brute force.

"Ichigo!" They all heard Rukia scream again in that very time.

**xXx**

Just seconds before Ichigo had felt extremely dizzy, almost nauseous, one moment Shiro had been fighting that freaking Espada, the seventh according to his own introduction. Ichigo was doing his best to help Zangetsu control Shiro's own reiatsu, use it as efficiently as possible, make sure the hollow version of the teen wouldn't run out of it before the battle was over. A moment later the orange-haired noticed the opponent's intention of calling on Resurreccion; he had no way of knowing what his transformation might mean, but he instinctively knew it wasn't something good.

At Ichigo's warning of danger, Shiro had reacted instinctively, all he was thinking about was self-preservation; and not just himself, but his 'brother' as well. This had brought him to creating, for the first time ever, a Garganta.

The small clearing by the riverside, a place where so much, most bad but even some good, had happened, was one of the places clearest in Shiro's mind, and also the first one to pop into his mind when he was calling on the inter-dimensional tunnel. These facts together automatically made it so the opposite end of the Garganta opened up in that very place, dropping Shiro unceremoniously on grass long since darkened and dried by the blood and power used in several high-powered battles.

The feeling of free-falling the trip through the Garganta had caused Shiro, somehow echoed in Ichigo himself, making him feel as though he were falling too, even though he rationally knew he was standing on a rooftop, right beside Zangetsu.

The moment Shiro hit the ground he jumped back onto his feet, all his senses still on battle-mode. The moment he noticed where exactly he was, he also realized how dangerous it was for Him to be the one there so, with no warning whatsoever he stepped back (figuratively) at the same time he mentally took hold of Ichigo and threw him into control.

"Hey!" Ichigo called, shocked by the sudden change.

He fell to his knees right then, in part because of the sudden change of control, in part because of the pain he felt as the mask fragment and bone-like armor on his body broke off, piece by piece, before turning to reishi particles and dissipating; the tail seemed to almost dissolve; his hair changed too, going back from the bleached-like white to the usual orange, and his eyes seemed to almost bleed-away the black and yellow, returning to his more normal white sclera and brown irises. In the end, the hole on his chest finished closing, and he could once more feel his heart beating, fast and hard with the exertion of the recent battle, the sudden trip through dimensions and the shift from hollow back to shinigami.

"Ichigo!" He heard a female voice scream loudly.

That scream got him into action instantly, he recognized his name, and a fraction of a second later he identified the voice calling him again. He jumped onto his feet and spun around just in time to see an amethyst-eyed obsidian-haired human-shaped missile that seemed to be almost gliding over the river surface, just for a second before it/she shot straight at him, holding onto him for dear life.

"Rukia!" He cried out, barely managing to hold her up and not fall down himself.

She held onto him tightly, her legs around his waist and both arms around his neck, as he proceeded to kiss him in the mouth with all the strength her recovered form was capable of. It was so much passion Ichigo couldn't help but reciprocate in kind.

Eventually they had to break for air, but Rukia still refused to let go off him, so she kept her legs and arms around him, burying her face in his neck.

"Rukia…" He practically gasped as he took some deep breaths.

It was in that moment that both she and Ichigo became aware of several things: he was naked from the waist up, and it was actually cold! One of the legs of his hakama was pretty torn up as well, and he had no sandals. There was also a lot of sand on his hair and his body, some scratches already half-healed thanks to Shiro and bruises that would finish disappearing any moment, also thanks to his 'hollow twin'.

"Oh Ichigo…" Rukia muttered, still against his neck. "I missed you, I missed you so much…" she placed several open-mouthed kisses on his neck before settling her cheek against his pulse with a sigh. "I love you…"

"Rukia…" Ichigo couldn't help it, he smiled, holding her even more tightly against his own body. "I missed you as well…" he buried his nose in her own hair before adding into her ear. "And I love you too…"

She knew he meant those words for her ears only. Ichigo wasn't the most demonstrative guy, he would never be, and she had known that from the very beginning. She knew he loved her, and yet she didn't imagine he would be using the actual words too often. She understood why he wouldn't want others to hear him say such words, they were meant just for her; and in a way, that made her happy too.

It was to that scene that Byakuya arrived, stopping on the sidewalk a few feet over the level of the riverbank where Ichigo and Rukia were, still holding tightly onto each other, at the very same time the rest of the Nakama who had a way of getting there fast enough rushed down the bridge and then the grassy slope to the riverbank.

There was so much love in the reiatsu of the two teenaged-looking individuals. Rukia had told him Ichigo was a very private guy, not the demonstrative kind at all, and yet in that moment he didn't need to say a word, his reiatsu revealed it all…

There was just so much love…that for the briefest moment he felt a pang of jealousy, just an instant, before he remembered the park, a woman with her face covered, her soft, sweet voice and her words about love:

"_Love is such a wonderful thing…it can never be wrong." _

**xXx**

On the other side of town, an apartment door opened in such a rush it banged against the wall and was enough to call the attention of the one inhabitant of the apartment, who immediately turned in surprise, confused at what may be happening, or have happened. She wasn't expecting the woman in a skirt, blouse and veil who barely stopped to close the door again before walking quite briskly through the sitting room and down the hall, in the direction of the main bedroom, completely ignoring the girl watching her with wide eyes.

The woman had already vanished down the hallway when the girl finally managed to move, still, she jumped off the couch, tripping over her own feet as she went after the newly arrived woman. She'd just reached the end of the hallway when the sound of the door closing, followed by the strangely loud click of the lock.

"Lady Serenity!" She called loudly.

And yet, she knew it was useless, once the lock had been used there was no way to get in, and it also meant the woman wasn't coming out for a while, a long while…and while the girl, Keeva, most likely had the power to break the door open, that was something she would never so much as consider doing, she respected the woman inside that room far too much, not just for the power she held, but for what she had done for Keeva herself.

She had always felt so lonely. For as long as she could remember she'd been around, from family to family, foster home to foster home, never staying in the same place for too long. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever had an actual family…

At first she'd been given flimsy excuses: that her parents were having problems with money and couldn't support her anymore, that they were moving, that there was some other kind of trouble with them…and she'd believed them, for so long, until eventually it became too much. She stopped believing, she no longer cared for excuses, didn't make questions, just allowed them to move her, to the next city, the next family, the next failure…

But the worst, the worst wasn't the change, of place or people, not even the fact that nobody seemed to want her as part of their family. It was the whispers behind her back, which sometimes weren't whispers, or even behind her back, they called her all sort of things: 'sick', 'loony', 'crazy', 'psycho'. Some of the families she was with even tried to help her. They sent her to doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists; she was given so many different diagnostics, so many different treatments, some called her schizophrenic, gave her pills which made her feel dizzy and not fully connected with the world, she hated feeling like that. She was even interned once, until she ran away; she lived on the streets for some time, before social services found her and took her away, the family she'd been fostered with no longer wanting her.

The time came when she was forced to defend herself, and then she realized she could not only see and hear things other couldn't, she could also touch them, fight them. So she did exactly that; she fought to survive.

Only one time she'd trusted others, the foster-mother she'd had at the time, an old, gentle woman; Keeva had told her about the things, the creatures she could see, that no one else could, and about how she could also touched them. The woman had panicked, sent her to an old Church, where she'd been 'treated', exorcised…It had achieved nothing except bring her pain. That was the last time Keeva ever trusted anyone…well, no, not the last, she trusted another, but that wasn't for a long, long time.

She was twelve, almost thirteen, when she had all but given up on ever finding a family, she met her: her savior, her friend, her lady…

She'd been living in the United States for a few years, since running away from the so-called exorcist in Mexico. She'd crossed the border illegally and been found eventually by Child Services. There was no registry of her anywhere, and eventually they sent her to yet another orphanage. And it was the neverending story yet again…

Eventually she'd been sent to a small town, south of Los Angeles, there was one of very few orphanages left, and even then they mostly served as temporary homes from foreign children who were to be adopted by families in the United States. Most orphans in the States lived in Group Homes, or were part of the Foster Care system, however, Child Services had given up on Keeva ever being able to stay with a family more than a few weeks, or months at the most, so they had sent her to the orphanage to help take care of the infants who went through there.

What the young, disillusioned girl hadn't been expecting was when she met her: light-gray eyes, ashen-black long locks of hair covered by a long white scarf, dressed in a long white skirt and a lavender blouse, sixteen-years-old; she was a volunteer in the orphanage, and soon became Keeva's one and only friend.

_It was a Sunday, and there were no children in the orphanage to take care of, so the older girl, who everyone called Serenity for her perpetually serene attitude (and because she didn't seem interested in giving her actual name), had convinced the nurses in charge of the place of allowing Keeva to go out with her. _

_They had a wonderful time, having hamburgers and soda for lunch and then some ice-cream as dessert while walking through a nice park. Eventually they sat down on a stump, by a lake, in the deepest part of the park, full of trees. They began talking about the last infant to have gone through the orphanage, a little Korean baby with the cutest face either girl had ever seen. Then, their chat was interrupted by a howl. _

_Both girls quieted instantly, though neither moved or so much as looked at anywhere but where they were looking already. _

_Then the howl came again. Serenity could see how Keeva grimaced slightly before taking a deep breath, and that seemed to be like some sort of signal she was waiting for. _

"_You heard that, didn't you?" Serenity asked straight out. _

"_N-No…I…I don't…" Keeva stuttered, seemingly not knowing what to answer. _

"_It's okay…" Serenity assured her, touching the back of the younger girl's hand softly. "I can hear them too… I can see them too." Her voice became deeper, stronger, as she added. "You're not crazy Keeva, you're just…special." _

_Right in that instant the hollow entered the small meadow where they sat, Keeva reacted instinctively, as she jumped onto her feet, rushed to the hollow, jumped, spun around and delivered a double kick to the creature's head, breaking the mask completely. After that, the dark being seemed to dissolve into thin air. _

"_You can see them too?" Keeva asked as she turned to look back at Serenity. "I'm not crazy, or sick or…?"_

"_Yes, I can see them." Serenity assured her, then suddenly turned defensive. "I promise you you're not crazy, or sick, or anything like that. And you're not alone Keeva, not now, not ever again. You're special…" _

_She was interrupted by yet another howl, and a new Corrupted Spirit entered the same meadow. Keeva immediately got on her guard, ready to act again. This time, however, Serenity didn't wait for the younger girl to act; instead, she turned to face the creature herself, extended both hands, and then twisted them in the air, as if she'd just snapped something. The creature seemed to react to this, the mask tearing and breaking as well. _

"_How…?" Keeva couldn't believe what she was seeing. _

"_I told you." Serenity said with a soft, calm voice, despite recent events. "You're special, we both are. We're the same." _

"_The same?" Keeva was still in shock. "What are we?" _

"_Part of an almost extinct race." The older girl explained. "We're Réalta." _

And so Keeva trusted her, trusted Serenity with all she was. They were the best of friends for a few months…until the day they became more:

_The summer was over, and Keeva was sad, her friend would be leaving soon. Serenity actually lived in Pasadena, not in the small town where the orphanage was located, which meant she wouldn't be able to continue her volunteer work, not with school, homework, and everything else, not when she wouldn't actually be living there. So Keeva wouldn't get the chance to see her again, she was losing her only friend… _

"_Come with me." Serenity said quietly near the end of the day. _

_Her comment was so sudden, so completely unexpected, Keeva couldn't help but wonder if she'd imagined it. _

"_You heard right, I'm telling you to come with me." The older girl insisted. "I'm asking you to come be part of my family…" _

"_Sere…" She sighed sadly. "You know I cannot do that. Years ago I promised myself there would be no more foster homes, I've had more than enough of those." _

"_Not through fostering." Serenity corrected, as she handed the younger girl some papers. "I know what you promised and I would never try to make you go back on your word. What I am offering is something else…" _

"_A…Adoption?" Keeva almost dropped the papers in shock. _

"_Yes." The older girl nodded with a smile. "I already convinced my parents to sign the papers…well, technically mom convinced my dad to sign them. But the point is, you'll be my sister, if you agree that is." _

"_Yes!" Keeva practically screamed her answer. "Yes! Yes! And a thousand times yes!" _

_With a bright smile Serenity handed the younger girl a pen, who immediately took it and signed her name in all the necessary pages, in the proper places. _

"_I have a family!" She yelled joyfully as soon as she signed the last one. "I have a family!" _

_She was delighted, happy in a way she hadn't been in her whole life…she had a family, people who wanted her. Granted, she didn't actually know the rest of the family yet, but she knew Serenity, loved her already…and now they were sisters. _

"_It's done now." Serenity declared as she put the papers away to hand them to the courts in Pasadena. "We're sisters now." _

_Joyful, Keeva embraced the older girl tightly, her new sister… _

"_From today on." Serenity announced, without letting go of her. "You're Keeva Castelo." _

Keeva Castelo, or Castelo Keeva, as the Japanese said, that's who she'd been since that day.

The now sixteen-year-old réalta felt she owed so much to the older girl. Everything she had, everything she was, she felt she owed to her. Keeva would do anything for Serenity…if the older réalta would just allow her to do something. She didn't, it had been a long time since she'd allowed Keeva to do anything for her, since she'd truly allowed the younger girl in…

**xXx**

On the other side of the door, the nineteen-year-old girl in the long skirt, blouse and veil was holding herself against the locked door; for the first time not because she needed help to stand, she wasn't in pain, instead, she was berating herself.

"Stupid…idiotic…naïve little girl!" She insulted herself derisively, then sighed and covered her veiled face with her hands. "I cannot believe what I did…all I said…and to him! To Kuchiki Byakuya! To a Shinigami!" she was nearly hyperventilating with a panic attack. "Oh Holy Spirits…what have I done?"

She slid down the door, till she was sitting on the floor, legs to the sides and her long skirt tangled in them. She was trying to focus once again, to stop feeling, to go back to her usual detachment, her blankness, and yet, somehow, she found herself unable to do it. Instead of that, a memory pushed its way to the forefront of her mind:

_A just-turned fifteen Serenity was sitting on her bed, with her legs curled up beneath her, as she looked at her older sister, her 'Deirfiúr' with expectation and joy. _

"_What did you see?" She asked in an almost childish tone. "Did you see me? What was I? Was I beautiful? Was I like you? Tell me Deirfiúr!" _

"_You know there's a limit to how much I can tell you." The older girl, known by some as the Oracle, reminded her softly. "The last thing I want is to become another Cassandra." _

"_That curse will never fall upon you, you're too wise for that, Deirfiúr." Serenity replied. "I know you cannot tell me what to do, you cannot tell me about changes, but I'm not asking you about that. You can tell me if you see me, even if you don't tell me how I got there." _

_The older girl knew the younger was right. As long as what she revealed didn't change the future directly, she would be alright. Even then, she had the right to interfere with the future up to three times though, obviously, there would be a price. She hadn't used any of those chances yet, saving them for when she truly needed them, she knew the time would come. _

"_I saw you." The older girl finally declared. "In a beautiful garden, flowers fully in bloom, standing before a very handsome man dressed in midnight blue, his hair is the darkest black, like onyx, his eyes a perfect blend of blue and gray. He's a gentleman, a protector, a warrior… you will learn all this, and more, with time…" _

For so long she had been waiting for that moment, dreaming about that man with hair like onyx and eyes like a stormy night-sky. Back then she'd been innocent, full of life and dreams, wishing that time would pass faster, that she would find him…now, now things were so absolutely different. Innocence was long gone, life was a matter of perspective, the dreams had long since vanished. And time…time was something she did not have.

It was truly ironic, after so long, when she'd finally found him, finally seen him with his own eyes, finally learnt his name…it was too late already.

"I'm sorry Deirfiúr…" Serenity whispered painfully as she looked at her hands. "I'm afraid this time you'll have to be wrong. What you saw…it will never come to pass."

Her sleeves had slipped with the motion, allowing her hands to be seen, her pale, dry, ashen-white hands…


	28. Invasion

The aftermath of Ichigo's little trip to Hueco Mundo, and time to get on with the actual arc! Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 28. Invasion**

The day after his return from Hueco Mundo neither Ichigo nor Rukia went to school, choosing to spend the day relaxing together, reconnecting. During lunch Byakuya explained to them what he and Karin had noticed thus far about the bond the couple shared and its implications:

"Soul-bonded…" Ichigo mumbled, more statement than question.

"You do not seem that surprised." Byakuya couldn't help but comment.

Soul-bonds were so rare, it was the whole reason he'd been so surprised himself, and still couldn't fully believe it. And yet the orange-haired husband of his sister seemed to be taking in all the information and accepting it as if it were the most normal thing in the world…

"Somehow, I don't think I am." Ichigo said, still pretty thoughtful.

Byakuya was about to snap at the teen, not believing that everything was that perfect, but his sister spoke first.

"Ichigo." She called softly yet seriously. "Tell us what you're really thinking, please."

Byakuya did a double take at that, he'd been about to accuse the boy of lying, or not really taking his words seriously, and yet his sister had seen beyond that attitude, noticing something he hadn't…maybe it was because she knew him so well.

"I was telling the truth just now." Ichigo assured her. "Somehow, I don't feel really surprised by the whole soul-bond thing." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I know I don't know everything there is to know about this, and that I'm probably sounding too blasé about it all. But trust me, I'm taking it seriously. The thing is, I feel like a part of me already knew it, even before you told me." He ran his hand through his hair, looking for the right words to explain himself. "I've felt a pull towards Rukia ever since I first saw her, one that became stronger instead of easing the closer we got. The more she opened up to me, to the Nakama; the more she shared with us her past, her dreams, her true self, the stronger our connection felt." He sighed. "I actually wasn't fully conscious of the whole thing as it was happening, it just felt natural to me. Until that night, when you took her away from me…"

Byakuya nearly flinched at the look the orange-haired directed at him when saying that part while Rukia just buried her face into his (Ichigo's) shoulder.

"It was like something snapped inside me." Ichigo admitted. "Like I suddenly became totally aware of the bond that had existed between us, of the part of her that had been buried in me, if only because it was no longer there." He shook his head. "It probably would have hurt more if I hadn't lost consciousness right then. When I woke up, I remember I told Uryuu Rukia's powers had been taken from me, when he told me Orihime had noticed something was missing in me; and yet, even as I said those words, I couldn't help but think you had taken much more than just reiryoku. It was why I never doubted on what needed to be done, on recovering my powers, on storming Soul Society, on doing whatever was necessary as long as we…as long as I could get Rukia back."

Rukia sobbed slightly at that declaration, snaking her arms around Ichigo's waist. She'd been mourning the loss of Ichigo for a whole week, and yet had never stooped to contemplate what he must have been feeling at the same time, or what he must have felt before…

"This last week, I'll admit it was different." Ichigo conceded as he stopped to ponder on the memory. "But that might have been because I was a bit busy trying to stay alive, didn't really have time to ponder on other things."

That and Shiro had been the one in charge of the body, not him; the whole shift had left him somewhat numb most of the time, which might have helped block most of the pain he should have felt from his and Rukia's forceful separation.

"Anyway." Ichigo went on. "The point is, you come here and tell me this pain we've felt, this bond we feel, even now, is because we're soul-bonded. And even if to your own ears the whole thing might sound strange, and even pretty much impossible; I'm way used to both things, as I'm used to both feelings, good and bad. So no, it's not hard for me to accept the fact that Rukia and I are soul-bonded, because a part of me already knew."

**xXx**

Byakuya had left right after having lunch with his sister and her husband (fiancé). The pair had briefly considered asking him to stay until the night, to attend the Nakama meeting in the afternoon, since Ichigo was planning on sharing with the Nakama what had happened during his time in Hueco Mundo which, with Byakuya there, would have included revealing to him Shiro's existence. In the end they decided not to, while the Gotei 13 was no longer actively searching for Visored, the law still existed regarding people with Hollow powers; they didn't want to put Byakuya in a difficult position, between his family and his job.

Late in the afternoon the group conveyed in the Ishida secret training grounds, where Ichigo insisted on summoning Shiro to the Real World before, the two of them together, proceeded to explain everything that had happened in the previous week. There were quite a few things the Nakama found particularly important.

"You became full hollow?!"

"Shiro was an Arrancar, and an Adjuchas from the very beginning?!"

"You have Resurrección?!"

"Yes, yes and yes." Ichigo answered. "On the first, it was necessary, like Zangetsu said, so I wouldn't call too much attention to myself. I was in the world of hollows, after all. And, like I've been saying over and over again since, I Trust Shiro."

They all nodded. They knew that already, but if any of them had harbored the slightest doubt that trusting Ichigo's white counterpart was the right thing to do, those doubts had vanished after the previous week.

"What about the Arrancar and Adjuchas thing?" Chad asked.

"I think that should have been obvious." Surprisingly enough, it was Rukia who answered. "If Ichigo is a Shinigami with hollow powers then, naturally, Shiro would be a Hollow with shinigami powers."

Everyone nodded, put like that it was quite obvious.

"What about the Adjuchas part?" Tatsuki was wondering about that.

No one was sure about that one.

"That one is his fault." Shiro announced after a while, pointing to his 'twin'.

"Hey!" Ichigo pretended to be offended at the whole thing.

"It's the truth." Shiro insisted, explaining himself. "You have shikai, bankai, and captain-level reiatsu…which, by the way, keeps growing. If you take that into consideration, did you expect me to be any less powerful?"

"So, because Ichigo is captain-level, you are as well." Uryuu summarized. "And in hollow-scale, the one with the level of a captain is an Adjuchas, which means you had to be one…"

"Pretty much." Shiro nodded, then took a contemplative tone as he added. "Wonder if, with enough time and training, I might make it to Vasto Lorde…"

"The worlds might not survive if you do." Rukia commented, only half-jesting.

They all understood her comment, though. Seireitei had considered the Visored a threat, when they were little more than uncontrolled, half-crazy, instinct-driven beasts; only the gods knew what they would do with someone like Ichigo and Shiro, who were so powerful, perfectly sane, and in full control of themselves and their power.

The next thing that seemed to really call everyone's attention was related to Nel, or more like Nelliel Tu Odelschwank.

"A child in Hueco Mundo?"

"An Arrancar child?"

"You protected her?"

"A cracked mask?"

"A regressed arrancar?"

"Good Arrancar?"

"She was an Espada?!"

It was precisely the last the most shocking and conversation-stopper worthy. No one spoke, as they all waited for either Ichigo, Shiro or both to explain what exactly the situation with Nelliel, the former Tercera Espada, was.

"It's like we already told you." Ichigo declared with a short sigh. "She used to be an Espada, the 3rd in power. She was attacked from behind, her mask was cracked and she…regressed or something along those lines, becoming the child I…we met. The other hollows with her used to be her Fraccion, her subordinates so to speak, and they apparently have been protecting her for years, since she became a child. Nel didn't even know anything until after the first Cazador attacked. When we realized the damned hunter wasn't after me, but after her." He sighed. "There obviously is a lot to know…"

"There really wasn't time to learn much more." Shiro intervened. "And it's quite obvious the other hollows didn't actually want her to know."

"They want to protect her, from her past, from herself." Ichigo qualified.

"That's very noble, but what does all this mean, for us I mean?" Uryuu inquired.

"What do you mean?" Both Shiro and Ichigo were confused by that.

"Can we expect this Nel to ally with us, with you, when the war eventually happens?" Uryuu inquired. "Is there a risk she might end up as an Espada, with Aizen again? Is there any risk she might go feral for whatever the reason?"

Shiro bristled, Ichigo's over-protective instincts were rubbing off on him, he didn't like the idea of someone, especially not one of his own nakama, attacking someone he already considered to be under his protection.

"He doesn't mean anything against Nel-chan." Orihime declared immediately, reading Shiro's reiatsu clearly.

"No, of course not." Uryuu reassured the 'spirit twins' the moment he caught up with that. "I just don't think we can afford not to know where everyone we know stands when war is practically upon us already."

Yet again, Shiro bristled but, understanding why it was so important, Ichigo put a hand on his twin's arm to restrain him at the same time he nodded to the Quincy.

"You do know that, if we follow that line of thought, this might end up not being the only complication?" Ichigo asked in a low voice.

The question caused several immediate reactions as Chad grimaced very slightly, in a way only his closest friends could notice, Orihime blanched, while Karin and Yuzu sighed.

"I know." Was all Uryuu said.

"Are you talking about Keeva-san?" Rukia tried to guess.

"That could be a problem." Tatsuki admitted.

The others nodded absently, though they all knew it wasn't the young martial artist who they'd actually been thinking about. In any case, that possible problem wasn't a definite or even an immediate one, they would go back to it later, if it ever became necessary.

"Going back to Nel…" Yuzu commented. "Do you think the way she acts is because of her shinigami powers? Or because she's so old? And I think she would have to be to be so powerful…Or maybe her original soul was like that?"

That made everyone think again.

"We wondered about that." Ichigo nodded.

"We considered the possibility of it being because, with only one soul in her, she would not need to be continually fighting 'herself', so to speak, to remain in charge, to keep her sanity." Shiro elaborated. "It would make things easier."

"Like with you." Karin realized. "I mean, in your case there's two, or three of you, but you need not fight for dominance…"

"More or less." Ichigo nodded. "We actually hadn't considered the last thing Yuzu mentioned, it being because of who she was originally…"

"It's a good theory." Orihime offered. "After all, even if it's so long, if she probably forgot her original life…some part of it should remain, right?"

There was no answer, because none of those present had the slightest idea how to answer that. Orihime knew that, of course, but even then, it really seemed like she couldn't help but desperately wish for an answer…

"I think we should break this meeting up already." Ryuuken informed the group. "It's late and you all have school tomorrow."

They all had to agree he was right and prepared to leave, individually or in pairs so as to avoid suspicion at so many teens leaving the area in mass.

Shiro was about to dismiss himself when suddenly he was interrupted.

"Wait." Yuzu called as she rushed to them.

Then, before anyone could ask what was going on, she went and threw herself at her older brother's hollow, embracing him tightly.

"Thank you!" She cried out as she kissed his cheek, not letting go of him. "Thank you so much for protecting Ichi-nii."

It was the second time that Yuzu had hugged him, and Shiro wasn't having any easier a time with the situation than the first. Unlike before, he now knew to embrace her back, to hold her, and he instinctively tightened his hold on her when she kissed his cheek, and then…

"I love you Shiro-nii…" Yuzu whispered softly into his ear, before finally letting go.

Shiro stood there, frozen. He could see over Yuzu's shoulder as the gentle girl's twin nodded to him with a small smile, silently thankful herself, but most of his mind was still focused on what he just heard. For a moment, just an instant, he was almost sure he could feel a heart he shouldn't have, beat. Then he vanished.

**xXx**

The following two weeks were relatively peaceful. There were hollows, like always, but nothing that required more than whoever of the Nakama's turn it was. It was mid-December already and school had let out for the Winter break, something all the Nakama took advantage off as they trained diligently as well as spent some time just having fun. They knew eventually the time might come when they wouldn't have time to just have fun, be teenagers. The threat of war was still bearing over them, after all; doesn't mean they weren't going to take advantage of the calm for as long as it lasted, though.

The calm was broken, rather abruptly and violently, that Friday. It was still early afternoon and the friends had chosen to spend that day with their significant other or, those who didn't have such, a close friend, or even on their own. They were planning on hanging out as a whole group during the weekend.

It all seemed to be just fine, until heads snapped up, all in different areas of Karakura, and all in completely different directions; a couple of seconds later denreishinki and insignias began blaring out alarms: There were hollows in Karakura, powerful ones, over half a dozen.

A second later cellphones were blaring. Thankfully the ones the Nakama carried were special ones; while they had been normal phones at one time, they had been modified by Urahara so they ran on reishi instead of the usual batteries, they always had signal no matter where they were, and could be used as radios with other similar devices; the last which allowed the Nakama to talk all at the same time through them, like in that moment.

"Those are Arrancars." Karin announced after analyzing what she was feeling, she was in a park, with some boys, had just been playing soccer.

"And not just any Arrancars." Uryuu added, from a corner in a new crafts' store downtown. "At least half of them are the very same ones we fought the last time."

"They're back." Orihime nodded, she was walking in the direction of her apartment and the sudden reiatsu made her a bit nervous. "And they are splitting."

"They're coming after us." Tatsuki guessed, she was with Renji, who had taken a couple of days off to spend time with her.

"Then we'll have to do the same." Ichigo decided. "Each of us will go after the closest dark reiatsu, fight the Arrancars and, if possible, destroy them. Make an effort not to be noticed by those not spiritually aware, but in the end, no matter what, we must protect Karakura and the innocents. Also, try and make sure not one person ends up completely alone, that could be dangerous since we cannot know for sure how powerful these enemies will be. We must all be careful. If any of you feels your way over your head flare your reiatsu in the emergency pattern and someone else will try to get there to help."

Everyone expressed their assent verbally before breaking communication and getting on their way. Some plans had been made long ago in case of emergencies; including the flaring of reiatsu in case help was needed.

Snapping the phone shut, Ichigo and Rukia left their room in time to see Yuzu exiting hers. They were all in spirit form. While that didn't make much different in how Yuzu could use kidou, it did make a difference on normal humans seeing her fighting thin air or not, which is why she chose to leave her body.

"I'll go find Karin-chan." Yuzu informed the couple.

"Very well." Ichigo nodded. "Take care."

"Ichigo's right." Rukia agreed in a very caring tone. "We have no idea how powerful these Arrancars might be, they're obviously stronger than Hamen, and none but maybe one or two seem to be on the level of the Espada."

"I'll be careful Ichi-nii, Ru-nee." Yuzu assured them in her cutest voice. "You make sure you do the same."

The older teens nodded.

With that all three exited their home by the front door. Neither of them seemed to notice, or if they did they chose to ignore, the figure of their father standing at the door that connected the clinic to the main house.

Isshin could just watch silently as his children left, ready for battle. There were enemies in Karakura, his children knew, and hadn't told him anything, almost as if he didn't exist, or as if they didn't think there was any reason for him to know. And suddenly Isshin understood, for the longest time he'd made his children believe he had no connection to the spiritual, so now they were returning the favor. Return was fair play, after all, even if it pained him deeply inside. He had tried to protect his family, doing something stupid, everyone who knew, even Ryuuken, had told him he was being stupid, but he was too stubborn to accept he was making a mistake. His children had given him a chance, a clean slate, when they had all been forced to come clean after Rukia's 'arrest' and then…and then he'd gone and ruined it, siding with Kisuke when he went behind the teens backs and contacted the Visored. It was hard to accept but…he had already lost Masaki, the love of his life, he didn't want to lose anyone else. He had tried to protect his family, even when they no longer needed protecting, and only managed to end up losing them all. He really was an idiot.

**xXx**

High in the sky of Karakura, the Sexta Espada, light blue-haired and blue-eyed Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez stood before a group of eight Arrancars. They were all dressed in the white black-trimmed uniforms of Aizen's followers, and Grimmjow certainly seemed to be the most powerful; five of those following him were his fraccion, while the last three were others who'd been part of the last 'assault' to Karakura and wanted a second chance to fight the humans who'd stood up to them before.

"There are quite a number of powerful individuals here." Grimmjow commented after sending a pesquisa to map out the town and get a trace of the possible opponents. "And, interestingly enough, most of them don't feel like shinigami…"

He knew how a shinigami felt, they all did, thanks to Aizen; and a good number of the presences he could sense in the human town, were nothing like that…that interested him, made him want even more to find the strongest person around and fight, prove he was the most powerful, prove he deserved to be King…

"Take on whoever you want, destroy all the spiritually aware you can." Grimmjow ordered. "But remember, that orange-haired shithead the sissy Ulquiorra mentioned is mine!"

Those who'd been in the first attack snorted, while they didn't believe the teen-aged shinigami to be too powerful, none of them really liked Grimmjow, and didn't believe he was too capable, or deserving, of his position among the Espada.

"Whatever." Yammy commented dismissively. "I'm only interested in finishing what I couldn't last time. That tall human with the odd hollow-like armor is mine, I'll make sure to fully break him this time."

"We'll make those who defeated us before pay, won't we sister?" Menoly asked her partner.

"We will." Loly agreed instantly.

"As you wish." Grimmjow said, not caring at all.

He knew what he'd sensed, he knew that a number of those spiritually aware had some actual power, and what that could possibly mean for those following him in that unplanned assault, and yet, he couldn't bring himself to care. Things like loyalty, solidarity, friendship, comradeship didn't exist in his vocabulary; a deep ingrained instinct in him seemed to whisper ever so often that they had existed once, that a trace of them remained in him; yet he chose to ignore it, it was easier that way.

Grimmjow watched how his Fraccion and the other Arrancars split, going after the strongest signals they could find. He was about to use his pesquisa again to track down the signal he'd identified earlier as the most powerful one in town, whom he guessed had to be the orange-haired shinigami from Ulquiorra's report when, suddenly, something else called his attention, an aura some deep buried instinct identified and yelled at the conscious part of his mind to follow, immediately.

Not quite knowing what he was doing, Grimmjow followed that aura, he soon noticed it was the same direction Loly and Menoly had gone in, which intrigued him a bit. He was curious who they could be so interested in destroying, and they were, most definitely, interested, considering how they'd zeroed in on that reiatsu and gone straight in that direction, ignoring all else, and even sending two of the Espada's Fraccion away when they'd tried to follow.

Taking advantage over the fact that his sonido was, by much, better than the two Arrancar girls', Grimmjow went ahead of them, reaching the two owners of the strange reiatsu before they did. What he found there actually confused him: they were two girls, dressed in casual winter clothes. One was dressed in dark colors, with short slightly-spiky black hair, a white bandana on her hair and seemed to have the lowest reiatsu signature of everyone spiritually aware enough to actually be detected.

The other was a girl who looked like she might be a bit older, in a sweater, knee-length skirt, tights, boots and a scarf, she had bright redish-orangeish-auburn hair and strangely sparkling blue pins on her hair. She actually felt a bit more powerful than the other girl, but other than that she didn't seem like much…and yet, something about her was drawing Grimmjow in, in a way nothing had in a very, very long time.

"They're here, Orihime-san." The dark-haired girl informed the light-haired one.

"I know." The light-haired one, Orihime, as Grimmjow could hear, nodded, it was obvious she'd already known that.

A few more seconds passed before the two female Arrancars arrived on the currently empty construction site where the two human girls were waiting for them.

Grimmjow was considering the possibility of hanging around and watching the fight, while he'd first thought, and still stood by the thought that the human girls weren't too strong, another instinct told him that the Arrancar sisters would lose; and, as a hollow, he knew better than to ignore his instincts.

And yet, right as it seemed like battles would break out any moment, Grimmjow sensed something else, the first of his Fraccion had fallen. It hadn't been even five minutes, and already the first had been destroyed; and that ripple of energy had come from the direction in which he'd detected the powerful orange-haired shinigami to be.

Making up his mind, Grimmjow directed a last look at the female stand off going on below him, before turning around and rushing away.

If he'd stayed, or looked back once more, he might have noticed the violet-gray eyes fixed exactly on the spot where he'd been standing until a second before.

**xXx**

Not far from the Kurosaki Clinic, in a thankfully empty street, Ichigo and Rukia stooped running rather abruptly as an Arrancar was suddenly standing less than ten feet away from them. Mostly acting on instinct Ichigo dropped into a fighting stance, left hand ready to fire either a cero or a hadou (depending on the time and the kind of power he thought was better), his right on the hilt of the still sealed Zangetsu.

"Wait Ichigo." Rukia stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Let me handle this one, please."

Ichigo hadn't been expecting that. He was about to refuse, arguing that it would be faster if he just got rid of the hollow already, it's not like he was that powerful, or at least Ichigo didn't sense him to be; then, surprisingly, Shiro spoke up, on Rukia's behalf.

*Let her, Aibou.* He told Ichigo in a no-nonsense tone.

*But…* Ichigo began mentally.

*Do you not trust her to handle this enemy?* Shiro inquired.

*Of course I trust her!* Ichigo answered instantly. *And if we're talking about power, the hollow is rather weak anyway.*

*The power doesn't matter, not right now Aibou.* Shiro informed him. *You must remember, your Rukia is a warrior. You knew that when you met her, knew it still when you broke into that Kuchiki meeting and claimed her for yourself, and even more so when you actually got on one knee and asked her to be your wife by all the laws of both worlds. Don't forget it now. She is a warrior, and even if she's normally peaceful, a part of her wants to fight, if you don't let her…you're only holding her back, hurting her.*

Ichigo nodded stoically. He obviously trusted Rukia, he just hadn't believed the enemy before them to be worthy of much; however, he hadn't realized how much he could hurt Rukia by denying her a chance to fight, even if the opponent was so weak…

"I'm sorry Rukia." He told her in a low voice. "I swear I'm not underestimating you. I know you're a warrior, and just how strong you are."

Rukia nodded, she'd known he wasn't trying to hurt her, even if she didn't fully understand why he hadn't wanted to allow her to fight.

"I just didn't think someone as weak as him deserved to have you take notice of him." Ichigo finished with a small smirk.

Rukia couldn't help it, she chuckled.

"Who are you calling weak?!" The Arrancar demanded. "You're nothing but insects, shinigami! Mere insects! While I am the great Di Roy Rinker, Numero 16 and fraccion of…"

"Hadou # 33, Soukatsui!" Rukia interrupted his speech with an incantationless hadou. "There! Enough blabbering, I though care who you are, or who you follow, you're an Arrancar, you're an enemy; I am a Nakama, Karakura is my town, and for thinking you had the right to attack us, you're going down."

Di Roy turned to looked at his burnt hand, he hadn't expected such a sudden attack to actually hurt him, even if it was just slightly; still, not even that changed his opinion that the shinigami were weak and he and the others would destroy them all.

"You're going down shinigami bitch!" He yelled as he went straight at Rukia. "Cero!"

Rukia dropped to the ground briefly and rolled to the side to evade the red attack before unsheathing and raising her zanpakutou just in time to block a knife-like hand move from the Arrancar, who had managed to get quite close to her.

"You aren't strong enough to defeat me, insect." Di Roy insisted, backhanding Rukia.

Rukia, who hadn't been expecting Di Roy's hand to not be cut in the slightest, even if her zanpakutou was sealed in that moment, was surprised by his next move, ending up half embed in the concrete wall nearby.

Ichigo for his part remained unmoving, almost impassive, standing on the branch of a nearby tree. He hated seeing Rukia being hit, but knew that aside from the surprise and some hurt that attack hadn't done that much to her. She was much stronger than her opponent.

Rukia blinked a couple of time before pushing herself off the wall. She recriminated herself for losing focus, however briefly, at the same time she silently thanked Ichigo for his faith in her, demonstrated by his remaining where he was, allowing her to handle the enemy.

The moment her feet touched the ground, and ignoring Di Roy's continued insistence that she would never defeat him, was an insect, and other insults on her person, Rukia began reciting a kidou incantation. She only got halfway through it before the Arrancar got enough brain-cells working to realize it was risky to allow her to finish; thankfully for her, and not so much for him, that was all she really needed.

"Hadou # 73 Souren Soukatsui!"

This time, Di Roy was wise enough to do his best to doge, though the attack still grazed him, enough to leave one of his arms badly burned as well as his side.

"I've had enough of you shinigami bitch!" Di Roy screamed. "This ends now!"

"Yes." Rukia agreed. "It does!" she spun her zanpakutou. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

She really hadn't wanted to call on Shirayuki, believing, like Ichigo, that such a low-level enemy didn't deserve it, and she actually wasn't planning on using any attacks. Just her summoning her shikai called on a brief snow rush around her, it didn't last long, and it wasn't too strong, however, it was strong enough to freeze Di Roy in place, and allow Rukia to choose how to finish him off. She briefly considered using one of the dances, but in the end decided it just wasn't worth it, and a hadou would work just as well; she even had one in mind which, even though she used it rarely, should do the job just fine.

As a loud crack in front of her announced that Di Roy was exerting enough brute force to begin breaking the ice holding him prisoner, Rukia began the incantation for the kidou she had in mind. It was a bit long and she had to recite it in full since it wasn't a kidou she was very familiar with, however, she still finished long before Di Roy could free more than half of him.

"You are done Di Roy Rinker." Rukia stated as she finished the incantation. "And now some information for you to take to whatever afterlife you may have after this one: my name is Kurosaki-Nagaken Rukia, Nakama, and you're now dead." She slashed at the air with her hand before calling. "Hadou # 54, Haien!"

The purple fire-like spiritual energy took a form that looked almost like a distorted oval or a strange boomerang and went straight at Di Roy, who even then kept yelling insults at Rukia, trying desperately to free himself. It was no use. The moment the hadou hit him, the Arrancar was completely incinerated.

"There, done." Rukia declared as she clapped her hands together in satisfaction.

A second later she almost jumped out of her skin as her feet no longer touched the ground, she found herself suddenly flushed against another body from head to toe.

"I…" She tried to complain, but soon couldn't find it in herself.

And it was that suddenly Ichigo was kissing her, not chastely as he did the few times they happened to kiss in a public place, no, instead it was an open-mouthed demanding kiss that had her limp in his arms almost instantly.

Eventually they had to break off to breath, and as she panted to get her breath back she wondered what had brought that up…

"Ichi…wha…?" She couldn't even ask the needed questions.

"What you just did…" Ichigo tried to find the words to explain, even as he remained as breathless as Rukia. "You looked absolute amazing…and so, so sexy…"

Rukia blushed to the roots of her hair at that.

Truth be told, even when they slept in the same room, the same bed, they hadn't been intimate yet, and they were in no rush to do so. In some ways, their relationship seemed to be already quite intimate, even without the sex. That part of the relationship would come eventually, just not yet. Maybe after they married in the human world…

Ichigo was still holding Rukia against him when suddenly the two of them became aware of the approaching reiatsu signature at the same time. The shinketsu held his beloved even tighter against him before pushing quite some reiatsu to his legs and feet, using it to push himself in a high leap, covering some distance in one jump.

A cloud of dust rose, and when it cleared a second later with a pulse of reiatsu, the couple saw yet another Arrancar standing where they'd been just a second before; there were cracks on the concrete all around him, and his fist had punched straight through it, in the very spot where the two had been.

"Bright orange hair, dressed in a shihakusho, and accompanied by a short black-haired bitch." Grimmjow declared as he watched the couple, paying special attention to Ichigo. "You are definitely the one Ulquiorra told us about!"

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, one arm still around Rukia, while in the other he held his unsheathed zanpakutou.

"Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez." The blue haired Arrancar introduced himself proudly. "And I'm here to annihilate you, shinigami."

**xXx**

Tatsuki and Renji had been together, taking a walk around the countryside, on the limits of Karakura. They'd had a good day, thanks in part to Kuchiki Byakuya who, for some not-quite known reason, had offered Renji a day off so he could go visit his girlfriend in the World of the Living. The redhead, of course, wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, no matter that he had no idea of the reason for it.

If they actually stopped to consider it, so much had changed ever since the Nakama had first come in contact with the Gotei 13. For so long it had been forbidden for shinigami to connect with humans, reveal anything to them, influence their lives in any way and especially, have any kind of relationship with them. And yet, in that moment not only was Renji dating a human girl (past life notwithstanding): Tatsuki; but there were Ichigo and Rukia, regardless of the fact that he was a shinketsu shinigami, he was also, technically, human; there was also Karin's quasi-relationship with Captain Toushirou; and rumors about some dates between Chad and Kotetsu Isane on the ryoka's last trip to Soul Society, and of something between Yuzu and Yamada Hanatarou, the last which actually had the potential of being true given his considerably regular visits to the Human World in recent weeks, and especially since he was approved as liaison with Seireitei and the Gotei.

In any case, things were changing, Soul Society was changing, and no one could have any idea of how far the change might actually go.

The two lovers had become aware of the presences invading Karakura instantly. They also knew those presences had split, which meant the Nakama wouldn't be fighting together that night. The two immediately rushed using shunpo, taking advantage of the fact that Tatsuki had chosen to leave Kai in her body for the day, since Renji wasn't in a gigai and it was the best way to prevent those not spiritually aware from seeing her interacting with the air.

However, things got complicated when they noticed some strong reiatsu in two different directions. They could also sense reiatsu of other Nakama in both directions however, it wasn't that simple, because in one direction was Orihime, while in the other was Chad, alone.

"We need to split." Tatsuki stated what she thought was obvious.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Renji inquired.

"I think so." Tatsuki answered, not fully confident. "You know I'm abysmal at sensing reiatsu, not that you're much better. I have no idea if Orihime is alone or not, though I think Chad is, we cannot leave any of them alone…"

Renji knew she was right, and while he would much prefer to fight alongside his girlfriend, he understood that sometimes hard decisions had to be made. Nakama were in danger, and they had to do their best to help them, stand by them. They would have to split.

"Very well, I'll go with Chad, you go with Orihime." Renji stated.

Tatsuki nodded, even with the Nakama, Orihime would always be her main priority, the sweet, innocent, apparently-perpetually-happy girl reminded Tatsuki so much of the children she, as Shu-Yung, had cared for back in Rukongai, so many years ago…even before she'd been actually conscious of those memories, protecting the other girl had been a priority, that hadn't changed, and it probably never would.

And so, the two split, going in opposite directions, hoping it would be enough, that their choices would be for good and not for wrong…

Renji reached his goal first, found Chad fighting one of the Arrancar, blonde, the 'pretty boy' type, Renji would say. Chad seemed to be having some trouble with him, which didn't bode well when there was yet another Arrancar reiatsu fast approaching them.

"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji called on his shikai instantly.

He moved his zanpakutou just in time to deviate the attack the newly arrived Arrancar had sent at Chad's back the moment it had reached the empty lot they were all in.

"Such cowardly actions!" Renji commented as he retracted his zanpakutou.

"Who cares about cowardice or bravery?" The huge Arrancar who had just gotten there. "I don't. I only care about setting the record straight. I was shamed the last time I came to this fucking tone, I was the right to take my revenge! The bastard Grimmjow has claimed the orange-haired shithead for himself, so I'll take this one!"

It was then that Renji realized the huge Arrancar must have been part of the first incursion on Karakura, and he was going after Chad. That still didn't help Renji decide what he should do, how he should handle the situation.

"Renji, switch opponents with me." Chad helped him decide, by doing it himself.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Chad?" Renji inquired, not believing it to be one.

"The huge one there is Yammy Llargo, he was part of the first invasion on Karakura, weeks ago." Chad elaborated. "He wants to fight me, let him. Meanwhile, I'll leave this one to you."

Still not quite convinced, Renji agreed. It would be easier if each of them only had to worry about one enemy at a time, and with Yammy so hell-bent on fighting Chad…

So the fights began.

**xXx**

Karin had to push some reiatsu into her feet to stand on air after she was forced to jump off the nearby roof she'd been standing on before one of the Arrancar rushed at her. She didn't even stop to make questions or demands, the one before her was an enemy and that was all she needed to know, in an instant Karin had materialized her zanpakutou and called on her shikai.

"Interesting." The tall Arrancar commented. "You're a shinigami, though your clothes look somewhat different from the traditional ones…"

"What can I say?" Karin commented with a half-smirk. "I like to be different." She raised her zanpakutou. "Not like you'll have the time to fully understand what that means." She pointed her blade at the Arrancar. "Enmouchou!"

The blazing bird that emerged from the naginata was hot enough to leave some burns in the Arrancar's side, which actually surprised him; however, both him and Karin soon realized it wouldn't be enough. It looked like the Arrancar was going to comment on it, when Karin's next actions shut him up. She called on her Bankai. He had been just about to tell her she was good but not good enough, and then everything changed.

It took just a slash at thin air for the next firebird to come out, this one much hotter than the previous one. The Arrancar realized this, and dodged the attack as best he could, though he still ended a bit singed.

"I see." He commented. "This just keeps getting all the more and more interesting. Guess if I'm fighting a bankai wielding shinigami I should be polite and return the favor."

Karin knew what was coming, and while she didn't like it, she was hesitant to use her most powerful bankai-only attacks when she could end up affecting others, innocents. She was a Nakama, Karakura was her town, she would protect it, she wouldn't allow innocents to be hurt, not even if that allowed her to defeat her enemy.

"Snip, Tijereta." The Arrancar called on. "My name is Shawlong Kuofang, Numero 11, fraccion of the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez."

"Number eleven?" Karin inquired, curious. "Does that mean you're the 11th most powerful Arrancar, or something else entirely?"

"Interesting assumption." Shawlong commented. "But no, only the great Espada are numbered according to power; the rest of us are given or numbers in accordance to our own creation."

"Which means you must be the oldest among the Arrancars, excepting those possibly among the Espada." Karin assumed.

"Quite an interesting creature you are." Shawlong declared. "To be able to assume so much. It's such a shame you'll die tonight, little girl."

"I'm no little girl." Karin declared with pride. "I guess, since you introduced yourself, I should do the same. I'm Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, shinketsu shinigami, former captain-candidate, prodigy and Nakama." Her voice turned to steel as she prepared to fight. "You and your companions made a huge mistake invading Karakura; but you won't be having the time to regret that. You're all going down!"

**xXx**

Keeva guided Orihime to the construction site near to where they'd been walking, the moment they knew hard battles were coming their ways. The reincarnated réalta had been visiting the sisters to learn more about the powers she may have had at one point, and how they related with what she could do with the Shun Shun Rikka. In fact, they had just ended the visit a few minutes before, and Keeva had insisted on accompanying Orihime to her apartment, since she had to run a couple of errands for Serenity anyway; and then their small talk had been interrupted by the arrival of the Arrancars…The pair had taken a detour, making their way to the empty construction site; they both guessed the Arrancars would be going after those with reiatsu, so it was better if they waited for them at a secluded location.

Orihime and Keeva stood there, waiting, they could sense the two somewhat strong reiatsu approaching them fast. For a moment four had been going their way, but then two had diverted their paths, leaving just the two that would reach them any moment, and yet…

"They're here, Orihime-san." Keeva informed her companion as she got on a stance.

"I know." Orihime replied, and she knew, but she also knew a lot more…

Orihime watched the two Arrancar pseudo-sisters as they stopped several feet away from her and Keeva, getting ready for the fight. Then something shifted, something only the violet-gray eyed girl seemed to be aware of. She turned to a side, eyes fixed on an empty spot, one that she was sure hadn't been empty just a fraction of a second before; she'd felt it…

The Arrancar sisters decided it was a good idea to take advantage of Orihime's apparent distraction and went straight at her; however, she wasn't quite as distracted as it seemed.

"Santen Kesshun! I reject!" Orihime called, quite calmly, in the last second.

The Arrancars backed down. Neither of them knew for sure what the gal might be capable of, either of them; though they did know that at least the older of the two had enough power to create unbreakable shields. That shield had been one of the causes for their shame after their previous visit to the Human world and it was something they wouldn't allow to happen again.

"Loly, we have to be intelligent here." Menoly, the blonde one said seriously. "We have to analyze what each of them are capable of and…"

"Forget analyzing!" Loly, the dark haired one screamed. "I'm going to destroy that monster!"

Without further ado, she shot straight at Orihime, who retracted her shield and flipped backwards to avoid the first attack; she could sense the reiatsu coming from the young-looking Arrancar, she was powerful. Orihime knew she would have to pull all the stops in order to defeat Loly, and Nibankyuu was a dangerous card to play when she might not have enough reiatsu herself to finish a technique, and since she was likely to end up unconscious or at least very dizzy once it was over. The best thing the violet-gray eyed teenager could do was to save her reiatsu as much as possible, using all her agility and martial arts prowess, then use her Shun Shun Rikka when an opening presented itself.

Keeva was quite different from Orihime, she didn't wait for the remaining Arrancar to make up her mind, instead leaping straight at her, beginning their own fight.

Menoly was taken off guard, enough that she was sent crashing against a nearby beam, groaning at the pain of impact.

"What the hell are you?!" Menoly demanded. "No human can possibly be that strong…"

"Keeva Castelo, Réalta Iarann." Keeva introduced herself as she dropped into a low fighting stance, the outline of her body sparkling slightly with her reiatsu. "Not that it's that important for you to know, since you won't be leaving this place alive…"

The girl had been a bit nervous a few seconds before, when noticing one of the reiatsu that had been going after her and Orihime at first, going in the direction of her lady. And yet…she knew there was no reason to worry, regardless of how she may act at times, Serenity was pretty capable of protecting herself…no, more than that, she was more than capable…stillm Keeva had her own enemy to fight, and she needed to focus on that.

**xXx**

At the same time, not too far from the construction site where a battle between two Arrancars and a possibly-once-réalta and a current one was taking place, Serenity stood behind the curtain of her closed balcony door. She was in her usual long skirt, blouse and veil, with some tights and long gloves added for good measure.

Some feet beyond her balcony, standing on empty air was what looked like a man with a tuft of red hair in white clothes rimmed in black. Serenity knew he was an Espada, and she knew just how powerful he was, the all-brawn no-brains kind. She also knew he was just trying to provoke her with his words.

"Come out insect…" The Arrancar called in sing-song. "Come out and let me kill you."

Serenity rolled her eyes at those words, did the Arrancar really think she was that stupid? In any case, she knew he was just trying to provoke her, which didn't mean she wouldn't answer, she would just do it in her own terms.

"Come out…" The Arrancar kept saying.

Finally the balcony glass-door was slid open and Serenity stepped out slowly, her feet had simple sandals on, with only her thick tights keeping her warm.

"Stupid woman." The arrancar insulted her. "To think you actually came out…you must not be very smart…"

"On the contrary, Corrupted One…" Serenity said in an empty tone. "I'm quite smart, much smarter than you actually."

"I'm not 'Corrupted One'." He cut her. "I am Edrad Liones, Número Trece, one of the…"

"I really do not care." Serenity interrupted him. "In any case, I didn't pretend to address you, I do not care who you are, who you serve, or anything about you at all. You are a Corrupted Spirit, one that must be vanquished for this world to stay safe, that's all I really need to know."

Edrad snorted, probably not buying that he could be capable of what she claimed.

"I know you came after me because you sensed very little reiatsu in me." Serenity went on. "You believed me weak, believed me to be easy prey. You were wrong, the only easy prey here, is you." She opened her eyes briefly to center herself. "Good bye, Corrupted One."

In a second Serenity raised both of her hands, which had been fisted tightly, then, as soon as she had them leveled with the Arrancar's form, she opened both abruptly. For a second nothing happened until, suddenly, the Arrancar began falling apart, a piece at a time.

"Wha…?!" He was shocked and suddenly very, very afraid. "What the hell is going on?! What are you doing to me witch?!"

Serenity let out a small, humorless chuckle.

"Witch…" She repeated with the same mirthless laugh. "How oddly feeling. And about what I'm doing to you, you do not really need to know, it's not like you can stop it anyway. The only thing that matters, is that you're done for, all those you may have killed, in this level of existence, and any other, can now rest in peace."

Without further ado Serenity spun around harshly, stepping back inside the apartment and closing the door behind her, not even bothering to remain in the balcony until the Arrancar finished dissolving, she just didn't care…

**xXx**

Renji was panting harshly as he made Zabimaru coil tightly around him, protecting him from the bull-horns of Ylfordt Granz's Resurreccion. Fighting the so-called Numero 15, has turned out to be more complicated that he had expected.

At first he'd tried not using his bankai, trying to see if he was strong enough to fight an Arrancar at shikai level; he wasn't. The complication was that, once his enemy was in Resurreccion, it made it all the harder for Renji himself to get the time to call on Bankai. Eventually he managed, though, and in that moment he was getting ready to unleash one last attack, to end the fight once and for all:

"Higa Zekkou!" Renji called as he swung Zabimaru's tail.

Yllfordt had just moved back slightly, getting ready for his next attack, he never got the chance. In a handful of seconds the segments of Hihio Zabimaru detached, surrounded the Arrancar, glowed once with Renji's red reiatsu and then shot straight at the horned enemy. He was down before he was fully conscious of what was going on.

Still panting, Renji lowered his arm, allowing Hihio Zabimaru to reform after the Arrancar dissolved into spirit particles. His bankai curled behind him, as the redheaded shinigami turned to where Chad was still fighting Yammy.

The tall, muscular human was panting himself, several serious bruises and cuts on his body, and it was likely that one or more of his bones were broken.

"You're nothing more than trash!" Yammy yelled at Chad right then. "And I'll prove that today! I'll kill you, and then I'll kill that redhead behind you, and every single person that was in that place that day…"

Renji, realizing the kind of threat that was, immediately got ready to fight against the Espada; however, he wasn't expecting for Chad to stop him.

"No Renji." Chad shook his head. "He's mine."

"But Chad…" Renji began, he could see that what his friend, his nakama, had been thus far just wasn't enough.

"Trust me." Chad told him. "I can take him."

Chad wasn't stupid, he realized how strong Yammy was; but he'd also just heard the threat the Espada had issued, and it wasn't something to be taken lightly: those words had achieved what Chad so sparsely allowed…

"I know you're strong Chad but…" Renji began.

"Things have changed now Renji." Chad interrupted him, as reiatsu began building around him, his arms, even more than before. "Because that bastard just made me mad…" a great deal of reiatsu focused on his left arm as the half-Mexican called. "Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo."


	29. Resistance

A certain someone (you know who you are my dear!) asked me about the scene where Grimmjow attacks Rukia, punches her in the stomach, was what was said actually. Well, I would like to point out that in the original manga that injury is a tad bloodier, just so you know.

So here we go with the second half of Grimmjow's attack on Karakura!

* * *

**Chapter 29. Resistance**

Ichigo knew, the moment his opponent introduced himself, that was one situation he couldn't goof in. He would have to take that fight seriously and not underestimate his opponent. Which also meant he better go all out from the very beginning.

Grimmjow cackled madly when he saw the orange-haired shinigami calling on Bankai even before they began fighting.

"Bankai so soon?" Grimmjow inquired with a smirk. "I don't know if I should be honor or think you're even weaker than I first thought, shinigami."

"You should know I'm not gonna underestimate you." Ichigo informed the Espada, ignoring his jibe against him. "And like I suppose the other Espada informed you, this isn't as far as I can go, remember that when you wonder about how powerful I might be."

"That's stupid, bankai is the highest level for a shinigami." Grimmjow declared.

He sounded really confident, almost proud of himself, and truth be told, he had researched that, fact, he knew it to be true, and it was…wasn't it?

Ichigo didn't answer, simply threw himself at the Espada, at the same time he focused his reiatsu and slashed the air with Tensa Zangetsu.

Grimmjow really wasn't expecting the power behind Ichigo's move, particularly since he hadn't actually called any attack; and then when Ichigo came at him behind the slash, striking at the Arrancar with such force the blue-haired one had to use both hands to stop the blade, and even then ended somewhat cut.

"Interesting." Grimmjow commented with a smirk. "You seem a bit stronger than I had anticipated, shinigami. Guess this fight won't be too boring after all."

Ichigo didn't answer to that, simply getting ready to attack again.

The fight went on for some time, no one was actually sure how long, just that it was a while. The more time that passed, the more each of the fighters became more daring, more reckless, each trying to end the fight as soon as possible.

Rukia, meanwhile, stood over a tall fence, watching, in a similar way as when Ichigo had watched her fighting the Arrancar before. Except her fight had been so short, so simple… while Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow was anything but.

Grimmjow was annoyed, he really was, he'd been fighting the orange-haired shinigami for spirits-know how long, and still he hadn't won. Not only that, it was impossible to tell who of them was stronger than the other, they just seemed to be too similar in their power levels, almost like…equals…and that ruffled the blue-haired Arrancar in the wrong way. He knew there was a way he would definitely be stronger, stronger than he was in that moment, stronger than the orange-haired brat. He also knew that if he used that power he would call undue attention upon himself, probably even Aizen's. If the bastard didn't already know where Grimmjow was and what he was doing that would definitely alert him. However, he wasn't about to allow a shinigami brat to defeat him!

"That's it." Grimmjow announced, making up his mind. "I'll show you who's King." He made a move with his zanpakutou. "Grind, Pantera!"

Ichigo certainly wasn't expecting that, he jumped back a good number of feet to avoid the backlash of the power; watching from the corner of his eye how Rukia jumped off the fence she'd been standing on, right before it collapsed, moving to the fire-escape stairs of a nearby apartment building, all the while looking worriedly at Ichigo.

The orange-haired shinigami knew he had to do something, while he'd managed to keep up with Grimmjow easily enough before, he knew it wouldn't be so with him in Resurreccion. Yamamoto had warned all the Nakama about the power of an Arrancar, and his stint in Hueco Mundo had given the shinigami some close and personal experience, not only with Arrancars, but with the different power levels of the various Menos. It had been, enlightening, to say the least. Still, it left one thing quite clear in the orange-haired's mind in that moment:

"More power…" He muttered to himself. "I need more power."

Grimmjow just cackled madly. He'd changed, substituting the mask fragment that had been by his mouth for one over his forehead, his hair much longer, his ears had turned cat-like and he had on white armor instead of his usual uniform.

"I will kill you now shinigami!" Grimmjow yelled at Ichigo. "I will kill you and prove that I'm the one and true King!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, it was obvious Grimmjow had some obsession with power, which didn't explain why he followed Aizen then. It reminded Ichigo a little of Orihime, of the way she'd questioned Ulquiorra during that first encounter they had all had with the Espada, it also reminded him of Nel and her fraccion/brothers; could it be possible, was there more to the Espada than mindless hollows?

However, he wasn't Orihime, it wasn't in him to interrogate unknown Espada about their reasons for following Aizen; not that he thought Grimmjow would be likely to give him an answer anyway, he understood nothing but battle in that moment. Maybe afterwards…

"Cero!" Grimmjow growled right then.

The attack caught Ichigo a bit unaware, he barely had a second to process the fact that, while he could dodge, it wasn't a good idea with the apartment building behind him, another to charge his zanpakutou with as much reiatsu as he could in a moment, and the last to cut the Cero in half, dissipating the energy as harmlessly as possible.

The Arrancar was surprised by that move, particularly with the follow-up from Ichigo as the orange-haired fired a Getsuga Tenshou at him.

"I don't know what obsession you have with been King." Ichigo commented, getting ready for the next attack. "It seems stupid seeing as you're one of Aizen's lackeys, anyway…"

Grimmjow bristled, he got ready to insult and attack Ichigo again, not necessarily in that order, but the teenager didn't allow it.

"Anyway," Ichigo went on. "That's not what really matters. You're here to fight. So let's fight. Let me show you how far you're from being King of anything!"

So their fight resumed.

Meanwhile, Rukia stood on the fire-escape of the apartment building, holding onto the railing so tightly her knuckles looked as white as the tekkou that covered a good deal of her arms and part of her hands. She was so afraid for Ichigo, not because she doubted his strength, but because she could sense just how powerful the blue-haired Arrancar was; the way his reiatsu had rose exponentially when calling on his Resurreccion had been enough to destroy a fence, and almost enough to make her fall in shock. So in that moment she was afraid, and all she could do was wait, wait and pray that her beloved would be alright…

At the same time, Ichigo was considering how wise it might be to synch with Zangetsu, he'd never done it while in bankai; even against Grand Fisher, Zangetsu had told him it was too dangerous, and it could end up being counterproductive. He had synched with Shiro though, back then, he hadn't unsealed his full-power yet, not until he'd been fully in control, had truly become an Arrancar and an Adjuchas.

*It is still risky for us to synch Ichigo.* Zangetsu informed his wielder. *I don't think your spirit is ready to handle that kind of power yet. Same can be say for Shiro now that he has his full power and can grant it to you.*

*Which doesn't mean you cannot use my power.* Shiro added. *We do not need to synch for my powers to be available to you, Aibou. You just need to want them*

Ichigo knew that, he had used Shiro's powers before after all; though never fully consciously, always as a last resort, in a situation where he didn't have the chance to get any other attack ready. While charging a cero wasn't easy, or fast, it was still easier and faster than dealing with a kidou incantation or focusing enough for either kidou or a proper Getsuga Tenshou.

*That attack of mine you usually shoot is more like bala than cero.* Shiro commented. *Except you can't really use bala, it being so small, requiring so much control…*

Ichigo sighed internally, trust him to be incapable of even that.

*You need to choose Ichigo, we cannot keep dancing around the enemy like this.* Zangetsu declared. *Even with your improved control, you're still exerting reiatsu at a rather fast pace, you won't be able to keep going forever…*

Ichigo knew he was right, but he still didn't know what to do. He kept parrying all of Grimmjow's blows as best he could, at the same time considering his options; and the risk each of them implied, for him and everyone else.

*I know you don't want to be discovered as someone with a hollow, don't want to be tagged and hunted down like the Visored were all those years ago.* Shiro said solemnly. *I understand, Aibou, because I do not want that either, for you, or I. However, remember what you said when we revealed to the rest of the Nakama the truth about us?*

Ichigo remembered, with absolute clarity, and even if he hadn't, Shiro was there to remind him of every word:

*I'll always protect.* Shiro recited what his 'twin' had said back then, word for word. *If that makes me reveal things they don't like…well, too bad. They'll just have to deal with it, we all will, I will never put others at risk just for the sake of keeping a secret.*

*Do those words still hold true, Ichigo?* Zangetsu wanted to know.

*They do.* Ichigo nodded seriously.

In that moment, Ichigo's focus finally slipped, as he accepted that a part of him had already known he would be revealing his hollow-powers sooner or later, and how he'd promised not to risk others for the sake of keeping a secret. He had also promised, himself most of all, that he would deal with whatever came; after all, he had Rukia on his side, and with her, he needed nothing and no one else.

However, his momentary loss of focus cost him, as Grimmjow managed to deliver a slash at the back of his left leg. Ichigo dropped to one knee, biting back the groan of pain while focusing on his hollow powers to heal himself. He tried to be as fast as possible, before Grimmjow tried attacking him again.

He wasn't fast enough though, and everyone in that empty street could see it, as they all began moving at once.

Ichigo tried to reach his zanpakutou, which he'd dropped in reflex when he was wounded, and yet, he knew he wouldn't be fast enough, Grimmjow was about to reach him already, one of his claws extended…and then it hit, but not Ichigo, instead it hit against a yellow-hued shield.

"Rukia!" Ichigo cried out in shock.

His beloved was standing before him, having been the one to call on the Enkosen shield to protect him from Grimmjow; it was the most powerful shielding hadou she could call on without having to recite the incantation. And yet, they soon realized it wasn't enough.

The shield began cracking too soon, Rukia didn't have time to call on another, or the chance to even draw her zanpakutou. A second later she was flying through the air, a set of gashes across her midsection where Grimmjow had clawed her.

"Rukia!" Ichigo cried out in horror.

*Snow-princess!* Inside his head Shiro was just as livid.

Ichigo tried to reach his fallen wife, who was laying against a bent bus stop, she was bleeding, and the orange-haired could clearly see where her shihakusho had been slashed, where her wounds most likely were located.

"Ah, ah." Grimmjow shook his head and chuckled darkly as he blocked his way. "You still have to finish that fight with me."

Ichigo really didn't care that much about any fight right then, Rukia was his priority. However, Grimmjow's insistence forced him to at least defend himself, moving away from his fallen beloved as he evaded any attack he wasn't sure he could parry.

"Rukia…" Ichigo muttered, frustrated at not being able to help her.

"Leave the bitch where she lays, she should have known better than to interrupt our battle." Grimmjow declared with derision directed at the injured shinigami.

That was it, Ichigo snapped. Reiatsu began swirling on his feet and getting stronger and stronger as his fury pushed him beyond his usual limits.

*Yes King!* Shiro cried out inside his mind. *Lets show this bastard the kind of mistake he made attacking the Queen! Take my power! Make him pay!*

As those words were said, Ichigo suddenly felt a power fill him; it was Shiro's power, he knew that much, even if it didn't really feel like it did usually. Then Ichigo became aware of something beginning to form on his face, begin to obscure his features. It reminded him somewhat of Shiro's fragment of mask when he'd dominated, but it also felt wrong, like it shouldn't be there. And then, before it could actually begin forming, he understood why.

"No, not King." He said aloud as he shook his head slightly. "Aibou, Nii-san. We will make him pay for what he's done to Rukia, Shiro. And we will do it as equals."

*You know we still cannot synch Aibou.* Shiro said, somewhat more calm than a few seconds before, even if he was still as angry. *But I put all my power at your disposal. Make that bastard regret ever hurting the snow-princess!*

"I will." Ichigo agreed, he raised a hand, and began gathering power.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow was watching the shinigami; he'd seen how angry he'd gotten at the fact his partner was hurt, he'd seen how he wanted to go help her and then…then Grimmjow had seen him act strange, had noticed something begin to appear on his forehead, but it disappeared before the blue-eyed Arrancar knew for sure what it had been. And then…

"Wha the…?" Grimmjow was in shock.

He observed as the shinigami began gathering power in his left hand, a sphere of pure, dark-feeling reiatsu forming between the tips of his loosely held fingers…

"That cannot be…?" Grimmjow didn't want to think it was what he thought it was.

His doubt was confirmed a second later, creating even more at the same time.

"Cero!"

**xXx**

A perfectly delivered spinning kick threw Menoly into the mess of bended iron and broken concrete that had become the corner of the empty construction site where their battle was taking place. The réalta tried her best not to let the damage extend to other parts, but it wasn't easy, particularly when it seemed like her punches and kicks weren't being as effective as they'd been during their first fight, a bit over a month ago.

"What the hell is wrong?!" Keeva demanded, furious with herself.

Her muscles ached, that fight had already lasted longer than any other she'd been involved in her whole life, and the opponent was certainly no pushover.

"You're weak brat!" Menoly yelled in glee as she got back up. "That's what's happening. You aren't strong enough to defeat me, and you never will be."

"I took you down easily enough before!" Keeva retorted.

"That was a fluke!" Menoly said with a mad giggle.

"Was not!" Keeva was truly affronted at the insinuation that she could only defeat the Arrancar with luck, or that she wasn't really strong enough.

"So you say." Menoly deadpanned. "Yet the proof of how right I am is right here, in what's happening right now. You cannot defeat me, brat! Because you're human, and humans are like insects, small, insignificant, and utterly weak!"

Keeva let out a shriek of fury as she launched herself against the Arrancar to keep fighting. She was angry, so angry, but more at herself than at Menoly, if she was completely honest. Truth is, Keeva had been fighting hollows for so long; and ever since she'd learnt the truth, since Serenity had told her about the réalta, about the powers they wielded, their history, their tradition, Keeva had took great pride in it all. After a while, seeing what she was capable when she honed her somehow inherited abilities through martial arts training and dancing practice, she began to see herself as more than human, as a superhuman entity, almost like a superhero, like those she'd read about in comic books and seen in the movies. The girl had distanced herself from her own humanity, ignoring it, and her own fragility. She'd fathomed herself as something more, something beyond mortal existence…and in that moment, she was being harshly returned to reality. She had powers, true, she had great strength, she was special, she was a réalta; and yet, at the same time, she was still human…

"I am a réalta…" The gray-eyed girl mumbled to herself out-loud. "I am a réalta iarann, and at the same time…I'm still human…"

It was as if that acceptance, that affirmation, released something inside her, something that had been sealed inside her for a very long time, probably since forever; and in that moment it was free. In a rush, she felt power, such power, like none she'd sensed, or possessed, ever. And it was all suddenly hers…

Keeva felt ecstatic, at the power suddenly in her, she knew in that moment, without a doubt, that should she want to tear through something with a single punch, she would be able to do it. So she wished for that exactly…

The scream that was torn from her throat was loud enough to make everyone who heard it flinch and feel goose bumps; it also distracted Orihime from her already precarious situation in her own fight, which didn't make things any better.

Menoly stood on the air, a hole (which hasn't her hollow one) open and bleeding on her side; and yet that didn't seem to be enough to stop her from continuing the fight, it only made her angrier with Keeva.

The réalta, for her part, was holding her right hand against her chest, her badly burnt hand. It was like the same kind of power that had blasted the Arrancar had nearly torn her own limb apart. And it hurt, it hurt so much…

"You'll pay for wounding me like this, brat!" Menoly roared, absolutely furious.

She shot straight at the sixteen-year-old, who could do nothing but stand in place, trying to find strength she no longer had, to move, before she was totally annihilated.

"Dust all who stand against us, Chitania!" a strong voice called from a side at the same time. "Initiate: Wood!"

Both the Arrancar and the young girl who, until that very moment, had been her opponent, blinked in shock at the new arrival. Tatsuki was standing there, in her usual worn yukata and handmade sash; the difference was that in that moment her usually bare feet and ankles had dark bandages on them, while some kind of plaques seemed to have been placed over her knuckles, before being covered themselves, as well as her hands and wrist (but not her fingers), by bandages similar to the ones on her feet.

"Tatsuki…?" Keeva muttered, shocked by everything.

For all response, Tatsuki delivered a punch, followed by a high kick, to the still rather shocked blonde Arrancar, injuring her very slightly, but at least managing to push her away several feet, giving her the chance to check on Keeva briefly.

"Are you alright?" Tatsuki asked, all the while keeping an eye on the Arrancar.

"I hurt my hand, not sure how." Keeva admitted, showing her a bit of her charred skin. "It almost feels like my own power turned against me."

"Maybe it did." Tatsuki replied simply. "It happened to me several times."

"Really?" Keeva was surprised.

And she had reason to be, ever since she'd met Tatsuki she'd seemed like this powerful woman, with power so similar to her, to a réalta iarann, Keeva had stopped more than once, trying to imagine what it would be like, if she was exactly that. But she wasn't, Tatsuki had told her once that her abilities weren't part of some bloodline, they weren't in her blood, instead they were her zanpakutou.

It was true. Those bandages, and the reinforcements in her knuckles were actually the shikai form of Chitania, Tatsuki's zanpakutou. It was part of what made them so strange, one of the few zanpakutou that wasn't a blade of any kind; which was a good thing, since she was absolutely awful at kendo or any kind of fighting that involved blades.

"Anyway, we'll have time for chatting later." Tatsuki said with decision. "Right now I have an Arrancar to finish." She turned to look at Keeva briefly. "Take care of yourself and we'll have either Yuzu-chan or Orihime treat your wound once its over."

"Ok." Keeva nodded and began putting some distance between herself and the fighters.

She hated not being able to finish the battle herself, but after her acceptance of her own humanity, of her own mortality, she could swallow enough pride to feel thankful that Tatsuki had appeared when she did. She was still alive, she would heal, train, and fight another day.

Meanwhile, Tatsuki took a deep breath, getting mentally ready for her fight. She knew that the level she was at in that moment wasn't enough, but she wouldn't be able to push herself or her zanpakutou higher until she had warmed up. In that way her powers worked very much like a martial artist, needing warming up before being fully ready; though in their particular case, warming up meant fighting already. She just hoped she could move forward fast enough to actually be able to handle it. She hadn't used her zanpakutou in so long, Chitania and her weren't as in-tune as they had been back when she'd been Shu-Yung; and yet, she had to go back to fighting at some point, and that day was as good as any.

"Let's go Chitania!" Tatsuki declared, making her dark bandages sparkle with a strange dark light. "We have an Arrancar to dust!"

**xXx**

A bright explosion of light and reiatsu lit the roof of an office building that stood beside Karakura General Hospital, upon which's roof Uryuu stood.

"Good job." Ryuuken said seriously.

Uryuu bowed his head in thanks, it was so rare for his father to hand out a compliment, especially to one of the teens, he believed if he did it too often it would lose value…or it would go to the teen's head, whichever.

The young Quincy wasn't really that surprised to see the older one there, after all, his father was the director of the hospital upon which's roof they stood. And the whole battle had taken place dangerously close to it. It was the whole reason why Uryuu had decided to use Sprenger when his usual volleys of arrows proved not to be enough. There was another attack he could have used, but it would have been too destructive, and considering all the people that lived in that neighborhood, and especially all the patients in the hospital, it wasn't a good idea. So yeah, Sprenger might have been a bit of overkill, particularly since the Arrancar, had been so focused on evading as much of Uryuu's shots as he could (not an easy thing when the young Quincy could fire up to 1200 at a time), and he'd never noticed the seele schneider Uryuu was shooting and arranging in a pentagon, all the while making sure the Arrancar didn't leave the area. It had made the use of his special technique particularly easy in the end. Just a matter of cornering the Arrancar, and then throwing a gintou in the last moment. Yeah, pretty easy, at least considering the situation.

"Did anyone end up hurt?" Uryuu asked his father.

He worried, since when the fight began he had been unable to stop of redirect all the attacks the Arrancars sent his way. The creature had taken advantage over the fact that they were in a particularly populated area, knowing Uryuu wouldn't want innocents to end up hurt. It was also the reason why Uryuu right arm was currently lying limply by his side. He'd used ransoutengai to keep his arm moving so he could fire the necessary arrows to finish his work, but he still needed to find someone to heal him.

"A few scares, minor bruises and scratches, nothing really serious." The older Quincy and doctor informed him.

Uryuu nodded, deeply relieved at that.

With a sigh, Ryuuken brought out a syringe and injected it into his son's arm without a single word of explanation. Uryuu didn't need it either, he knew what the syringe contained, for his father and even he himself had used it before, he just hadn't had any with him in that moment. It was a mix of a sedative and a special medicine meant to slow his blood flow in the injured area; it was the best way to make sure he wouldn't bleed out or be in too much pain until the wound was fully treated.

Ryuuken was a doctor, that was right, but he was a human doctor, he knew no spiritual healing techniques. And while under normal circumstances he would have said human healing methods were good enough, he knew that the situation his son was in was anything but normal; with the threat of war hanging over his head, and that of his nakama, and with the battles that even in that moment were already taking place, they couldn't take the risk of not getting healed as well as possible, as fast as possible. And when it came to healing, there were two who were truly the best: Inoue Orihime and Kurosaki Yuzu.

"I think I'll go find Yuzu." Uryuu announced to his father. "I sense she's closer, near where Karin seems to be fighting another Arrancar."

"Do not lower your guard." Ryuuken warned his son. "Tonight's battles haven't ended yet."

"I know." Uryuu nodded.

Without further ado, Uryuu nodded once at his father, in thanks to the belief, the trust the older man had in him, and also the help he'd given to Uryuu; before jumping off the roof and using hirenkyaku to get as fast as possible to where he could feel the young Kurosaki twins. He wondered how strong that Arrancar might be, seeing as Karin wasn't done yet with it, and she was quite powerful herself.

**xXx**

Karin narrowed her eyes as she observed her opponent, one of his claw/hands/whatever was ruined, thanks to her constant use of fire. However, he wasn't defeated just yet, and precisely because of how often she had called on her basic attacks, and how hot she'd made Tenreikou's fire each time, she was already beginning to run low on reiatsu. Nothing to truly worry about yet, but she couldn't lose any more if she wanted to have enough for the technique she had in mind; the only one she could think that might be enough to actually get rid of the annoying Arrancar once and for all.

"Done, Karin-nee!" A soft voice called right then.

It was Yuzu, and she'd actually noticed the preparations were ready, a fraction of a second before her twin had spoken. The preparations being a special kekkai, which sealed her and the Arrancar in what, for all intents and purposes, could be considered another dimension. It was what she needed in that moment, because she was about to call on an attack so strong, without the kekkai it would have been total chaos.

"What do you intend to do now, little girl?" Shawlong inquired, confused about the energy surrounding him and his opponent.

"To put an end to this farce already." Karin answered stoically.

She was such a proud person, and the fact that she'd had to spend so long fighting the Arrancar, unable to actually destroy him, rubbed her the wrong way. She knew the hollow was powerful, especially in comparison to most of those attacking Karakura that night; but she also knew she was stronger than him, however, being in the World of the Living, when it was still afternoon, with so many potential victims way too close for comfort, she hadn't been able to truly release her power until Yuzu had everything ready.

"Farce, what are you talking about li…" The Arrancar began.

"I already told you, I am no little girl." Karin interrupted him, her reiatsu beginning to build around her. "Though I guess it doesn't matter anymore, soon enough you won't be making fun of me, or anyone else, not ever again."

Then, before Shawlong could say anything else, Karin spun around once, while holding her naginata tightly, blade pointing away from her; then, as she closed the circle, she raised her zanpakutou, pointing it at the sky.

"Honou no Arashi!" She called in her strongest voice.

For several seconds dark clouds seemed to gather above them, in a loose circle, over their heads. Then they opened and one could almost say a rainstorm began…except it wasn't water falling, no, the storm was one of fire instead.

Shawlong tried to evade the falling burning rocks, almost like meteros, but they were just too many, too fast, too hot; in less than a minute, he was done for.

"Guess you weren't such a little girl after all." Shawlong declared.

They were his last words, not that Karin paid much attention to them in the end; all she cared about was that it was done, she had defeated her enemy…now if only the rest of her nakama could hurry and finish with theirs…

"Are you alright, Karin-nee?" Yuzu asked as she rushed over to her sister's side.

"Fine, just exhausted." Karin added as she took deep breaths.

"I know how to do the reiatsu refilling kidou." Yuzu commented. "Unohana-san taught it to me when we last visited Seireitei. I can help you, if you want."

"Maybe you should see to Uryuu-san first." Karin commented as she sat on the roof of the small space where the building's stairs ended. "It seems he's hurt."

Just like she'd said, Uryuu appeared on the same roof the sisters were on, holding his injured arm tight against his torso; while the 'medicine' his dad had injected him helped a great deal, moving as fast as he could when using hirenkyaku shook his arm, causing rather small but still quite bothersome sparks of pain to run through him every few seconds.

"Uryuu-san!" Yuzu cried on when she saw him injured.

The gentle twin barely stopped long enough for Uryuu to stand comfortably on the roof, in front of the elevation where Karin was sitting, before she got to work on a healing kidou.

"Thank you, Yuzu…" Uryuu told the girl with a smile.

"It's always a pleasure to help Uryuu-san." The girl smiled brightly.

The healing went on for a few minutes as, even though the wound hadn't been life threatening, it still was pretty deep.

"How do you think the others are doing?" Yuzu asked after some time in silence.

"I'm sure they're doing well enough." Uryuu commented.

"They're all strong enough to fight their opponents, even if there's a chance two might not be defeated." Karin declared stoically. "Those Espada…we still do not know just how powerful they might be. And considering that one of them seems to have called on Resurreccion…"

"Ichigo is fighting that one." Uryuu declared as he focused on the reiatsu.

It was hard, to fell out specific reiatsu when there was so many in the air already, with all the fights that had happened, and were still happening.

"And Chad seems to be the one fighting the other one…" Yuzu added. "And, am I really feeling what I think I am…?"

"He managed to summon his 'devil' power, as he calls it." Karin confirmed.

"Wonder what happened that got him mad enough…" Uryuu commented.

It was in the minds of all three of them. What could have possibly made Chad, one of the calmest, most tolerant people they all knew, get truly angry?

"Orihime and Castelo are fighting too." Karin added. "Though I cannot get a good enough reading to know how they're doing."

"Tatsuki is about to reach them as well." Uryuu added. "Trust them, they'll be alright."

"I do." Karin declared confidently. "I trust them, and I trust Chad, Ichigo and Rukia as well."

"What do we do now?" Yuzu inquired as she finally finished healing Uryuu's wound.

"We wait." Karin replied in a somewhat reluctant tone.

"Nee-chan…" Yuzu began.

"I don't like it any more than you do, Yuzu." Karin told her. "But neither of us are in any condition to fight another battle, not right now. We've all used too much reiatsu already." She sighed. "So we have to trust the others to win their fights, and wait."

Yuzu nodded with a sigh.

Uryuu did the same, with a slightly petulant undertone; he really didn't like not being able to help but, on the other hand, he supposed he'd already done his part, he'd defeated an Arrancar; and the Nakama were all strong enough to deal with the same.

**xXx**

Orihime stepped gingerly off her Santen Kesshun and back to the steel column of the half constructed building. It was a good thing she'd such good balance, agility and fast reflexes, or she wouldn't have lasted as long as she had. The fight had turned out to be much, much harder than she could have ever expected.

In that very moment Loly shot another Cero, and Orihime mentally directed her Santen Kesshun to dissipate the red beam at the same time she jumped high, flipped backwards and slightly sideways before landing on a scaffold the workers had been using and left there.

"Stay put and die already, monster!" Loly screeched at the violet-gray eyed girl.

The dark-haired Arrancar with pigtails called Orihime that because she claimed the human girl had powers no one should have, that Orihime was a freak, and should die for that. Not like Orihime didn't know Loly would have found another excuse for her own actions if that one hadn't worked, but still.

Orihime had learnt throughout her battle, how different it was fighting normal hollows, and she was even considering Gillians in that category; those could be hard enough, but then there were the Arrancars…it was like nothing she'd faced before. Even her Shiten Koushun hadn't been enough. While it had dealt a serious injury to her opponent, it just wasn't enough. Loly was still there, and Orihime was covered in bruises and scratches and some wounds deeper than that, she was already pretty low on reiatsu and she knew that unless she found a way to win the battle in one move, she might not make it.

The Rikka wielder knew that under most circumstances she could have expected Tatsuki to arrive at any moment, save her, and if not her Uryuu, or Ichigo, or someone else. But Tatsuki was already there, fighting against another Arrancar, to keep herself and the injured Keeva alive. She could sense Ichigo was fighting somewhere, and Uryuu remained unmoving, at a distance, his reiatsu very low, same as the Kurosaki twins.

Yes, she'd been saved again and again in the past, and she'd been alright with that; but in that moment, as she stood there, giving her all, Orihime realized she wanted more than to just be saved by others, she wanted to be the one doing the saving…she wanted more than to just keep waiting, watching another life pass…

She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be a protector, so she chose to stand, to fight.

"One more attack…" Orihime muttered as she got herself ready, focusing all the reiatsu she'd left. "We need to win this with one more attack…"

Right in that moment, the spirits of her Rikka whispered into her head, and suddenly she knew exactly what to do. It was a powerful technique, one still within her basic level, but powerful regardless. She would have to focus, and to put her all in it if she wanted it to work, but she knew she could do it. So she centered herself, placed one open hand against her chest and the other pointing at her opponent, before she called:

"Shun'o, Ayame, Tsubaki, Heiten Hanshun! I reject!"

It was strange, so much Loly actually stopped to watch, wondering what was going on, what the human was doing now.

At first it looked like the Souten Kisshun, her multiple wounds even began to heal, slowly at first, faster as seconds passed. Orihime had actually resisted the temptation of using her powers to heal herself, not wanting to risk losing too much reiatsu; but in that moment, things had changed. Shortly before her wounds and the tears on her clothes fully vanished, Tsubaki appeared in the very center of the shield, and as he began floating a distance away from the other two Rikka, it looked as if he were pulling something from them. It was the hurt, the pain, all the damage that Shun'o and Ayame had just taken away from Orihime, Tsubaki absorbed it, using that, instead of his wielder's reiatsu to power the attack that followed.

Loly didn't even know what hit her, the moment the beam of orange light Tsubaki had created touched her, all the injuries that Orihime had had became the Arrancar's, only they seemed somehow worse, courtesy of Tsubaki's own contribution to the technique.

"Time to finish this." Orihime announced as she focused what was pretty much the last of her reiatsu. "Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

Tsubaki actually sighed, he knew it wasn't a good idea for the Rikka wielder to push herself that hard, that far; but even then he couldn't ignore the push of her will as she gave her order, as she gave him her reiatsu, strengthening it with her belief, so Tsubaki did as Orihime wished. He spun around, forming his shield around his small form, before going straight through the black haired Arrancar's head.

Orihime smiled slightly, before collapsing where she stood. The Rikka having just enough reiatsu left to help slow her fall, leaving her half-unconscious on the scaffold.

On ground level, Tatsuki actually faltered during a double-punch-scissor-kick combo the moment the felt Orihime's reiatsu fall to almost nothing.

At the same time, Menoly screeched in defiance, noticing how her sister's reiatsu had been extinguished, she'd been killed.

"Monsters!" She screamed as she threw herself at her opponent with the same defiance and recklessness her sister had been known for. "You're all monsters!"

"Spirits…'Hime!" Tatsuki screamed, unable to pronounce her best friend's full name with the knot that had allocated itself in her throat rather suddenly.

On the scaffold, Orihime was lost in half-dreams half-hallucinations when, abruptly, Tatsuki's voice broke through it all, her scream somehow resonating with one last scene in her mind:

_It looked like a hallway, a huge empty hallway, the floors and ceiling were made of dark hardwood, the kind that clanks noisily with every step that is given on it, unless the person walking is careful enough and wearing only socks or cloth shoes, the walls were made of lighter wood and rice paper. Or at least, that was what the place probably looked like once, in that moment everything was red and hot, as a huge fire consumed everything in a way that seemed too slow, yet too fast at the same time. _

_There were screams that could be heard around, of pain, of fear, of horror; it was absolute madness, and in between the whole cacophony of horror, one voice rose, sounding just as desperate as all the others, yet somehow stronger, managing to rise above all the other noise, holding a totally different purpose: _

"_Hime!" _

Orihime's eyes snapped open as she heard Tatsuki's pained groan as she was thrown to the ground with a particularly hard kick from her opponent; her distraction and worry for the Rikka wielder had cost her.

"I'm…fine…" She called as loud as she could, which wasn't very loud at all, doing her best to inundate what little reiatsu she still had with reassurance of her own well-being.

The moment Tatsuki jumped back on her feet, doing a brief handstand, along with a twisted kick to push Menoly backwards, Orihime knew her friend had received the message.

"You hang in there Orihime!" Tatsuki called to her best friend as she got in a ready stance again. "I'll finish this, and then Keeva and I will get you to Yuzu, so we can all get healed."

On the scaffold, Orihime smiled, mostly to himself, reassured by Tatsuki's words; then she focused her best on not losing consciousness.

"You? Finish this?" Menoly scowled deeply. "I'll show you monster. I'll crush you, and then I'll do the same with the other monsters…"

"I'll be the only one doing any crushing." Tatsuki rolled her eyes, but then her tone became almost coy. "Though, I actually prefer to dust them." She punched her fists together and kicked her feet against the ground. "Chitania, Master: Diamond!"

Her shikai glowed once more for an instant, and in the next, she vanished from her spot.

The fight was very fast paced for the next couple of minutes, Menoly tried to either dodge or block Tatsuki's attacks, but they were just too many, and suddenly exponentially more powerful than before; and she was so lost in her rage over her sister's death she wasn't as careful as she should have been. In a handful of minutes she was done for.

Tatsuki was taking deep breaths as the rests of Menoly Mallia disappeared ever so slowly, when Keeva approached her.

"Thank you." The réalta told the older girl. "For saving my life."

"It's alright." Tatsuki reassured her. "It was no problem." She signaled to the burnt hand. "How are you?"

"Badly burnt, but I'll live." Keeva replied as she kept holding her hand against her body.

"We need to get Orihime." Tatsuki commented.

"I'll go." Keeva offered. "Only my hand is burnt, and I still have enough reiatsu in case of an emergency. Also, if she wasn't too badly hurt I might be able to help her, or just stay with her long enough for her to move on her own."

Tatsuki nodded, it wasn't her favorite plan, but since she was a bit too tired, there wasn't much she could do about it.

Then, right as Keeva was halfway up a new dark reiatsu settled over Karakura, right as a new Garganta opened in the middle of the sky.

**xXx**

On another part of Karakura, Renji couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, the way Chad was keeping up with the huge Espada, when just a few minutes before it had seemed like he would be killed any moment.

The surprises had begun, in fact, when white armor with a dark red stripe had covered Chad's left arm suddenly, high enough to reach his shoulder; it was somewhat like the black and dark magenta one on his right arm, yet at the same time so different, and then the name he'd called that power: Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo…

The young man wasn't so powerful that he was able to actually downright defeat the Espada, and Yammy still hadn't called on his Resureccion; but still, the way the human was keeping up with what was supposed to be one of Aizen's ten most powerful Arrancars, it was shocking, and almost scary, as far as Renji was concerned.

The redhead had known the Nakama were powerful, he'd seen just what Ichigo was capable of, and experienced Uryuu's might in his own skin. Yet, in the case of those two, and the twins, it was understandable, they were born with their powers, even his girlfriend, since she was the reincarnation of a zanpakutou-wielding spirit herself; but the others, like Orihime and Chad, there just was no way to explain, to justify their powers, that they could be so strong, and that Ichigo had suggested they might become stronger yet, that was definitely scary.

"La Muerte!" Chad called as he delivered a very hard punch to Yammy's torso.

He'd already used a couple of such attacks to badly injure one of Yammy's arms, and one more to break or at least crack his cheekbone; regretfully, the punch hadn't hit low enough to break the mask, which is what the tall teenager actually been aiming for.

Yammy, for his part, was evidently furious, a human, an insect was keeping up with him; and not only that, the boy was actually managing to injure him! That, in the Espada's mind, was absolutely unforgivable.

"That's it!" He roared as he unsheathed his zanpakutou. "I've had enough. I'll squish you like the bug you are!"

Chad took a few steps back, he knew that a Resurreccion was never good; and somehow, instinctively, he knew Yammy was somehow worse than most.

Renji, getting the same feeling as Chad, unsheathed his own zanpakutou yet again, hoping Zabimaru wasn't too injured still after the last battle. However, he never got to find out.

Right as Yammy was about to give the command for his release, a new dark reiatsu settled over everyone, as a new Garganta opened up in the sky.

"Shit!" Renji cursed, mostly to himself.

A couple of seconds later they all heard the distinct signal of sonido, as a figure appeared a few feet behind Yammy. It was tall, taller than Renji, and even Chad, though nowhere as tall as Yammy, with a wiry-build and a lizard-like form from the middle down. It was impossible to know if his mask was broken or not, if he was actually an Arrancar or not, he'd more mask on his face than any Arrancar the Nakama had seen thus far; but where his true face should have shown he wore a piece of cloth, somewhat like a veil; it was as if he were trying to hide something on his face, maybe even his identity.

"What the hell are you doing here, minion?" Yammy demanded. "Can't you see you're interrupting my battle?"

"I can see." The concealed hollow declared. "I'm here under orders. You and Grimmjow are to return to Las Noches, immediately."

"Me and Grimmjow?" Yammy asked, somewhat puzzle. "Why just us?"

"Because you're the only ones still alive." The hollow deadpanned.

That actually caught Yammy by surprise. It's not like he cared for any of the Arrancar that had invaded Karakura with him, not at all, he just couldn't believe that the 'insects' could be strong enough to defeat them all.

"I'll just kill this trash and get going." Yammy declared, as he prepared to attack again.

"No." the hollow interrupted. "The orders were clear Yammy, you are to return, now."

"If you're here, where's your master?" Yammy asked, curious.

"Getting Grimmjow." The younger hollow replied. "I was ordered to get you."

"If you weren't that bastard's Fraccion…" Yammy began in a threatening tone.

"But I am." He interrupted again. "And orders have been given."

"Enjoy what time you have now, pieces of trash." Yammy told the shinigami and the human in a derisive tone. "Because next time, you won't be as lucky. Next time, I'll destroy you, and all the other pieces of trash that live in this fucking place!"

Renji and Chad didn't reply, they just watched as the unknown hollow disappeared in another small boom of sonido, closely followed by Yammy; both of them wondering what exactly had just happened.

**xXx**

Grimmjow was still having a hard time wrapping his head about everything that was happening, about the abrupt way the battle had changed right after he'd half-gutted the shinigami girl and the stopped the orange-haired one from going to her side. The Sexta Espada had no idea how it was possible, but the shinigami seemed to somehow be keeping up with him! With him, who was supposed to be as powerful as the Cuarta! Who was meant to be a Vasto Lorde! To be King!

It took a while, but eventually Grimmjow noticed that as fast as the shinigami was, he never got too far away from a particular apartment building, or to be more precise, from the still injured shinigami gal that was propped against the wall of said building. The Espada wasn't stupid, he wouldn't have gotten that far if he'd been; he knew instantly that the orange-haired one was trying to protect his partner, and knew exactly what to do.

Grimmjow shot a Cero at Ichigo, knowing the orange-head would use his zanpakutou to cut it in two and then send the pieces up to the sky, where they couldn't hurt anyone. The Arrancar followed that attack with half a dozen balas in quick succession; getting rid of those made Ichigo move, ever so slowly, away from Rukia. Then, once the shinigami boy had moved far enough, Grimmjow put his true plan in action:

"Garra de la Pantera!" Grimmjow attacked.

It took half a second for Ichigo to realize the attack wasn't aimed at him, but at his wife.

"No!" Ichigo cried out in panic.

The shinketsu shinigami called on his darker half's power to make his usual shunpo even faster, half-combining it with a sonido. It was that move which allowed him to get right in front of his beloved in time to receive the strange projectiles Grimmjow had shot himself.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out in panic.

Ichigo opened his mouth to try and reassure her he was alright, he wasn't able to lie to her, as in that very moment he couldn't help but cough, blood coming out of his mouth, as a consequence of the wounds, both internal and external, Grimmjow's attack had caused him.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried yet again, even more panicked than before.

"I'll be fine Rukia." Ichigo assured her with a deep breath. "Trust us."

It took just a heartbeat for Rukia to realize what Ichigo was talking about, Shiro would take care of it; he would protect her beloved when she couldn't.

"Thank you Shiro…" Rukia whispered, barely loud enough for Ichigo, and those inside his own soul, to listen.

In the Inner World Shiro smiled slightly, still fully focused on his regenerative powers, on healing Ichigo.

Grimmjow just had a few seconds of satisfaction, as he watched the shinigami boy receive the wounds for his partner, like he knew he would; but then that satisfaction turned to confusion, shock and anger, as he watched how those same wounds healed right before his eyes, leaving not a scar behind…

"Who the hell are you shinigami?!" Grimmjow demanded, furious.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo." Ichigo replied, without turning around yet. "Remember that well Arrancar, especially when the time comes for you to pay for daring to hurt one of my dearest nakama…" With that he spun around, daito arching dangerously, glowing with a high concentration of reiatsu: "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Grimmjow was actually thrown back several feet as a gash appeared right across his chest, blood falling at his feet. The blue eyes were wide, showing that the Espada hadn't been expecting that, hadn't expected the attack to be suddenly so much more powerful, hadn't expected to be injured that badly.

"I'll kill you, shinigami!" Grimmjow yelled, almost mad with fury.

"Ichigo, the sky!" Rukia yelled right then.

Over their heads, a new Garganta had just opened, and from it had emerged a figure that exuded even more reiatsu than Grimmjow, whose own pressure had been hard enough to swallow; at the same time, it was familiar, Ichigo and Rukia knew who it was that had just arrived to Karakura…

"Ulquiorra…" Ichigo muttered in a low tone.

"Ulquiorra, what the fuck are you doing here?!" Grimmjow snarled, it was obvious that he didn't like the fact that his fellow Espada was interrupting his fight.

"This fight is over Grimmjow." Ulquiorra told him in a plain, almost apathetic tone.

"No, it damn well isn't." Grimmjow refused, ready to attack Ichigo again.

"Do you not understand Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra inquired in the same tone. "Invading the World of the Living, leading a group of eight Arrancar besides yourself in an attack, and then losing all but one of those in said attack. You were acting against orders. Aizen-sama has found out, and he's not happy. Actually, I think he might even be furious. You and Yammy are to return to Hueco Mundo, your punishments shall be decided there."

Grimmjow actually growled, but began following Ulquiorra to where his Garganta remained open in the sky.

"You follow him like a lapdog, on Aizen's orders?" Ichigo called in a taunting tone. "And you insist on calling yourself King?! Don't make me laugh Grimmjow. You're King of nothing, not even yourself!"

Grimmjow growled even louder, but a small sound from the higher ranked Espada in front of him reminded him what it was he had to do. Yammy was already crossing the Garganta, along with Ulquiorra's new Fraccion.

"Be happy that our fight was interrupted shinigami, for that is the only reason you're alive." Grimmjow said as he looked over his shoulder. "Next time we meet you won't be as lucky."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. He knew he probably wouldn't have been able to defeat the Espada as he was in that moment; but he had also been doing his best to reign in his power so as not to affect any innocents.

Right as the two Espada were about to reach the Garganta, Ulquiorra couldn't help but look around, he saw the rest of the humans he'd seen on that first 'visit' to Karakura, as well as a couple more; standing on roofs, empty lots, etc., all looking to the sky; but there was one in particular, who was looking straight at him instead. Sitting, holding herself up with both arms, her eyes fixed straight on him, a look he couldn't help but find strangely…intriguing.

Grimmjow, noticing how Ulquiorra's attention had been diverted couldn't help but follow his line of sight. What he found there intrigued him as well, the girl that was looking, not at the Garganta still a few feet away from them, but at Ulquiorra; the same girl that had called his attention earlier, before her own fight had taken place…a fight which apparently had left her a little worse for wear. And yet she'd won…and for some reason, Grimmjow liked that.

Ichigo waited for several very long seconds after the Garganta was closed, before he began powering that, first releasing his hold on the power Shiro had put at his disposition, then deactivating his bankai.

"It seems like we won." Rukia commented from her spot on the concrete.

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" Ichigo agreed as he turned to look at her.

Rukia nodded, they knew, since Ulquiorra had confirmed what she herself had sensed, that all the Arrancars who'd invaded Karakura that night, except the two Espada, had been killed. Even if Yammy and Grimmjow still lived, the Nakama had managed to defeat and destroy seven Arrancars. They had most definitely won.

"Well, now we need to get you up." Ichigo declared as he placed the sealed Zangetsu on his back. "I'll take you to Yuzu, who will be able to treat you…"

"It might not be that easy, Ichigo." Rukia commented. "I can sense that Yuzu-chan is already low on reiatsu, we do not want her to push herself too far…"

"True." Ichigo agreed, he would never want that. "In that case, we might have to go with my father, or Urahara…" he grimaced. "I won't like it, but you, and the rest of my nakama, are more important than any grudge of mine."

Rukia nodded, she understood how much Ichigo truly disliked Urahara, as well as the rest of the members of the Shouten, and even his own father, for all they had done, all they had tried to keep from the younger generation, and the way they constantly went behind the teens back. However, hard situations made necessary for hard decisions to be made; and nothing would ever be more important to Ichigo than to keep his nakama safe, especially not his own pride.

"Let's go midget." Ichigo declared as he stepped closer to her.

"Shut it, you giant strawberry!" Rukia replied in the expected manner.

However, the whole situation changed in an instant. One moment Ichigo was approaching her, the next, he was gone, and all Rukia could see was a trace of yellow and black and turbulent reiatsu moving away so fast she knew that, even if she'd been in perfect hell, it would have been nearly impossible to catch up.

All the stress the young-looking shinigami had been in in that day, the pent up emotion, suddenly became too much, she snapped:

"ICHIGO!"

* * *

Don't kill me! I know some (probably most, if not all, actually) of you hate cliffhangers, but the chapter just had to end somewhere, and better here than at the middle of a fight... again. Promise next chapter won't be as stressful. Some of you might have some fun even! (and that's all I'm saying on that front!).

Also to point out that Heiten Hanshun means Third-Heaven Opposite-Shield, it's a compound technique, the first of two completely original ones I gave Orihime (I'm not counting the Nybankyuu ones because those are, essentially, variations of techniques that already exist). Essentially, as is shown in the fic, Shun'o and Ayame negate the damage done to her, but instead of just erasing it entirely, Tsubaki then takes that damage and turns it into an attack against the enemy. The basis for it was the one compound shield that was shown in canon the Shiten Koushun (it was also the basis for one more original technique that will appear later on).

So, that's that for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to review/comment and I'll see you all next week!


	30. The Maskless Visored

Since the internet has been giving me a heck of a lot of trouble, fritzing out on me every evening and all the way to late at night every day for over a week, I decided it'd be better to update early from now on. So here we are!

For all of those who've been waiting for the confrontation with the Visored. The time has come! Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 30. The Maskless Visored**

Regardless of her grievous wounds, Rukia could hardly keep still as Chad carried her into the Urahara-Shouten, she was the only one with injuries such that she couldn't walk on her own. Even those with serious wounds, or low reiatsu had just enough to move.

"Ah, where's Kurosaki-kun?" Urahara asked when he noticed the missing leader.

"They took him!" Rukia yelled straight at the shopkeeper. "And it's all your fault!"

"My fault?" Urahara seemed confused by that. "If the Espada…"

"Not the Espada, the Visored!" Rukia corrected in the same harsh tone. "They took him away! From right in front of me! And there was nothing I could do!" she swallowed the lump in her throat. "It's all your fault, because you told the Visored about the mask in Ichigo's clothes, about the darkness in his reiatsu! They haven't left us alone! And now they've taken him!"

"The Visored would never hurt…" Urahara began.

"And how do you even know that?!" Rukia interrupted, still furious. "When was the last time you talked to any of them? Of anything that wasn't Ichigo at least? I'm quite sure you hadn't in a very long time. You don't know what they may be capable of, you don't know what they might try to do to Ichigo!" she took a deep breath to try and calm herself as best she could. "No, they won't do anything to him. I need someone to heal me. And then I'm going after them. I'm going after them, and I'll teach them to mess with my husband!"

"It's impossible to find the Visored." Urahara stated. "One of them, Ushoda Hachigen, is a prodigy at kidou, he has created the most powerful kekkai ever seen, there's no way you'll ever be able to track the Visored through that."

"I won't be tracking the Visored I'll be tracking Ichigo." Rukia said, as if it were obvious. "I may not be a kidou prodigy like that man, or Yuzu, but I assure you, nothing will be keeping me away from Ichigo! Not this time!"

She still hadn't gotten over what had happened when Ichigo fell into Hueco Mundo, the pain, the emptiness; there was no way she would ever allow such feelings to invade her soul again. This time, she was going after her husband.

"I still don't think…" Urahara began.

"No one was asking for your permission, or even opinion in this matter, Urahara-san." Uryuu stated in a hard voice. "The only reason we came here is because we're allies, and as such we guessed it might be a good place to get some assistance in regards to our wounds. If you aren't able to do that, we'll find another solution. Like Ichigo has said before, we don't trust you." He pushed his glassed up slightly, making them glint under the moonlight coming in from a window. "This whole situation we're in right now, we're in it because of you. Because you couldn't, or wouldn't, approach Ichigo himself with your suspicions about what may be going on with him. It's too late to say you're sorry on that regard. We understand you're used to being in control of things, but you should have realized you lost any control you might have had of things a while ago, and you never had any over us, to start with."

Urahara nodded, he didn't like admitting that, but knew it to be true.

"Now then." Uryuu turned to Tessai. "Tessai-san, if you could be so kind to give Rukia some assistance. She'll be going after Ichigo. If needed we can always track the two of them later."

Urahara didn't bother telling them such a thing was impossible, an instinct in the back of his mind told him that, even if it was, they would find a way, they were that resourceful.

"I have a better idea." Orihime announced. "Tessai-san, if you would be so kind to grant me some reiatsu, I should be able to pull-off a Souten Kisshun. That might be more effective than traditional healing. Rukia-san will be well enough to go after Ichigo sooner, in any case."

"Are you sure that's a good idea Orihime?" Tatsuki asked. "After your fight with that Arrancar…and you called on a new attack."

"I'm fine." Orihime replied.

Several brows were raised, it was obvious most of the Nakama weren't buying it.

"Alright, so I might lose consciousness if I use my Shun Shun Rikka again today." Orihime admitted flippantly. "But it's nothing to be worried about. I'll sleep, rest and recover. Really."

There were several nods. While most still didn't like Orihime pushing herself that much, they knew she just wanted to help; and it that moment, she was the one in the best position to do so.

In the end, it wasn't Tessai who gave some of his reiatsu to the girl, but Yoruichi. She of course couldn't fully refill Orihime's reserves, that would have been too shocking on her spirit, it might have damaged her, and/or her powers.

"Thank you Yoruichi-san." Orihime smiled and turned to Rukia. "Souten Kisshun! I reject!"

The kotodama acted as expected, it summoned the violet-gray eyed girl's powers, undoing any and all injuries the amethyst eyed shinigami might have gotten in the course of the day.

Meanwhile, Yoruichi was focusing on restoring Yuzu's reiatsu, with her she could actually do more, since the young Kurosaki twin hadn't been in as bad a condition as Orihime. That also would allow the young girl to help Tessai heal the rest of the Nakama, something the former captain of the Kidou Corps was already working on.

Orihime finally lost consciousness, as her technique finished its work on Rukia, Chad caught her and laid her down gently before anything happened to her.

"Now what?" Tatsuki asked, curious.

"Now I go track down Ichigo and show those Visored why it's a bad idea to mess with Kurosaki-Nagaken Rukia!" The shirt shinigami stated passionately.

"I was referring more to us." Tatsuki deadpanned.

Rukia actually blushed at that. She'd never referred to her own marriage so many times in such a short time, it was a good thing everyone in the room already knew about it.

"The Gotei must not know about this." Uryuu declared. "If they find out about Ichigo having that kind of powers…it would be a mess."

At that everyone turned to look pointedly at Renji, who was waiting his turn to be healed still while sitting by his girlfriend's side.

"Hey! I already told you, as long as I'm not asked anything directly, my lips are sealed." Renji reminded them in as calm a tone as he could. "If they were to ask directly…that would be an entirely new mess, I cannot exactly lie to my superiors without being called on treason…"

Everyone nodded, they had begun to understand the intricacies of Seireitei's politics. Letting Renji in on some of the Nakama's greatest secrets was a risk; but in the end, it wasn't fair to keep him in the dark when Tatsuki already knew. They had also briefly considered bringing Byakuya into their confidence, but in the end decided it wasn't a good idea to put the man in another possible conflict between his loyalty to his sister and his loyalty to the Gotei 13.

"So, what then?" Karin inquired, wondering if anyone had a plan at all.

"Renji." Uryuu called. "I need you to call either Kuchiki-san, Ukitake-san, or both. Tell them there was an attack today, in fact, they should already know that part. If we don't report something, they'll begin suspecting something's up. Tell them there was an attack, we won all our battles, and all but two of the Arrancars were killed."

"They will want details." Renji reminded him. "A full out report, preferably written, and if not, at least one like the one you gave through the phones the last time."

"We can work on a formal, written report while Rukia deals with the Visored." Uryuu stated. "Tell them we will give them a full verbal report on Sunday, that we need a day to recuperate, from our wounds and drained reiatsu." He nodded to himself. "It's perfectly normal and to be expected that we would need some time to recover after the battles that took place today."

Renji nodded, he had to admit it was a good plan. It would give time for most of the Nakama to recover, and for Rukia to track down Ichigo and get him back. The redhead just hoped there would be no more complications meanwhile.

"And of course." Uryuu went on. "Whatever you do, don't mention anything about Ichigo being taken or Rukia going after him."

Renji nodded again, that too had been obvious.

"Thank you Renji, thank you everyone." Rukia stated as she walked to the door of the Shouten. "I'll be back with Ichigo soon."

Without further ado, she vanished into shunpo.

**xXx**

A few minutes later Rukia stood in the middle of the warehouse district; the area looked completely empty, but despite this, she knew for a fact, Ichigo was in there, in the warehouse she was standing in front of, in fact. The amethyst eyed shinigami had been able to follow the pull she had to Ichigo to that very spot, however, when she'd tried to go in, she suddenly found herself turning and nearly shunpoing away instead.

"What the hell was that?" Rukia demanded out-loud.

It took some effort but she managed to reign in the strange influence and go back to standing in front of what she now recognized as a kekkai.

*That is one very particular kekkai, Rukia-sama.* Shirayuki informed her.

*Particular how?* Rukia inquired. *I can sense that it's nothing like other kekkai I've sensed before, but I cannot pinpoint what exactly makes it different.*

Since learning about the tight relationship Ichigo had with his own zanpakutou, and especially since that conversation they'd all had in Ichigo's Inner World, Rukia had striven to have the best relationship possible with Sode no Shirayuki. Thanks to that, she was now capable of talking to her zanpakutou mentally. At times Rukia couldn't help but wonder if that might even help her achieve Bankai one day. But in that moment, they had other priorities.

*The kekkai is attuned not to a number of specific reiatsu, but a kind of reiatsu.* Shirayuki stated. *It rejects whatever doesn't fill that specification. And it somehow influences whoever tried and failed to get in that there's no reason to even want to get in, and to go away; it's why you were so close to shunpoing away a minute ago. Only your bond to Ichigo-sama prevented this impulse from fully taking over.*

*That's a good thing.* Rukia said solemnly. *I need to get in, need to get to Ichigo. However, how am I going to manage exactly that?* she hummed as she considered the possibilities. *We can assume that the kind of reiatsu the kekkai is attuned to is that of the Visored, the mix of shinigami and hollow reiatsu. Yet, I am no Visored, and I have no access to any hollow reiatsu to even try and imitate the mix so then how…*

As Rukia spoke, her eyes suddenly laid on her own hand, or more precisely, the ring adorning her the third finger of said hand. She'd been wearing it the right way ever since Winter Break began, happy not to have to hide it all the time. At that point, anyone who saw it knew already about it anyway, most had even been there when Ichigo had proposed. Still, she could also remember one particular detail: both Ichigo and Shiro had placed fractions of their reiatsu in two of the diamonds in that ring…

"Shinigami, and hollow reiatsu…" Rukia whispered aloud. "I really hope this works. If my ring gets damaged I'll be really, really upset."

*For what it may be worth, I approve of your plan, Rukia-sama.* Shirayuki commented.

*Thank you Shirayuki-san, I always value your opinion.* Rukia assured her. *I'm sorry if we haven't always been close, but I promise I'll do my best to rectify that situation.*

*You already have, Rukia-sama.* Shirayuki assured her softly. *I'm proud to have you as my wielder Rukia…* her tone changed slightly as she added. *Now let's go get our men back.*

Rukia nearly sputtered at that. She knew Shirayuki wasn't talking about Ichigo, and while Shiro wasn't bad, the shinigami instinctively knew it wasn't him either, which only left… Zangetsu. When exactly had hers and Ichigo's zanpakutou gotten together?

As intriguing a thought as that was, in the end Rukia decided it wasn't a priority. No, priority was getting Ichigo back. With that, she took a deep breath and, holding her palm in, pressed her hand against the kekkai.

It took a few seconds, though for Rukia it seemed much longer, and then her hand began going through the kekkai.

*Ichigo!* Rukia called in her mind brightly. *Here I come!*

**xXx**

"I said let go of me!" Ichigo demanded hotly as he twisted and turned as much as possible.

He was furious, no, he was beyond furious. He'd been taken by two unknown men, a few feet away from his beloved!

*Rukia must be going nuts right now…* Ichigo muttered mentally. *And these bastards, who gave them the right to just…just…kidnap me?!*

*Easy Aibou, you won't gain anything by getting this mad.* Shiro told him, somehow more calm than his counterpart. *You must stay calm, and wait for the right time to act.*

*Shiro is right Ichigo.* Zangetsu offered his opinion. *They have placed reiatsu-dampeners on you, which means they know you're powerful. Even if their measures might not have worked under normal circumstances, right now you're tired, the fight against Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez took a lot out of you, out of us all. So you must try to stay calm now. Analyze your surroundings, the people you might meet, and then wait for the best time to act.*

*You're right Shiro, Ossan.* Ichigo nodded. *I'll stay calm, I'll focus and wait to act. I just… I hate to be the cause of my nakama worrying, especially Rukia. She had a hard enough time when we fell into that Garganta not too long ago…*

*We must be clever if we want to get away from this bastards and back to the snow-princess Aibou.* Shiro declared.

Ichigo had to admit his counterpart was right, so he would settle down, and wait.

He didn't actually have to wait that much longer, though it had still been quite a while. Ichigo wasn't sure if that meant they'd left Karakura entirely, which could potentially complicate things quite a bit; if Seireitei tracked him down to a place outside his territory they might wonder what was happening and investigate. That definitely wouldn't be good. On the other hand, it was also possible that his captors had been going in circles in an attempt to make sure the Nakama wouldn't be able to find them.

*Ha!* Shiro snorted loudly in the Inner World. *As if we need to be rescued. We're not some damned damsel in distress!*

Ichigo actually chuckled aloud at that, picturing Shiro in an elegant multi-layer kimono, the kind princesses of ancient times wore. Even Zangetsu couldn't contain his laughter at that.

*Ichigo!* Shiro pouted, he actually pouted.

That only made both Zangetsu and Ichigo laugh harder.

"What the hell is that brat laughing about?" A female voice demanded.

Ichigo could feel his body falling and, wrapped as he'd been in some reiatsu-dampening cloth, he could barely move enough to make sure he would fall on his side, so as not to hurt his face or any of his joints with the impact. He heard some muttering, and still remain in place until, eventually, he ran out of patience.

"Hey bastards!" He yelled. "Whoever the hell you are. You dare kidnap me, after I exhausted myself in a damned fight against the freaking Sexta Espada, in front of an injured nakama, and you don't even have the decency of taking this damned restraining cloth off me?!"

There was some giggling and more mumbling on the background, before someone, finally, had the decency of pulling the cloth away. Ichigo rolled several feet before he was totally free, immediately jumping onto his feet and lowering into a defensive stance, one hand on the hilt of his zanpakutou, the other by his waist, ready to begin gathering reiatsu, either for a kidou or a cero, depending on how things went.

"Quite some reflexes you have." A male voice commented from a side.

In few seconds, Ichigo took in his surroundings: the space was huge, which made him deduce he was on a warehouse or something like that, there were many crates, empty boxes and all sort of debris laying around and eight other individuals in the room with him, three women and five men, all dressed in modern clothes instead of shihakusho or any of the other more traditional clothing people from Seireitei seemed to prefer.

Ichigo's reiatsu sensing abilities were nearly none, unless it came to his nakama, obviously; but he knew, even without recalling Urahara's story, that all eight individuals were powerful, at least half of them even more than Ichigo himself.

"So, why am I here exactly?" Ichigo asked, not lowering his guard in the slightest. "Because I seriously doubt you kidnapped me just to stare at me."

"You stand on guard before us, do you really think you stand a chance against us, brat?" One of the women, a blonde one, demanded hotly.

"I don't know." Ichigo answered honestly. "Nor do I have any intention to find out, unless you leave me no other choice."

"You talk as if you're in control of the current situation, Ichigo." Hirako Shinji said in a low, cold voice. "Let me correct you on that matter, you're not."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, did the obvious leader of the Visored really think words would be enough to scare Ichigo? He'd attacked Aizen once, even after being nearly cut in two by the man, he was standing against the psycho and his army even after nearly being killed, several times in less than an hour…Aizen, and the Visored for that matter, might be stronger than Ichigo, but that still wouldn't make him fear them.

"So, let's start over." Shinji declared with a too bright smile. "Now that you finally made it here Ichigo, are you ready to join the crew?"

"If you call 'finally making it here' to being kidnapped after being exhausted while fighting an Espada…" Ichigo muttered sarcastically before turning dead-serious. "The answer is still no."

"What?!" The outcry was general from all around.

"Are you stupid, or just deaf?" Ichigo deadpanned. "I'm not joining you, not now, not ever, period." He ruffled his hair slightly. "Really people? You asked me before, and I told you no, what makes you think that kidnapping me, especially when I just finished a battle, when my nakama are exhausted and injured and I'm worrying about them, could somehow end up with you getting a positive answer out of me?"

"Mmm…he's somewhat right about that, you know?" One of the Visored, with long black hair, one of the ones who'd kidnapped him, commented.

"Ehm, people…" The biggest of them all called slightly.

No one seemed to pay attention, or really listen him, and before anyone else could say anything the blonde girl, Hiyori, interrupted.

"Idiot." She snapped at Ichigo. "You're going about this all wrong."

Ichigo arched a brow, wondering where she was going with that.

"We really were considering letting you join our ranks." Hiyori declared offhandedly. "But, you gotta realize…that doesn't mean it's ever been your choice."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, looking away, showing how little he actually cared for Hiyori's words.

"Hey…" The same big guy began, but once again, no one listened.

"Pay attention to me, idiot boy!" Hiyori yelled as she threw a sandal at Ichigo.

Still somewhat confused at her choice of weapon, Ichigo simply cocked his head sideways, dodging the sandal. He then turned half-lidded eyes in the blonde Visored's direction, showing she had his attention, even if not his respect. Not like Hiyori cared much about respect, particularly not when she was getting so angry already…

"Your joining our group or not, is entirely up to us." Hiyori informed him coldly. "We've been informed you might have the power needed, but until we've seen it…" she snorted. "The final decision in this matter isn't yours, it's ours. If you have the power, you become one of us. Then we'll teach you how to seal the hollow inside you…"

Shiro's scream echoed in Ichigo's Inner World loud enough to give the teenager a headache.

"Wha…?" He asked as he held his head. "Seal…? What?"

*No!* Shiro yelled. *No one's sealing me! No way! Nii-san!*

Ichigo calmed down, even as he heard Shiro becoming nearly hysterical. It was proof of how much the whole statement had affected him that he was even calling Ichigo 'brother' rather than just partner. And Ichigo agreed whole heartedly with him.

"You're absolutely insane." Ichigo stated stoically.

It was obvious the Visored weren't expecting that kind of response, as they all immediately looked at Ichigo as if they were crazy.

"Now I know I'm definitely not joining you, not now, not ever." Ichigo practically growled.

"And you still don't get it." Hiyori drawled as her reiatsu began rising. "I told you before, this isn't up to you!"

Hiyori threw herself straight at Ichigo, at the same time she drew her zanpakutou with one hand and her mask with the other. However, before she could actually reach Ichigo in the middle of the warehouse, somebody else did, changing everything, yet again, in an instant:

"Hadou # 73, Tozanshou!"

It took Ichigo a couple of seconds to realize who was suddenly in front of him, and had created the pyramid-like-shield that kept the Visored away.

"Rukia!" He cried out with a mix of relief and happiness.

"Yo…" Rukia muttered coyly.

He knew instantly what she was doing, imitating the way he'd spoken to her when they'd arrived to save her as the guards were about to escort her to the Soukyoku, and Ichigo and three of the Nakama arrived to take their place.

"So, it's my turn to be saved then?" Ichigo asked with a smirk.

"Something like that." Rukia smiled at him.

"Thank you for coming for me." Ichigo's smile softened.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Hiyori demanded. "How is that…that shinigami in here?!"

"That's what I've been trying to say for several minutes now." The big Visored commented. "I'd been sensing someone right outside our kekkai for a while, I could sense several attempts to bypass the kekkai. Then she found her way through…"

"How, the kekkai hasn't fallen, has it?" Shinji asked, not liking the implications at all.

"No, it hasn't. She managed to go right through it." The big Visored replied.

"How the hell did she manage that?!" Hiyori demanded hotly. "No stinking shinigami should be able to get through that kekkai! Hachi!"

"If you considered talking to me instead of just about me…" Rukia muttered between clenched teeth, she really hated people who did that.

"Very well shinigami, tell me what the hell you're doing here?" Hiyori demanded.

"It's it obvious?" Rukia answered in turn as she took one of Ichigo's hands in hers. "I'm here for Ichigo, and I'm not leaving without him."

Everyone could hear the low threat/warning/promise in her words; however, none of the Visored paid much attention to it, not believing her capable of much.

The Tozanshou broke off right then, leaving Ichigo and Rukia once again standing on the ground, in between all the Visored, and apparently confirming their own beliefs concerning Rukia's capabilities; though in truth the amethyst eyed girl had let go of it intentionally, wanting to save her reiatsu in case there was an actual fight.

"Your warnings, or threats, mean nothing to us shinigami!" Hiyori yelled, getting more and more angry by the second. "You stand no chance against us!"

"Really?" Rukia couldn't help the teasing tone in her voice. "Is that why, the last time we met each other, you were left hanging?" her voice abruptly turned dead-serious. "Karin warned you back then, and I'll say it now, for the last time. If you try anything against Ichigo, I will do everything and anything in my power to destroy you!"

Hiyori was still too angry to see to reason, and it showed as she leapt at Rukia, zanpakutou and mask at the ready, all too willing to attack the petite shinigami.

A loud clash echoed throughout the warehouse and the scene that caused it left more than one in a mix of awe and shock. The obsidian haired shinigami had managed to parry Hiyori's strike, and not only that; somehow, without saying a word, in just a fraction of a second, her sword had gone into shikai, the pristine white blade blocking Hiyori's still sealed zanpakutou, white ribbon twirling around her and even slightly around Ichigo.

"What are you scared of?" Hiyori demanded of the orange-haired, ignoring the fact that she'd been stopped by the girl. "Do you need a girl to protect you?"

Hiyori was trying to provoke him, they could all see that, Ichigo just rolled his eyes. Truthfully, if it had been anyone but Rukia who stood between him and the insane Visored, he might have felt somewhat offended, his pride hurt; but somehow, the fact that it was precisely Rukia, somehow made it all perfectly alright.

"This isn't about him needing me to protect him!" Rukia snapped, having no patience for the half-crazy Visored. "This is about me wanting to protect him!"

"Why?!" Hiyori demanded, trying and failing to push Rukia back. "He's not like you! He's not a shinigami, he's not a normal! He's like me, a freak, someone with an Inner Hollow! No one likes a person like that!"

"I do!" Rukia replied in the same tone, still holding against Hiyori. "I don't care about shinigami, hollows, or powers. I care about Ichigo! I love him! And neither you, nor anyone else is taking him from me!"

Ichigo for his part, was on an entirely different level, his eyes softened as he looked at Hiyori, as he finally began to understand where she was coming from.

"Is that really what you think?" He asked calmly, as he move to stand beside Rukia. "That no one can accept you, can like you, maybe even love you, because you're different, because you're a Visored?"

Hiyori and Rukia actually froze in place as they heard that, as it sunk in; the last because she finally understood and couldn't help but feel for the blonde; the Visored for her part, was livid.

"Hiyori, stop it." Shinji ordered.

Ichigo and Rukia turned as one, as they noticed the huge difference in Shinji's tone, and even the reiatsu he was releasing. In that moment the blonde man wasn't the happy-go-luck half-crazed clown he'd acted like since his infiltration into Karakura High School; no, in that moment he was acting like a fully-mature man, a warrior, a shinigami, a former captain, and the leader of what was probably the most powerful group of spiritual individuals.

Hiyori obviously didn't like the order, but didn't dare go against it either, so with some murmured curses she dismissed her mask and re-sheathed her zanpakutou.

"You know about the Inner Hollow?" He asked, focusing more on Rukia than on Ichigo.

"Yes." Rukia nodded finally lowering her blade, but not sheathing it.

"For how long?" Shinji wanted to know.

He, and most of the Visored, were ignoring the obvious signs that the petite shinigami refused to fully lower her guard, that she didn't trust them, it wasn't like they trusted her, or Ichigo either. But she had intrigued them, they both had. The orange-haired was supposed to be like them, he had an Inner Hollow, yet he was not afraid, his companion apparently knew too, and wasn't afraid either. Why? What brought that lack of fear? That acceptance? Were they absolutely insane or was there an actual reason for their trust, their faith?

"Since the summer." Rukia replied calmly.

Shinji turned then to Ichigo, signaling for him to answer the same question.

Ichigo actually hesitated, wondering what would happen when he answered; but in the end he decided that answering wouldn't really change anything, and maybe it could even help. He finally understood why those masks felt so wrong to him, why they were so different from the way he used the same kind of powers, Hiyori herself had said it, when she talked about sealing his Inner Hollow.

*They have sealed their hollows Ichigo, they understand nothing of the kind of partnership you and Shiro share.* Zangetsu pointed out. *They might not understand even if you try your best and explain. It just goes against everything they know…*

*There's no way they'll be sealing me.* Shiro stated seriously. *No way, not at all…*

*Of course not Shiro, you should know already I would never allow something like that.* Ichigo reassured him. *I won't let any of them hurt you, us, in any way, trust me nii-san.*

*I do.* Shiro nodded.

"I have known for quite a while." Ichigo answered with a sigh. "Since he came to be in fact."

"And when was this?" A Visored with long, wavy blonde haired asked suspiciously.

"Six years ago." Ichigo answered without missing a beat.

That statement just caused a totally new level of absolute mayhem.

**xXx**

Uryuu, Tatsuki and Renji were standing right outside the Urahara-Shouten when Renji hung up his denreishinki after reporting to his captain, as well as Ukitake in the manner they had all agreed. It had almost not worked, as both captains had worried about Rukia. In the end Ukitake had stopped asking for explanations and agreed to wait, while Byakuya had stopped asking the moment that Renji said Rukia was with Ichigo, didn't even ask where exactly the two were…Renji had no idea what to think about that.

"So it worked?" Tatsuki asked as she saw her boyfriend putting his phone away.

"It worked." Renji nodded, then sighed before adding. "For now."

"Let's just hope those two get back before Sunday." Uryuu said grimly.

As great a belief as they all had on the couple, they also knew the Visored were very powerful, likely more so than Ichigo and Rukia, and they were eight.

"What mess has that student of mine gotten into this time?" A voice asked from behind.

Renji actually flinched, he hadn't noticed anyone approaching until the man had spoken, a man he did not know; Tatsuki just rolled her eyes, while Uryuu turned to address him.

"Just more of the same tou-san." Uryuu informed him.

Renji actually did a double-take at that; the tall man with white hair in a white coat was actually Uryuu's father, which meant he was a Quincy, the current Master Quincy to be precise. Renji didn't know what he should think about that, aside from the fact must be quite powerful, and had he just called Ichigo his student?!

"The Visored took him from the site of the battle, right after his fight against the Sexta Espada was interrupted." Uryuu elaborated for his father.

"Took him…" Ryuuken repeated. "You mean to say Ichigo was abducted by this…former shinigami? Why did no one act?"

"As you can probably imagine we were all either injured, drained, or both, there was little we could do." Uryuu related. "Rukia was the closest and she had a set of deep slashes in her middle, making any movement impossible."

"What about the supposedly responsible adults, aside from myself?" Ryuuken demanded, because it was well-known he'd been busy keeping everyone in the hospital safe.

"Your guess is as good as ours." Tatsuki commented sarcastically. "There is a reason why we trust no adult except you, Ishida-sensei."

Ryuuken nodded, he'd known the teens didn't fully trust Urahara and company, they'd said as much more than once, but to think such a thing had happened and none of them had done anything at all about it.

"This whole mess is their fault in the first place." Tatsuki went on.

"What?" Ryuuken hadn't been expecting that part.

Uryuu sighed, he just knew things wouldn't go alright. His father was obviously upset already, and would only get even angrier when he learnt how far Urahara had gone regarding Ichigo's situation, and behind the own teen's, and everyone else's backs. The younger Quincy could only hope that regardless of how strong his father's protective instincts actually were, things wouldn't end up even worse than they already were.

They had enough trouble for one night, possibly even for the rest of the year…and they could only hope things would get better before Sunday, otherwise…they were all screwed.

**xXx**

It took Shinji flaring his reiatsu high enough for everyone in the warehouse to flinch, after asking the big Visored, Hachi, who apparently was their Kidou specialist, to add several layers to the kekkai so it could withstand the reiatsu, to calm everyone, mostly.

"Now, want to repeat that last statement Ichigo?" He asked the younger shinigami.

"Not really." Ichigo shrugged.

The last thing he wanted was for mayhem to begin all over again; still, that didn't stop Rukia from letting a giggle escape at the flippant response.

"Did you say you've had an Inner Hollow for six years?" Shinji asked, ignoring the orange-haired's comment easily enough.

"Yes." Ichigo sighed in resignation. "That's exactly what I said."

"But that…that cannot be…" The other blonde male Visored muttered.

"You would have been a babe when it happened…" A green haired girl in a suit stated with a teary-eyed face.

"Ten-years old, actually it happened before, a few days before my birthday, but it was only after it that I began hearing the voices." Ichigo stated, no emotion in his face whatsoever.

"What?!" Several of the Visored cried out at once.

"Idiotic!" Hiyori shrieked. "Absolute idiocy. You cannot think we will ever believe that a ten-freaking-year-old brat somehow ended up with an Inner Hollow. There's no way!"

"I don't care if you believe it or not." Ichigo declared still emotionlessly. "That won't change the truth. You wanted to know, I told you." He shook his head and then added coldly. "If you don't like the answers, don't ask the questions."

"We might not like the answers, but the questions need to be asked." Shinji stated, interrupting Hiyori's upcoming rant. "How did you end up with a hollow at ten?"

"My mother was killed by a hollow in front of me, a hollow who was after me actually." Ichigo declared. "The pain, the grief…it was all too much."

It had been too much, but not any longer, not since he'd finally made justice, had finally defeated the bastard once and for all. He still felt sad over his mother's absence, but he no longer blamed himself, and the loss no longer crippled him; he had moved on, finally.

"I…I don't understand." Shinji muttered, absolutely confused.

Ichigo sighed, there it was, the reason why he'd never wanted to come in contact with the Visored in the first place. More than all the trouble they had put him, or been trying to put him through since their arrival to Karakura…

"You cannot have had a hollow in your soul for six years with no one knowing, with us not knowing." The third female Visored, a dark-haired girl in a sailor-suit-style uniform stated.

"It wasn't even I who called you here, I never intended to do such a thing." Ichigo declared stoically. "Urahara was a bastard, went behind my back. Idiot…"

"You seem to really hate him…" Hiyori commented, surprised by that.

"Most people I've heard talk about him find him to be a genius, annoying, but still great." Shinji commented. "I've never heard someone actually hating him…except maybe Aizen, but we all know what kind of psycho he is…"

Rukia muttered a string of curses under her breath, but no one actually heard her.

"What was that?" A Visored with very short almost-military-style haircut asked.

"She insulted Urahara." Ichigo answered simply. "We really don't like him. He may be a genius, but that doesn't change or excuse his being a bastard. He tried to use Rukia to get rid of his greatest regret, offering her as a sacrifice instead of sacrificing himself, and he didn't even have the decency of giving her, or any of us a heads up of what he'd done, why, or what the consequences might be! Rukia was arrested, slanted for execution, gutted by Aizen and then nearly murdered by Ichimaru, because Urahara was too much of a coward to handle his problems by himself rather than using an innocent person as his scapegoat!"

The Visored actually blinked at that, not having expected those words at all.

"He didn't even ask." Rukia added, softly.

"What difference would that have made?" The green-haired Visored inquired, curious.

"All." Rukia assured her, surprisingly calm. "Like I told Urahara himself at one point, if he'd just told me what was going on, the sacrifice that needed to be made, and why, I wouldn't have refused. And even if things had still gotten as hard as they did, at least I would have known why it was all happening…" she shook her head. "That was the worst part, you know? Being in a cell, learning I was to be executed, and not even understanding why…If I hadn't known, without a sliver of doubt, that Ichigo and the Nakama would come for me, I'm not sure what would have been of me."

The Visored couldn't help it, what they had heard thus far was making them rethink so much of what they thought they knew…it was shocking. For years they'd hailed Urahara as their savior, as the man who'd helped stabilized them, who had given them the chance and the means to regain control of themselves, overpowering the hollows that had taken over and gaining at least a bit from the disaster that had become their lives. It was also thanks to him, Yoruichi and Tessai that they had all managed to escape when Seireitei had condemned them to execution. But in that moment, learning all Urahara had caused, the ways he'd hurt those two, it suddenly painted the former captain in a totally different light.

"Going back to the matter at hand." Shinji declared seriously. "If what you've said thus far is true…and I have a feeling it somehow is. That still doesn't explain how you've had a hollow inside your head for the last six years and haven't gone insane yet."

Ichigo sighed deeply, running both of his hands through his hands, at the same time Rukia wound one of her hands around his waist, showing her support through the touch, as well as her love-infused reiatsu, which enveloped him as if in a hug. It actually helped Ichigo a great deal, relaxing him enough for what was to come.

"I'm not like you." He said finally after a very long silence.

"Like us?" Several of the Visored asked, confused.

"You are so!" Hiyori snarled. "You have hollow powers, you are a Visored, you're like us! Or will you keep pretending to be a shinigami."

"I am a shinketsu shinigami." Ichigo qualified. "But I am also human, a living human, my chain of fate has never been cut, not even when I gained my own powers after the ones Rukia initially lent me were stripped from me by her brother."

"What does that have to do with anything?" The Visored with the black afro inquired.

"Everything." Ichigo answered, he took a deep breath before finally explaining. "Like I said before, I'm not like you. I didn't have a hollow pushed inside my soul by some maniac, nor was I possessed or somehow bitten, or whatever by a hollow. The hollow that resides in my Inner World, he's a part of me, of my own soul…"

"Oh Spirits…" Hachi muttered in shock, being the first one to understand the implications.

"What?" Several others had no idea what that could mean.

"Shiro, that's my hollow, is part of my own soul." Ichigo insisted. "We were one, until our mother was killed while protecting us, and then one soul split in two, one half remained as it was, but the other, the one that actually retains the memories of that event, as well as all the pain, the grief, the despair…became a hollow."

"What the hell is all that supposed to mean?!" Hiyori demanded, not fully understanding everything, but knowing it was something huge.

"It means his hollow and him are technically the same person." Shinji said seriously. "That's also probably why he hasn't gone insane… somehow his hollow isn't as insane as ours, and as most of the monsters we've met."

"Zangetsu, my zanpakutou, says we were once one soul, but since it happened so long ago, and since I am human; I have continued growing and maturing; the two pieces of the soul healed." Ichigo elaborated a bit more. "We cannot rejoin, if we did… who knows what would happen? What we would be…" he shook his head, pushing those questions aside. "I began hearing voices shortly after I turned ten, as I recovered physically from the attack that killed my mother. Then I began seeing them in my dreams, my Inner World, and those who inhabited it. I didn't know back then what a hollow was, how they were supposed to be evil, how I was supposed to hate him, how he was supposed to be like the monster who'd taken away my mom…All I saw was a kid who looked exactly like me, but much, much paler…"

"So you treated him like you would any other person." Shinji realized.

"Somewhat." Ichigo nodded, turning a bit wistful. "To be totally honest, I saw him as my brother, sort of like a twin, still do actually. I call him Shiro, though he's taken the name of Shirosaki Kamen for himself. Which is actually extremely funny since he doesn't wear any mask…not like a normal hollow."

"No mask?" That called the Visored's attention yet again.

"No." Ichigo shook his head. "Just a fragment. Over his brow, reaching his hair."

"Your Inner Hollow is an Arrancar?!" Several Visored cried out, yet again in shock.

"It appears that way." Ichigo nodded.

"But we were told about a mask…" The man with long blonde hair stated.

Ichigo cursed Urahara under his breath once more.

"There was a mask." Ichigo revealed. "But it was never on my face. Back when we invaded Seireitei to save Rukia from execution I had to fight Zaraki Kenpachi. It was the first time I'd ever fought a captain-level shinigami to the death, sparring really doesn't compare, no matter who it was against. Shiro manifested the mask in between the layers of my shihakusho to help deviate and slow slightly a stab that, otherwise, would have gone straight through my heart."

Absolute silence was the answer to that comment. The Visored had been in a mix of continuous shock, confusion and awe ever since the conversation had begun, but it had just been taken a step too far: a hollow that not only was part of the original soul, acted friendly, didn't try to take over his shinigami counterpart, but even protected the original soul…it was just too much for the Visored to deal with.

Silence broke after almost a full minutes, filled by disbelieving muttering as the Visored tried, and failed, to understand what was going on.

"They're not going to believe me, believe us." Ichigo told Rukia with a sigh.

"Then show them." Rukia stated with sudden confidence. "Show them the proof, the truth. Manifest Shiro, so they can see, so they believe."

*No way!* Shiro yelled immediately. *No, just…no.*

"Shiro doesn't seem to like the idea." Ichigo commented.

Shinji actually began paying attention at that point, realizing something else was being said, but somehow he wasn't hearing all the parts of the conversation.

*Tell the snow-princess that as great and beautiful as she might be, I'm not going to do it.* Shiro added stubbornly.

"He really, really isn't willing." Ichigo informed his beloved with a small chuckle.

"But why?" Rukia inquired. "It would be perfect. It would help them understand. And maybe then they would let us go back home before Yuzu and Karin worry too much."

Ichigo had to nod soberly at that, he knew his sisters, technically their sisters, would be worrying at their absence. If they didn't return soon…there was no way to know what they might do, especially if the rest of the Nakama chose to help. Yuzu was a kidou prodigy, probably even capable of getting through Hachi's kekkai, and Karin had already demonstrated how badly she could react to someone threatening her family and nakama in any way. One thing was for sure, the situation wouldn't be pretty.

*And they could also decide it's the perfect chance to try and kill me, kill us all.* Shiro muttered darkly. *So no, I'm not doing it. We have no idea what those so-called Visored might be capable of, though it's obvious at least one of them isn't fully sane. I'm not putting anyone at risk, especially not the snow-princess and you, Aibou.*

With a shake of his head, Ichigo relayed to Rukia what his 'darker twin' had just said.

By that point, all the Visored were paying careful attention to the couple; they were intrigued, not fully realizing what was going on, and even those who could guess didn't fully understand it. And then, Rukia responded to the last comment, and her words, but especially her attitude, deeply impacted everyone present, not just those she was actually talking to.

"Shiro, listen to me." Rukia actually held Ichigo's face in her hands, and looked straight into his eyes, and through them, as she spoke. "No one is going to hurt you, you hear me? No one, I won't let them. Whoever so much as tries to do anything will get a taste of my steel, or my kidou, whichever works better and faster, and Shirayuki-san agrees with me."

It was the truth, her zanpakutou had whispered as much into her mind right then.

"Shiro, you know you're someone dear to me." Rukia went on in the same tone. "You're as good as Ichigo's brother, you've protected him, time and time again. And I'm so thankful for that…especially last time, when he ended up in Hueco Mundo…" she shuddered slightly. "I don't know, nor do I want to know, what might have happened if you hadn't been there, with him…" she smiled softly. "You've protected Ichigo so many times, now it's our turn to do the same. Believe me, believe us, when we say no one will hurt you." Her tone of voice turned strong, passionate. "Like I said before, if someone so much as tries anything, against either you or Ichigo, I will make them regret it. Please believe me."

Ichigo didn't answer, but his eyes were slightly clouded, showing that a part of his attention was focused inwardly, obviously as Shiro, and probably Zangetsu too, reacted to everything she'd just said and responded accordingly.

Shinji was about to interrupt and demand an answer, since he hadn't been able to hear any thus far, when suddenly he, and everyone else, saw it. It was like a shimmer right beside Ichigo, and suddenly there was someone there. He looked like Ichigo's twin actually, only much paler, with white hair, eyes that had yellow irises on a black sclera and a traditional looking shihakusho, except with the colors inverted. On his back was a blade, also mostly identical to Ichigo's own sealed zanpakutou, except for the fact it was white. But what truly caught, and retained, every single Visored's attention, was the fragment of mask, like the upper corner, white bone with dark-red tribal-like marks on it, that seemed to be adhered to his forehead, going from right over his brow to the beginning of his hair, on the left side of his face.

"Everyone, this is Shirosaki Kamen." Ichigo introduced his white counterpart to the Visored. "My Inner Hollow, my counterpart, my aibou… my nii-san…"

Shiro looked around, from the half-shocked still-half-angry face of Hiyori, to Shinji's half-shocked half-contemplative one, to the rest, most who were either confused, surprised, in awe, or a mix of those, and sometimes more, emotions. He knew he ought to say something, but in that moment there was just one thing he could think of:

"Yo…" He greeted everyone with a hand raised.

**xXx**

The next morning Ichigo and Rukia woke to the craziness that was the mornings in the Visored hideout. In some ways, it wasn't as insane as mornings in the Kurosaki household, in others, it was much, much worse.

The previous night, after Shiro's appearance, and once the Visored were convinced that his appearance wasn't an illusion, Hachi actually used Kidou to make sure; the trio was coaxed into telling the story about Ichigo's unplanned trip to Hueco Mundo, since they had heard Rukia mentioning it and were intrigued about it. Learning about the kind of trust Ichigo had in his hollow counterpart, about everything Shiro was capable of, the rank of hollow he actually was, that not all hollows were bloodthirsty insane monsters and finally, that Shiro actually had a Resurreccion, was enough to finish destroying any and all notions the Visored may have had before about hollows, their powers, their mind (or lack thereof) and most importantly, all their long-held ideas about themselves as hybrids.

After the story was over it had been decided that it was exceedingly late already, and the couple was offered a room for the night, offer which they took. Though before actually going to sleep they made sure to call Renji, Karin and Uryuu, to let them know they were alright and would be back the next day, as well as asking them to inform the others they were fine and there was no need to worry about anything.

Ichigo and Rukia arrived to the room that doubled as kitchen and dining room to see Hachi and Lisa (the black-haired Visored dressed in the sailor-suit-like uniform) setting the plates with breakfast to the rest of the Visored who were already seated.

It had been a surprise for the couple to discover that the space where they had spent a number of hours the previous night wasn't where the Visored actually live, they had an underground space, below the warehouse itself, there they had bedrooms, several sitting rooms, a game-room a kitchen-dining room and a huge training area. It was actually quite nice, at least for people who obviously had been relocating quiet often for the last century.

In that moment, as the pair sat for their breakfast, which had already been served, they noticed the morose looks in every single Visored.

"What's wrong guys?" Ichigo asked after taking a sip of orange-juice.

After all misunderstandings were over, and the Visored began to accept that Shiro was alright, there was no need to seal him, and Ichigo wasn't going to be going insane any time soon; Ichigo and Rukia had actually begun liking the Visored. Shiro actually seemed to delight at provoking Hiyori into shouting and insulting matches as often as possible; though he hadn't actually done it for very long the previous night, as he claimed he was exhausted after the fight against Grimmjow and chose to go back to Ichigo's Inner World for a nap.

"What's wrong?" Hiyori asked sarcastically. "What's wrong he asks!"

"You probably don't understand Ichigo." Shinji stated seriously. "But after yesterday, after everything you told us, and showed us, you, your hollow and Kuchiki Rukia…everything we've believed for…well, pretty much our whole existence, it seems like trash. It's almost like we've lived lies since forever, and suddenly we no longer know what we're supposed to do, who we're supposed to be."

Everyone else at the table nodded.

Rukia opened her mouth several times and then closed it again; she wanted so much to help them; it was strange, considering how much she'd disliked them until just the afternoon before, but she just didn't know how to.

"It's true I may not know what you feel, and I have no idea how to help you." Ichigo admitted straight out. "But that's only because I had no preconceptions when all this happened to me. I told you before, I didn't know hollows were supposed to all be monsters, so I treated Shiro like I would anyone else; I didn't know zanpakutou should be forced to submit in order to gain their powers, so instead I befriended Zangetsu. I did the things I did, because I knew no other way and, from my point of view, things have worked out just fine for me."

"It's not necessarily too late to change." Rukia offered her own opinion, at least on the part she did know about. "Ever since learning about how Ichigo and Zangetsu get along, I've been trying to do the same with Sode no Shirayuki-san, and I would like to think it's working. I no longer need to be in Jinzen or try to materialize her to talk to her, and she sometimes helps make my attacks stronger, focus my reiatsu better." She sighed. "I don't know if that would work for your own zanpakutou, or your hollows, but you lose nothing if you just try. You might even surprise yourselves."

The rest of the morning was spent talking about the Nakama and their exploits, and the more the Visored heard about them, about Ichigo, and the group formed by a Quincy, several shinigami, and a group of spiritually empowered humans, the more they realized not only their lives, but the world itself, was much more complicated than they'd believed it to be.

They also learnt that finding out they'd been wrong, wasn't necessarily bad; they could still try again, they could still make things better, and that was what truly mattered.

The conversation extended long enough that Ichigo and Rukia ended up staying for lunch too, but it had also served to create bonds between the young couple and the group of Visored, bonds they hope would take them all far.

It was when were talking in detail about the battle of the previous night, first Rukia against an Arrancar and then Ichigo against the Espada who was leading him and others, that the next shocking revelation came:

"What do you mean you don't use a mask?" Kensei, the one with the military-like haircut said.

"Exactly like I just said." Ichigo replied. "We weren't lying when Shinji first approached us and we said none of us wore a mask; it was the truth, still is. Even when I'm using Shiro's powers, even when I let him share control with me and pretty much 'call the shots', there is no mask." He sighed. "The most is that my eyes change color, looking like Shiro's. The only time the mask has appeared was when Shiro called on it to protect me, like I told you before. Oh and, of course, the fragment that's on his face when he's an Arrancar.

"How can you call on Hollow powers when you don't have a mask?" Rose, the one with the long wavy blonde hair, wanted to know.

"Not sure." Ichigo admitted. "I have a theory though. During my fight with Grimmjow, there was a moment when Shiro began turning…well, I guess submissive is as good a word as any. He called me King, offered me his power. I felt something begin to appear on my face then, sort of like his mask fragment, but somehow different, it also felt wrong to me. So I told him I was no King, we're partners, Aibou…then the beginnings of that mask disappeared and we began doing our best to trash the Espada."

"It's so strange…" Lisa whispered. "The way you make it sound…"

"It's almost like his hollow powers, without the mask, are somehow stronger than the ones we call on with our masks." The one with the black afro, Love, commented.

"That's my assumption." Ichigo agreed. "At least as far as feeling wrong or right goes." His eyes clouded for a few seconds, and when they cleared again, Ichigo was nodding.

"What was that?" Lisa asked, interested.

"Shiro says the masks are important symbolically." Ichigo explained. "They show you have defeated your hollows, claimed their powers for your own, and thus, you can use such powers. But you can only use as much hollow reiatsu as you can process. If your hollow has any special ability, it's unlikely you'll ever get it, because you simply don't know to look for it."

"Special ability?" Kensei was really interested. "Like Cero."

"No, Cero is basic, it's why you all have it." Ichigo answered. "I mean things like Hierro, Garganta, Instant Regeneration, that sort of stuff." He shook his head. "And before you ask, yes I have all of those. Then there's also the Resurreccion. I don't have a mask, because I never forced my hollow to submit but, on the other hand, since we're partners, he has put all his powers at my disposal, which means I actually have more powers than you do."

"A Visored, without a mask…" Mashiro, the green haired Visored, announced brightly. "You're the Maskless Visored!"

Ichigo snorted slightly, a sound that was echoed by Rukia as well as Shiro and Zangetsu. The 'Maskless Visored' sounded a bit too much like a superhero in one of those American comics he'd seen some kids passing around at school; and it wasn't even a cool name. But somehow, Ichigo knew, it was going to stick. And of course he would be right.


	31. Recounts and Plans

New chapter, the aftermath of both Grimmjow's attack on Karakura, and the rather insane first meeting between Ichigo and Rukia and the Visored.

For those who've mentioned before that I keep throwing information at you, there's more of that coming (sorry, not sorry). One of the things I never fully liked about canon was how compartmentalized all the information seemed to be. I mean, just consider how many things people never knew. Like, did Ichigo ever find out that Isshin had defeated Grand Fisher? (far as I know, no) They certainly never knew about the real mess with the Quincy until it was too late (though that one won't be an issue here), I'm not even sure how much of the Visored situation anyone, even Ichigo, ever knew. So yeah, a lot of info dumps because I like everyone knowing everything they need/should know! (Granted, the Réalta are still a half-secret, but the time for that revelation is coming).

Enjoy the chapter and see ya next week!

* * *

**Chapter 31. Recounts and Plans**

Eventually Rukia decided they better take their leave, before the others began worrying; also, they still had to plan how they would handle the report for the following day. Ichigo was planning to ask Urahara and Tessai to arrange for live video feed between them and Seireitei, he wanted to see the faces of everyone when they talked about what had happened. It was at that point that Shinji made a request of Ichigo, who was happy to oblige.

All the Visored accompanied the couple to the Ground level of the warehouse, the pair was about to step out of the building, when suddenly Hiyori muttered something and Shinji called their attention one last time.

"We're all curious about something." He declared. "Rukia, yesterday, when you managed to get through the kekkai, how did you do it? The kekkai that keeps us concealed is the best there is, or has ever been. Hachi himself created it, it traps our reiatsu completely inside the place, allowing nothing to filter out, no one can track us when here, not even the best Onmitsukidou members of Seireitei. It would take someone of the level of the Ave Blanca to find us. Yet you could do it, you found us, and then you somehow made the kekkai let you through."

"About how I found you, I didn't track you but Ichigo, nothing can block him from me." Rukia stated, letting each of them make up their minds about that statement. "And about how I got in…" She raised her hand, allowing the light of the sun hit the diamonds on her hand, making them glitter. "All the diamonds in this ring are infused with reiatsu from each of us: Ichigo, Shiro and myself, as well as our zanpakutou. That's how I got in."

"You're getting married!" Mashiro actually squealed.

"Next summer." Rukia confirmed. "Maybe you could even come to the wedding."

They finally left the place with that. Leaving the Visored to the new chaos that was the news that their new 'allies/friends' were actually engaged to be married in just a few months. Rukia just chuckled as she walked away, her fiancé/husband shaking his head by her side. That was just so Rukia…on the positive side, at least they were all happy…

**xXx**

Ichigo and Rukia had gone straight home after leaving the Visored hideout, there they greeted the twins, convinced them they were alright, before asking them to call the others to organize a meeting later that same day. Then the pair had returned to their bodies, taken turns bathing, changing, and along with the twins took off for what had become the de-facto meeting place of the Nakama in recent times: the Ishida secret training basement.

At one point Isshin had even taken a break from his work in the clinic to see his children. Ichigo had assured him he and Rukia were alright and refused to elaborate on anything, only as a second thought commenting that Isshin was welcome to join them when they gave their formal report to the Gotei 13 at noon the next day.

On that front, Urahara had agreed to make all arrangements for the video-conference, and Yamamoto had decided to call a full-on meeting with the highest ranked members of all the Squads. A written report had been arranged by Uryuu and Renji, with some help from the others, and would be sent in advance so everyone had at least some idea what had happened on Friday; even Urahara was handed a copy, just to be fair.

Which is how all the Nakama ended sitting in a semi-circle, in one of Urahara's backrooms, before the huge screen of the video-conference equipment; Isshin and the members of the Urahara Shouten behind them (since they weren't as important).

"Very well." Yamamoto banged his cane against the wooden floor to call the meeting to order. "With everyone accounted for, taichou and fukutaichou of every meeting, with the exception of those lacking one, and the particular case of the 5th division, whose representative is Skye-sanseki. Let this meeting commence. Our order of business: the events that took place on Friday afternoon, in Karakura, the attack of nine Arrancar of various levels and skills, two of which were Espada, the aforementioned Décima Espada, Yammy Llargo, and a new one: Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez." His eyes narrowed. "If everyone read the material that was sent to your offices yesterday you have a basic idea of what happened already. This meeting is to allow us to go more into detail of each fight, clear any possible doubts and finally, begin a more formal plan to be put in practice when the next attack comes."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Good afternoon." Ichigo greeted formally. "On our side, our first order of business is to introduce the newest member of the Nakama." He signaled to the girl sitting beside Uryuu, looking a bit nervous. "Her name is Castelo Keeva, she's a human with powers, very much like most of the Nakama. Her abilities are in martial arts, as she's capable of using reiatsu to reinforce her muscles and bones, making her stronger, faster and better able to endure."

Everyone on the screen nodded. No one seemed particularly interested, having already gotten somewhat used to all the spiritually aware and somewhat empowered humans that seemed to live in Karakura, and most of whom actually seemed to be part of the Nakama…

"Very well." Ichigo nodded. "Now, in regards to what happened on Friday…"

"Kurosaki." Sui-Feng interrupted stoically. "If the battles took place two days ago, why is this report being given until today?"

"We arranged for this to happen at the earliest convenience, before we were recovering from the draining fights." Uryuu announced seriously. "I hope you realize, Sui-Feng-san, that we're not machines, nor are we invulnerable. We fought arrancars, most either fuku-taichou, or taichou-level. All of us ended with very low reiatsu, and some with very bad wounds."

"How bad were the injuries, Ishida-san?" Unohana inquired, worried about that.

"Rukia had deep slashes in her midsection, Keeva's hand was badly burnt, Renji had several deep cuts and slashes, same as Chad, while I had a deep cut in one arm." Uryuu enlisted impassively. "The real problem was that we all were very low on reiatsu, it made healing a tad complicated. We had to come to the Shouten and ask for Tessai-san's assistance."

"In the future, if you ever require assistance, remember you can count on Hanatarou-san." Unohana told her. "He's an exceptional healer."

"I too would be delighted to help." Kotetsu Isane, Unohana's fukutaichou announced quite unexpectedly, almost immediately blushing at her own admission.

Unohana smiled, while the Nakama nodded their heads in thanks.

"Since the report we sent was already pretty detailed." Ichigo said. "I believe this meeting would go a lot faster, and smoother, it we could focus on whatever doubts there might be, or if someone wishes for a clarification on something."

Everyone nodded in agreement. There was really no point to reciting every detail of every battle. Uryuu had made sure to take as detailed notes as possible when he visited each of the Nakama to take their statements concerning their respective battles.

"First of all." Ukitake said softly. "I've read the report several times and I noticed one particularity. In regards to one of the Arrancar, Número 13. There's no name of the Nakama who fought and defeated him."

Silence was the answer, as several of the Nakama turned to look at each other. Eventually the looks landed on Keeva, something the leaders of the Gotei 13 noticed.

"As stated before, my name is Castelo Keeva." She declared seriously. "The one who defeated that particular Arrancar wasn't any of the Nakama, it was my older sister: Serenity. She isn't actually part of the Nakama, and she isn't present right now. She said the Arrancar was powerful, but never got to use his Resurreccion, she purified him before he could."

"If she was part of the fight, why isn't she with you now?" Komamura inquired in mistrust.

"Why hadn't we been told about this Serenity before?" Hisagi asked at the same time.

"My sister is sick, ladies and gentlemen." Keeva explained. "She barely ever leaves our apartment at all. The only reason she even fought the Arrancar in question was because he appeared in the neighborhood, if she hadn't gone and confronted him he might have hurt innocents; and regardless of anything else, that's something L…my sister will never allow."

That, at least, was something everyone present, could respect and accept easily enough.

"I believe it would be for the best of the alliance between Seireitei and the Nakama that, at some point, we got a chance to meet with this Serenity-san…" Yamamoto declared seriously.

Yet again, everyone turned to look at Keeva, which called even more attention.

"Do any of the Nakama actually know this woman?" Kotori asked, a brow raised.

"I do." Orihime announced after some seconds of silence. "She's helping me learn to better control my reiatsu, so I don't get tired as fast, and so I may use more techniques, more times, and in a better way."

This actually surprised all the Nakama though, in silent agreement, none let it show, deciding it was better if everyone believed that was perfectly normal.

"Kuchiki-taichou." Yamamoto called. "After this meeting is over we'll see about arranging a visit from you to Karakura to meet this woman, in her personal residence if necessary."

"If that is acceptable I see no problem Soutaichou." Byakuya nodded.

"I will have to talk to L…my sister." Keeva declared. "Make sure she's alright with it, and that the visit is in a day when she's not sick or something. Aside from that, I don't see a problem."

Actually, she did, she saw a lot of problems, but she couldn't say that without raising red-flags all around. The Nakama had barely begun trusting her, and the Gotei were still making up their minds about them. Keeva couldn't risk alienating them, not when so much depended on them all working together…or so Lady Serenity had said.

"So that point is settled." Ichigo declared, pushing his own doubts on the matter aside. "What else should be addressed?"

"I would like a more detailed explanation on Sado-san's powers." Kyouraku, surprisingly serious, asked for. "We had been told about the armor, and we'd seen his right arm, but never before this fight had any mention been made of his left arm."

"Almost as if they were trying to hide it…" Omaeda muttered accusingly.

Several people rolled their eyes at that, while others couldn't help but snicker.

"What are you laughing about?" Omaeda demanded, very offended.

"Well, whether you chose to believe it or not, we weren't hiding anything." Uryuu informed him, and everyone. "It was more like a mistake of omission, so to speak."

"What?" There was even more confusion.

"That power wasn't mentioned before because we weren't thinking about it." Uryuu clarified.

"Chad hardly ever uses it." Ichigo added. "Any of you who are observant enough probably noticed that aside from his energy attack, Chad only ever uses his right arm to defend, he hits with his left one. He never used the Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo in Soul Society, or during the Bount Incident, or the Ouin one."

"Why not?" Ukitake inquired, curious. "If his power was such that he could keep an Espada on guard, even if he hadn't used Resurreccion yet, why not use it more often?"

At that both Uryuu and Ichigo turned to Chad, leaving it up to him to give, or not give, any more details; it was his power after all.

"It's very simple, if a bit strange." Chad chose to explain himself. "I have to get angry to be able to use the armor of my left arm. None of us know why really, anger seems to somehow be what fuels that part of my power, while a wish to protect fuels the right one. The second feeling is always with me, but the first…" he sighed. "I was a problem-child when I was younger, until my abuelo taught me to be different, to not use my size, my big arms to hit, to hurt, to use them to protect. Since then, it's actually pretty hard to get me angry enough to really want to hurt someone…which makes activating the power of my left arm hard as well."

"What could have made you angry last Friday, when nothing apparently had even with everything that happened in the last months?" Nanao couldn't help but ask, intrigued.

"Yammy, the Espada, he threatened my nakama." Chad answered simply yet seriously. "My nakama who were all already fighting, getting hurt, tired. There was no way I would ever allow him to hurt any of them further, not if I could stop him."

Everyone nodded, it was understandable, to a point, and it fit with the M.O every single Nakama seemed to follow.

Things got a little simpler after that, as the captains asked for more details in each battle they were particularly interested in. They got confirmation that Orihime had a new technique she'd developed pretty much combining two of her primary ones (in a similar way to how she'd obtained the previous one during the Ouin situation); learnt that Keeva had been burnt by her own power back-firing on her, even if no one really knew why or how.

"Didn't you ask your sister?" Kotori inquired, half-confused, half-suspicious.

"Yes, she has no idea." Keeva answered honestly, then elaborated. "She and I…we're not the same. We're sisters, but only because her family adopted me. When we met I was twelve and an orphan, had been moving from foster-family to foster-family for as long as I remembered, never lasted long with any of them. I just didn't fit. Children Services had finally given up on me when L…Serenity and I happened to meet one summer. We clicked, became friends, and by the end of that break, she asked me to become a part of her family."

"So, you're not blood-sisters, yet you're both spiritually aware and empowered…" Kira commented, brows narrowed. "Isn't that a bit of a coincidence…?"

"Maybe, or maybe it was fate." Uryuu suggested with a small smile.

"Maybe I was just fortunate to find someone who understood me, who accepted me, especially after so long…" Keeva whispered in a heartfelt tone.

"What about your original family?" Isane asked, not quite understanding everything.

"I have no idea." Keeva answered. "Whoever they might have been, they probably just didn't want me. I was found by some Spanish fishermen. From what I was told at one point I was in a ship of Mexican emigrants who were trying to get illegally into Spain. The ship was wrecked during a storm. There were no actual casualties from that particular accident and yet, when the Spanish authorities were arranging to send everyone back to Mexico, no one claimed me. Therefore, the logical thing to assume is that no one wanted me."

Silence reigned, as no one knew how to reply to that. Even those who had no family, they knew it just wasn't the same, it couldn't be the same, not having anyone, to actually knowing, or believing, whoever must have been there at one point, hadn't wanted you. Rukia in particular couldn't help herself, she moved quietly around Ichigo and Uryuu, and then went to place a hand to Keeva's arm, trying her best to communicate understanding, empathy… she actually knew what it was like to feel you weren't wanted, had felt like that back when she'd believed Hisana had abandoned her just because. Of course, she'd come to learn differently, and a part of her wished Keeva would eventually find out something similar about her own family, even if it seemed almost impossible in that moment…

The discussion went on, as Tatsuki confirmed that she had defeated Menoly Malia, when Keeva was unable to finish her fight against her. The others had all confirmed how their respective fights had ended, with little murmuring on the matter, except for Rukia, who some seemed to have trouble believing had defeated an Arrancar all by herself, as very few truly realized her potential, her actual power.

"It was stated in the report that the two Espada escaped, leaving your fights against them unfinished." Yamamoto declared. "We would like more details on that."

"It's pretty simple actually." Ichigo declared. "Chad was fighting Yammy, I was fighting Grimmjow, when suddenly a Garganta opened in the sky and two hollows came out. They didn't fight, just went to retrieve the Espada who, by that point, were the only Arrancar still alive in Karakura." He shook his head. "Apparently what happened on Friday wasn't ordered, or even approved, by Aizen. The way they made it sound Aizen was pretty angry the battles actually happened, not sure why."

"You stated that one of those who arrived to retrieve the two Espada was an Espada himself, the other one that appeared in the earlier Invasion…" Ukitake commented.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuarto Espada." Ichigo clarified. "Yes, he arrived, along with another hollow, possibly an Arrancar; an unknown, we'd never seen him before. They didn't seem to be interested in fighting us at all, simply talked to Grimmjow and Yammy and then left with them back through the same Garganta they had arrived in."

"Just like that?" Sui-Feng inquired, brows furrowed tightly.

"Just like that." Ichigo and Uryuu agreed at the same time.

It looked like Sui-Feng was going to challenge that statement, but in the end just looked even more thoughtful, which made the Nakama wonder what that was about.

"I think I understand Sui-Feng taichou's skepticism, somewhat." Toushirou announced, just as thoughtful. "I mean, you had all been through long, hard fights. Even if Aizen hadn't ordered them, and didn't like the fact they happened, for whatever the reason, it was the perfect opportunity for him to get rid of you all. And yet he didn't. Orders or not, this Cuarto Espada, and whoever his companion was, didn't attempt to kill even one of you."

"I see." Rangiku nodded, either not seeing, or ignoring everyone's surprise. "It's pretty logical isn't it? Or at least it should be. The Nakama are a threat to Aizen's plans, Ichigo most of all, and yet they let go a perfect opportunity to kill him, or at least truly hurt him, either directly, or attacking any of the other already-injured-and-drained Nakama. Yet they didn't, they just left. Which means…well, I don't really know what it is supposed to mean."

"Aizen either has done something, either given himself power, given power to his minions, or just gotten more powerful ones, that he no longer sees Ichigo as a threat or…" For some reason, Toushirou didn't dare finish his own thought.

"He wants or needs Ichigo for something." Karin finished for him.

Toushirou nodded solemnly.

Nobody had any idea what to do, what to say anymore; all they had were assumptions, though something told them they weren't too far from the truth, whatever that might actually be.

"Yes well, assumptions won't help any of us…" Ichigo began.

"Kurosaki…" Byakuya couldn't help but call him. "Aren't you the slightest bit worried? If Karin-san and Hitsugaya-taichou are right…"

"Then they're right." Ichigo shrugged. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Many things might or might not be. We won't get anywhere worrying about the possibilities. Instead we must focus in the here and now, our priorities, like training…"

"And studying." Uryuu pointed out. "Do not forget about studying."

"Very true." Ichigo nodded.

"Studying?" Several shinigami were caught off-guard about that.

"Excuse me, Ichigo-san, how old are you all?" Ukitake couldn't help but ask.

"Eighteen, most of us are eighteen already." Ichigo answered, then clarified some. "Except Keigo, who will turn eighteen in a few months, my sisters and Keeva who are fifteen and sixteen respectively." He pondered and then added. "Uryuu is reminding me that we must study because we have entrance exams for college in mid January. And if we do not pass…Ishida-shishou will probably flay us all alive…"

"How right you are…" Ryuuken whispered from the back of the room.

Several of the Nakama actually chuckled. They knew Ryuuken wouldn't actually hurt them. But considering how much he insisted on them that they should live lives, actual lives rather than just keep getting mixed up with spiritual messes…all the Nakama had assured him they could handle both things, they could leave real lives and help protect others with their spiritual abilities at the same time. If they failed the entrance exam they would end up disappointing the man who'd given them so much, of his time of his effort, dedication…the man who'd trained them against his own better judgment.

"You know we will do our best, Ishida-sensei." Orihime stated with a soft smile. "We would never want to let you down."

"This isn't about letting me down Orihime-san." Ryuuken said honestly. "None of you could ever let me down. I just don't want you to let yourselves down. You have so much potential, not just spiritually, but in this world as well."

All the Nakama nodded solemnly in Ryuuken's direction before turning back to the screen where the highest authorities of the Gotei were still looking at them.

The shinigami were actually having a bit of a hard time processing what they had heard. Ichigo had given them his age at one point, back when the Nakama had first gone into Seireitei; but still, with everything that had been going on at that time, the shinigami hadn't fully realized things, didn't fully consider the implications, didn't realize exactly how young the group of shinketsu shinigami and empowered humans were.

"The last thing we are to discuss, is in regards to plans in case of an emergency." Sasakibe reminded everyone as he looked up from the notes he'd been taking.

"True." Several people agreed to that.

"It's easy." Ichigo declared. "There should be emergency teams prepared at all times. As long as no one above the Sexta Espada attacks Karakura, or in numbers bigger than ours, we should be alright. If any of those conditions are broken, or something happens to make things harder we'll call in for backup. Either Rukia, Uryuu or I, or if Renji or Hanatarou happen to be here at the time." He nodded to himself. "On your side, you must be ready, have a team ready at all times in case such an emergency happens and we need immediate backup."

"Wouldn't it be easier to station a team on Karakura already?" Komamura inquired.

"Not in this case." Uryuu shook his head. "More high-ranked shinigami in Karakura will only make the already big target that seems to have been painted in the town, even bigger. We know Aizen wants to use Karakura to create the Ouken, and for that he actually needs the people of this town to still be alive when we finally acts. However, as we also discovered last Friday, he doesn't have as much control over the Arrancar as he probably likes to believe."

"We're strong, we've said it before, and this last attack should have pretty much confirmed it." Karin stated calmly. "We are good enough to keep things under control until the main attack comes, or if something happens and there is a battle bigger than the one that took place two days ago. That's why we need a team to be ready to back us up. But not until then."

"I offer myself to lead that backup team." Toushirou declared unexpectedly.

That threw several for a loop, the idea of there even being a backup team hadn't even been approved yet but, in the end, Yamamoto decided to go along with it.

"Very well, Hitsugaya-taichou." Yamamoto nodded. "You shall choose your team, taking in consideration everything that has been discussed regarding the capabilities of the Arrancar the Nakama have fought against thus far when you do, then come back to me with the list."

Toushirou nodded.

"Is there anything else that should be addressed or will the meeting be adjourned?" Sasakibe asked formally to everyone.

"Nothing on our side." Yamamoto shook his head.

"There's one more thing on our side." Ichigo announced, to everyone but Rukia's surprise. "A topic I've been asked to bring into your attention."

"Yes?" Yamamoto had a feeling things were about to get complicated, again, but then again, the Nakama seemed to be experts at that.

"I'm not sure how many of those present you will want to be part of the discussion I'm sure is to follow." Ichigo stated. "What I can say right now is that the topic is in regards to what happened a century ago, the chaos…"

That froze all the elder captains, as well as several of the lieutenants.

"What do you know of what happened a century ago boy?" Yamamoto couldn't help but sound pretty harsh when he asked that question.

"I know quite a bit." Ichigo admitted.

In an instant, Yamamoto turned to look at Urahara, who was looking at the orange-haired teenager with wide-eyes and a dry mouth. Wondering what could be making the teenaged shinigami bring up such a topic, and in that moment…

"This has nothing to do with Urahara." Ichigo assured the Commander. "I'm bringing this up for an entirely different reason."

"Which is…" Yamamoto really didn't like not knowing what to expect.

"I've been authorized to give you one name, and one name only." Ichigo began.

"Authorized?" Sui-Feng interrupted. "By who?"

"Some who have earned my respect." Ichigo answered simply.

"What is the name?" Yamamoto asked, suspecting what it would be.

"Hirako Shinji." Ichigo answered.

The reaction was immediate from every shinigami who had been either a captain or a lieutenant at the moment in time when the person named Hirako Shinji had last been seen in Seireitei; and yet, one more person reacted as well. One in a lower rank and apparently so young, she couldn't have possibly been in any way connected to Shinji, or to any of the group his name represented… or could she?

"We will continue this discussion with everyone present, on the understanding that no one is to repeat what is talked about here with anyone of lower ranked, or who hasn't been authorized." Yamamoto stated with absolute seriousness. "I suppose the Nakama will all be staying for what's to follow…

"They will Yamamoto-san." Ichigo nodded. "Even though, for the time being only one knows everything that's going on, most of them know already at least a part; and it's important for everyone present right now to know everything. Karakura's welfare, and possibly even more, may someday depend on it."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Kurosaki Ichigo." Yamamoto stated in a hard voice. "The happenings of a hundred years ago are hard, complicated, they are a stain that hasn't been washed from the honor of the Gotei in all the time that has been since. Its relevance to present times and events isn't really…"

"Oh but it is all highly relevant Yamamoto-san." Ichigo interrupted. "It's exactly why it's so important. Because, after a hundred years you're still blaming the same man, for something that wasn't actually his fault. Granted, he isn't exactly innocent, he did create the object that made the whole madness possible on a level, but the mastermind behind the whole thing, and the one who actually set the ball rolling, began the mess that ended with the loss of so many high-leveled shinigami, was not him. It was not Urahara Kisuke, but Aizen Sousuke."

"You seem very keen on defending Urahara…" Sui-Feng commented drily, she really didn't like the blonde shop-keeper, she might even hate him more than Ichigo himself.

"I care little about Urahara, aside from the deals we have in spiritual business." Ichigo shrugged as he admitted to that. "He had already told us some things related to that event, it's how we weren't that surprised about what Aizen did. At the same time, it was Urahara's fault that Rukia was ever involved in the whole madness in the first place, so…"

"If not Urahara, then who do you expect to help by bringing up this topic?" Unohana inquired, not daring to have much hope.

"I already gave you a name, I'm not giving any more." Ichigo said stiffly. "Not unless I get some answers first."

"And what kind of answers are you looking for?" Yamamoto wanted to know.

"I know what the stand was on this whole matter a hundred years ago." Ichigo deadpanned. "I think it might have been the most stupid decision ever taken by your so-called authorities."

There were quite a few indignant mutters among the Gotei, but some remained quiet. Waiting, they knew that Ichigo had an objective for what he was saying, doing.

"In the end, I don't really care about decisions made a century ago." Ichigo went on. "I wasn't even born then. However, I do care about what the decisions might be now."

"What makes you think anything might have changed?" Kyouraku inquired, confused.

"Oh, I'm quite sure they didn't change any decisions, not before Aizen killed them all in any case." Ichigo said easily. "However, they aren't the highest authority currently." His voice turned serious. "From what I understand, Soul Society is currently in a state of Martial Law. Which means you all as the Gotei, and you in particular as the Captain Commander are currently the highest authority in Soul Society. So my question actually is: how much are you willing to change the decisions that were made a century ago?" his eyes flashed in defiance. "You have information now that you didn't back then. You have all the facts, and the names of those truly guilty. However, will knowing all that change anything? What about all the others who were once condemned, and have been innocent all along?"

Yamamoto's eyes stared straight into Ichigo, in that moment he was absolutely convinced that there were many names he could say, aside from Hirako Shinji's, and not only because he might have heard them, no; something else was going on, even if Yamamoto wasn't quite sure what just yet. He would think more on it later.

"What…What exactly is everyone talking about?" Kira Izuru asked, confused.

Hisagi nodded, as confused about the whole thing as his former kohai, and he wasn't the only one. Most of the lieutenants present, and even some of the captains like Hitsugaya Toushirou could only wonder at what was being discussed.

"Taichou…" Ise Nanao sounded so nervous, so hesitant, it made everything even more shocking. "Is what is being talked about related to the disappearance of Lisa-fukutaichou?"

Silence reigned for what seemed like forever, until Kyouraku Shunsui's eventual answer broke it, sending the ball rolling:

"It does Nanao." He answered solemnly.

Shunsui was being so serious, if it had been any other moment Nanao might have even gaped at him, or checked to see if he didn't have a fever, or something like that; something, anything that might explain his excessively out-of-character attitude.

Ichigo focused all his energies in not reacting at all to the name Nanao pronounced. He knew the black-haired Visored had been very tight to both Kyouraku Shunsui and Ise Nanao. In fact, Lisa had been delighted at what Ichigo and Rukia had been able to share with her about those two, regardless of how little it had been aside from meetings of the Shinigami Women's Association, of which Rukia had a lot of stories.

Still, Ichigo knew he was being carefully observed by a number of people, Yamamoto included, if he reacted in any way, that would be enough of an answer.

"Yama-jii…" Shunsui called, turning to the old shinigami. "If there's any chance for Lisa to be alive, to be alright, I want to know…"

And so, the long explanation began. That day, for the first time ever, a full recount of what had happened in a lapse of several days, a little over a hundred years before, was given. It was explained how people had been disappearing from Rukongai, how a group of Shinigami had been sent to investigate and then failed to come back, other Shinigami had gone after that first group. And then the real mayhem struck. Suddenly there were eight powerful hollowified shinigami, the Gotei was in absolute disarray, and the Central 46 ordered the immediate execution of all hollowified shinigami as well as the supposed responsible for the whole disaster: Urahara Kisuke. And then things had gotten even more twisted, when three others, Urahara, included, has stepped in, running away from Soul Society to hide in the Real World, taking with them all eight of the hollowified shinigami.

"In the lapse of a couple of nights the Gotei lost a dozen of its most promising shinigami, including the three highest ranking members of the Kidou Corps." Yamamoto stated solemnly. "A total of seven captains, four lieutenants and a 3rd seat. The first eleven went underground in the World of the Living, while the last was killed during the chaos."

"Dead?" Urahara couldn't help but ask. "Who died? What 3rd seat? I didn't know anything about anyone else!"

Yamamoto didn't answer that question, instead looking at Tessai, Tsukabishi Tessai, the once captain of the Kidou Corps, and probably the only person in the room who knew who that third seat had been; one of very few people, probably no more than a handful, that had known that particular shinigami, that even knew her name.

"She was a very powerful member of the Kidou Corps, a 'phantom agent'." Tessai declared in a very serious tone. "It is well-known that the Kidou Corps act mostly in the shadows, few people even know who we are…even now, I'm sure there is someone, high-ranked, of the Corps standing in a corner of the room, watching this meeting, and he/she won't interfere unless it becomes absolutely necessary." He shook his head. "I won't make it so. In regards to that person, I will only say she was possibly the most powerful and gifted Kidou user I've ever known. She certainly was good enough that she could have challenged either my lieutenant, or myself for our positions at any time, but she preferred being a phantom agent, claiming that working from the shadows was more her style. Her codename is all that is left from her, from her time: she was 'Ave Blanca', the white bird."

The whole revelation about this very powerful shinigami surprised everyone and yet, most of their attention was still on everything that was said before, on the seven captains and four lieutenants that were lost, not to death, but to something else. Particularly those that were hollowified, who were to be executed yet somehow managed to escape with their lives.

"Lisa, Shinji, and everyone else, they didn't stay hollows, did they?" Shunsui asked, his voice hoarse and broken with feeling.

There was so much hope shining in his eyes, even as he kept a hand on his lieutenant's shoulder, helping her deal with what must have been a crazy roller-coaster of emotions. And it was just that Yadoumaru Lisa meant so much for them, in so many different ways. For Shunsui, she was a dear friend, the dearest he had aside from Juushirou, one of the few people who truly understood him, and accepted him for himself; for Nanao, she was her mentor, her guide, her inspiration, the reason Nanao had studied and trained so hard to reach the position of lieutenant, because Lisa herself had held it once; Lisa was also the one that had first connected Shunsui and Nanao; if those two had gotten as far as they had, it was all because of Yadoumaru Lisa.

"No, they didn't stay hollows." Urahara admitted after what seemed like forever. "I used the Hougyoku on them. I was trying to undo the hollowification but it didn't actually work that way. Instead it stabilized their transformation, at the same time it gave them a chance to fight against their Inner Hollows so they could regain full control of their bodies. It worked, they fought, they won, and they regained control."

"So they went back to being shinigami?" Isane inquired, confused.

"More or less, but not exactly." Urahara answered.

"They're more than just shinigami." Ichigo contributed. "They're shinigami, yes, but by defeating their Inner Hollows, they gained the right to use their powers. They are able to wear a hollow-mask, and when they do their reiatsu is amplified and they are able to use hollow powers." He sighed. "They didn't really go back to being exactly as they'd been. They became more. Which, I suppose, is what Aizen had been aiming for when he caused the whole thing in the first place. I suppose that's where he got the idea to create Arrancars, the way he's doing now. After all, it's essentially the same, only in the opposite direction."

"Does that mean this…shinigami with hollow powers are on Aizen's side?" Sui-Feng suggested, immediately in guard. "Because if they are then…"

"Then what? You'll order their annihilation?" Ichigo challenged. "Like you did with the Bount? Or the mod-souls?" his tone turned sarcastic and biting. "It's so easy for you, isn't it? You get an idea, you create it; then, when it either doesn't work as you wanted it to, or you find the slightest inconvenient with it, you simply order it terminated. And ok, I understand the Bount were dangerous, I'm not exactly a fan of them myself. Kariya was a psycho and a lot of lives were lost because of them, innocent lives. Still, there were some you might have been able to reason with, some that were as innocent as the souls they had to feed on…Then there are the Gikon, modified souls, created to be placed in artificial bodies, or even dead bodies, to reinforce natural abilities and fight hollows, possibly as backup of shinigami…"

"There were all kind of moral problems with those souls, with reanimating corpses." Komamura began, immediately defending the law.

"Yes, I'm sure there were all kind of problems, and I'm sure those existed even before the project was approved, you just didn't let those stop you, until you actually lost interest in the project." Ichigo continued attacking. "And if making artificial souls is supposed to be so wrong, how is it that you don't seem to have a problem with the standard Gikongan. I mean, really, how is an odd, quirky, half-crazed artificial soul any better than a serious, focused, battle-oriented one? At least the second can actually be of some help, with protecting innocent or whatever else is necessary, and they're less likely to ruin things by doing something completely out of character of the owner of the body!"

"We understand the reason for your intense defense of the Gikon, and I personally signed the authorization for the ones that aid the Nakama." Yamamoto stated. "I did so when Urahara Kisuke called me requesting it, to make the existence of the first one legal, and allow him to legally create the other three."

"First one…other three…?" Sui-Feng was taken off-guard by that. "You mean to say there are four Gikongan existing right now? Despite the law?!"

"I gave authorization for their existence Sui-Feng-taichou, and that's the last I'll be hearing from this." Yamamoto stated solemnly.

"Can we meet them?" Nemu asked unexpectedly.

Mayuri directed a hard look at her, but she ignored it in favor of focusing on the Nakama. For all answer several of them turned to a side, beyond the reach of the video-feed. A second later all the Shinigami watched in a mix of surprise and confusion as what pretty much were four plush toys, jumped onto the low table the Nakama were seated half surrounding. The first looked like a yellow and brown lion, the second a white rabbit with a purple ribbon, the third a chickadee in a blue dress, the fourth a black girl-like bear in a Chinese tunic.

"These are Kon, Ririn, Nova and Kai." Ichigo introduced them in the order they stood. "And they help me, Rukia, Karin and Tatsuki respectively. It makes things easier when we have to go fight a hollow in the middle of class, or at some other point when we're in public."

"You keep them in stuffed toys?" Hisagi asked, not quite understanding it.

"Yes." Tatsuki shrugged. "They're real. They think, they feel. It didn't seem fair that we would just carry the pills, allowing them into our bodies just when we needed them. They deserved more than that. Ichigo found out accidentally that they could exist in toys, and we followed that lead. It's not perfect, it's not like they can have their own lives. But they have a certain degree of freedom, even when not in our bodies. Also, we tend to take them with us wherever we go, which gives them the chance to go to places as well."

The Shinigami still had trouble wrapping their heads around things. The fact that the Nakama had Gikon, and treated them as if they were almost human, it was something unprecedented. Yet another thing that made the Nakama different, special.

"Yes well, as amazing as seeing Gikongan in stuffed toys is, I believe we were talking about something else before." Kotori suggested.

"True, the shinigami with hollow powers…" Kira nodded.

"Visored, call them Visored." Ichigo indicated. "That's the name they've chosen for themselves. And to answer the…kind question presented by Sui-Feng before, no they're not on Aizen's side. How could they, when it's because of him that they nearly lost their lives, their sanity, and still lost so much…?" he pondered a bit then added. "If I had to say, I would say they're on nobody's side, because nobody is on their side."

"How did you end up contacting them, since they obviously must have been very well hidden?" Unohana inquired, curious.

"I didn't contact them, they contacted me." Ichigo qualified calmly. "They were curious about me, and about my nakama. We talked and came to an agreement. A non-aggression deal. Which means they don't attack us, we don't attack them. It was suggested that such a deal might evolve into a possible truce, maybe even an official alliance with us and, if it works out, by extension, with the Gotei 13; but that will depend in what you are planning on doing about the law that was decreed a hundred years ago." His eyes narrowed. "Will you let it stand? Will you hold onto a law that condemns eight innocents to death, even after knowing that they're not the monsters you believed them to be back then? Or will you open your minds, and your eyes, and give them a chance? Will you take the risk for the more unorthodox side of things, the less-traditional one, for a change? Will you move on with the times, adapt, evolve, or will you hold onto tradition, onto the old, onto the obsolete…?"

"There's nothing wrong with tradition!" Sui-Feng and Komamura stated in unison.

"There is when it stops you from going as far as you could." Uryuu declared. "When it won't allow you to be as good as you could be." He smirked slightly. "It's the exact same thing that happened to the Quincy. They held onto traditions for so long, even when they should have known it wasn't right, that they were condemning perfectly innocent souls to oblivion for sins committed by a corrupted version of themselves. I chose to be different, I chose to change, to adapt, to evolve; and my purifying arrows came to be."

It looked like Yamamoto wanted to say something concerning Uryuu's speech, but in the end he chose not to say anything. It wasn't really relevant for their current topic of conversation, the Visored, there would be a time and place to discuss what had come to his mind right then.

"So, what will it be Captain Commander?" Ichigo repeated the question.

It was the first time he'd ever called the old shinigami by his title, but even he could see how important the whole situation was.

"I am unable to change a decree made by the Central 46." Yamamoto announced in a calm tone. "Especially since there was no reason to suspect there might have been some injustice committed, prior to their murder."

It looked like Ichigo, Rukia and even Uryuu were going to say something about what the aged shinigami was saying, but he kept on talking.

"I cannot give a formal solution." Yamamoto qualified stoically. "What I can do is seal a non-aggression pact with the Visored, even a temporary treaty. Then, depending on their actions during the upcoming war, we might be able to find a more permanent solution. If the Visored prove to be valuable allies, that might convince Central 46 it is a good idea to rescind the order for their execution and consider a more permanent treaty with them."

"What if it isn't enough?" Uryuu inquired, eyes narrowed. "What if they fight, if they help, and it still isn't enough for Central 46?"

"Then the Gotei will have to see a group of very valuable allies and former comrades go." Yamamoto declared with absolute seriousness.

A heartbeat, two, at least half of those present could only remain immobile, wondering if they had really heard what they thought they heard. Was Yamamoto really implying that he would simply let the Visored go…?

"After all, they already managed to escape once, a hundred years ago, when they had no idea of their own powers and little to no control." Yamamoto went on. "They stayed off our radar for decades. It really wouldn't be surprising at all if they were to simply…disappear again, if we were never able to catch them…"

And yes, he'd been implying exactly that.

"Isn't there any other possibility?" Rukia asked thoughtfully. "Is there no authority that supersedes that of Central 46?"

"Only one, the Spirit King." Yamamoto answered. "And that is an entirely other situation."

It was, they all knew that, even if only those who had been present when Aizen and the other traitors had made their escape from Soukyoku had actually heard the traitor's threat against the presumably empty throne; and from them, only the senior captains, and a few more people with very high clearance truly understood everything that was going on.

"So, is that your official decision, Soutaichou?" Ichigo asked solemnly.

"It is." Yamamoto nodded.

Ichigo nodded, smiling a bit, as he sent a pulse of reiatsu. Obviously those in Seireitei couldn't feel it, but the looks the adults in the Shouten directed to the teenager were enough to call their attention just the same.

A few seconds later there was a figure standing in a corner of the room, behind the Nakama, and just in sight of the video-feed. He had short, straight blonde hair, was wearing modern clothes and, surprisingly enough, a zanpakutou…surprisingly at least for those who did not know him, and had not seen him recently.

"Hey!" Shinji smirked brightly. "Long time no see Soutaichou! And everyone else!"

"What…what's the meaning of this?" Mayuri demanded hotly.

"Who are you?" Omaeda demanded almost at the same time.

"Hirako Shinji, former 5th Division Captain, Visored, pleasure to meet you." Shinji stated brightly, then added with a smirk. "Actually no, it isn't really a pleasure. This is actually one of the least pleasurable things I've done in the last decade, probably even longer."

"Then why are you even here Shinji?" Unohana asked, doubtful.

"I like the kid." The blonde Visored pointed to Ichigo. "We all do in fact, almost as much as we hate Aizen…that bastard. So we though…'Hey, why not ally with the kid? And his own allies? After all, he's already fighting Aizen, we might as well all fight him together'." He actually chuckled. "Then we learnt that the Nakama had an alliance with Seireitei…an actual alliance…" he looked straight at the Commander. "Have you really gone soft in your old age Yama? Because it sure seems like it."

Sui-Feng was furious, the nerve of that…that freak, because she really couldn't call him anything else; and the way he was addressing the Captain Commander!

"Think very carefully before you say a word, Sui-Feng-san." Unohana told the younger captain in a soft, yet authoritative voice.

"The way he's speaking to the Soutaichou, it's an insult in so many ways…" Sui-Feng muttered with barely concealed fury.

"That may be true, but Hirako Shinji has the right for that, and more." Unohana told her. "Because he's one of the oldest captains in the Gotei. He was part of the first generation, one of those taught by Yamamoto himself. A generation of which only Juushirou, Shunsui and I remain in service of the Gotei. The rest have either died, retired, or joined the Royal Guard."

Sui-Feng couldn't believe it, the blonde, crazy and immature man was one of the oldest, most powerful shinigami ever. And he was also one of the hollowified shinigami, a Visored…just what was their world coming to?

"You allowed Kurosaki to use your name, to bring the events of a century ago to our attention." Yamamoto declared seriously.

"I did." Shinji nodded, still only half-seriously. "I thought, 'what the hell?' it's not like I'm in too much danger if they know about me."

"You're obviously not the only one, not the only Visored, as Kurosaki named you." Shunsui declared, still wanting to know more about Lisa. "Yet you're the one here, you're answering for them all…"

"No, I'm not." Shinji admitted. "And if you really want to know, yes, I'm the leader."

"Shinji…" Shunsui muttered, not able to hold himself in check anymore. "Lisa…"

"She's fine." Shinji's expression actually softened as he addressed his former colleague. "She sends you greetings in fact, to you and Nanao-chan…"

The half-drowned sob revealed to the Visored that the girl in question was, in fact, present as well; and not only that, he could see Shunsui taking her into his arms, as they both cried.

"Mu…Muguruma-taichou…?" Shuuhei hesitantly asked from his spot between the leaders of the seventh and eleventh divisions.

"Kensei?" Shinji asked as if it were nothing at all. "Back at HQs, most likely training, either that or being annoyed to death by Mashiro."

Rukia and Ichigo both snorted, having been witnesses to the rather strange phenomenon that was those two. It was hard to understand how they had survived living together, even if not exactly alone, for a century, when they could irritate each other so much.

"Anyway, who are you kid?" Shinji asked, looking carefully at Hisagi.

"Hisagi Shuuhei, 9th Division fukutaichou and current acting-captain." Shuuhei introduced himself, still a bit hesitant.

"9th division, huh?" Shinji smirked. "Guess that's why you're asking about Kensei. Though I can honestly say I don't remember you."

"I wasn't part of the Gotei at the time your…situation took place Hirako…-san." Shuuhei found no other way to address him. "Muguruma-t…-san saved me one night when I was a child, right before…all that happened I suspect."

"Ah…probably the very night it all began in fact." Shinji nodded thoughtfully. "The 9th Division was the first sent to investigate the unexplained disappearances of: first, Rukongai citizens, and later on shinigami. First it was ten lower seated members of the division, and later on Kensei, Mashiro and a handful of other high-ranked ones. When they didn't come back either, the rest of us got involved…"

"We knew something was wrong, but never imagined it could be that wrong." Juushirou stated in a sad, remorseful, tone.

"We overestimated ourselves." Shunsui added. "Our pride, our arrogance, almost destroyed us; it still killed and permanently changed many lives…"

"Don't you dare take that attitude on us Shunsui!" Shinji practically snarled. "Don't you dare pity us! We're no victims! Granted, we've had some shitty things happen to us. But we survived, we got back up, we moved on! In the end, we overcame all those difficulties, we won! So don't you, or anyone else, dare pity us!"

"Don't see it as pity Shinji, rather as pride." Unohana said softly. "Not many could have gone through what you, and the others, did and come out alright…You had to have been very strong, and there's nothing to pity about that."

Shinji nodded, satisfied with that. In silence he kept looking around, until his eyes laid on one of the younger-looking figures on the Gotei's side; his eyes widened almost imperceptibly, not quite believing what he was seeing, it was just too much.

"Will that be all then?" Yamamoto asked stoically in that very moment.

Ichigo turned to look at Shinji in silence who, after a couple of seconds, noticed the look and nodded in acceptance, they were done.

"It is all, Yamamoto-san." Ichigo nodded.

"Then this meeting is declared adjourned, we will consider having another one if another fight like the one from last Friday takes place, or if anything else equally important develops." Yamamoto ordered authoritatively.

All of those present nodded stoically.

Then the screen went blank.

"Well, that was an interesting meeting." Shinji commented with a smirk.

Ichigo shook his head with a sigh, trust Shinji to act as if nothing serious had really happened.

"We need to get ready, plan how we're going to be using our time." Uryuu declared. "We need to train, and we also need to study."

"Yes." Ichigo admitted. "I have a feeling our Winter Break just got a lot more complicated."

They all knew it was true, but to keep those they cared for, and their town, safe, they were willing to do pretty much anything.

**xXx**

A figure was shunpoing so fast, it seemed almost as if he'd appeared from thin air when he finally stopped several dozen feet over a huge lake in the form of a distorted oval that seemed to surround about a third of the city right beside it. On ground level, standing right at the edge of said lake, was the very reason why that figure had shunpoed so fast, such a long distance. The new arrival was, in fact, Shinji, and he knew who exactly the one waiting by the lake was.

"Hey Shin…" The figure by the lake received him.

"Long time no seen." He answered almost automatically. "Though I do not understand why I had to come this far just to meet you…"

"Karakura is Nakama territory, no shinigami except those authorized by Kurosaki Ichigo and his group can so much as enter." The second figure informed him. "And Naruki City is a bit too close to Karakura to be safe."

"I see." Shinji nodded. "Do you have any idea how absolutely shocked I was when I saw you today, standing there? I nearly fell in shock! I'm sure Hachi will be the same…not sure why Tessai hasn't noticed yet…"

"I talked to him before, made him promise not to say a thing." His interlocutor said. "He agreed with me, even if he doesn't understand why I am doing things this way."

"I don't understand either." Shinji stated. "I mean, from what I remember, that night you stated you would be leaving for the Rukongai and never returning to Seireitei…"

"Yeah well, it's a long story…" The other one stated evasively.

"Yeah well, I have time." Shinji insisted.

"But I don't. They'll notice my absence if I don't go back soon. In any case, I called you here to ask you to keep your silence when you see me, pretend you've never seen me before. And ask Hachi and Hiyori to do the same."

"Why is it so important for you to hide who you really are?"

"For the very same reason I never allowed anyone but the four of you to know me all those years ago. In any case, I need you to promise me your silence Shin, and others' as well."

"Will you explain to me, to us, what's really going on?"

"I will, later."

"Very well. Then I promise we won't say anything." He smirked slightly. "Now, my dear first love, come into my arms and…!"

"Stop your idiocies Shin!" His interlocutor, a girl, said with a laugh. "Besides, we both know you prefer blondes…"

"The spirits save me!" Shinji cried out dramatically.

The two laughed, for a while just basking in the memories of easy, peaceful times long past. Maybe they would return some day, maybe…but for the time being, they had to be ready to fight, because it was the only way to ever get that peace back.

"I have to go now." She told him softly, with a smile.

"Maybe I'll see you later." Shinji declared. "I'm sure Hiyori would love to say hello."

"I'm sure." She nodded with a small knowing smile. "See you later Shin, good luck."

"See you later, and good luck to you too, Ave Blanca…" Shinji whispered.

She actually looked over her shoulder, winking at him and waving one more time before she unsheathed her zanpakutou and used it to open a Senkaimon.

Shinji for his part, just remained standing where he was, wondering about the times he lived, about what could be so bad that the Ave Blanca had actually returned…it made him shiver, because for her to break the promise of never coming back, it had to be bad indeed.


	32. Truths

Here we are! For those of you who wanted a bit of training between the Nakama and the Visored, here you go! It's not much, but I hope you like it. Also, Christmas, one more 'remembrance day' for the Nakama, New Year's, a bit more info on Serenity, and the second part of the confrontation with Isshin I'd been planning almost from the start but just hadn't found a moment to include.

Hope you'll enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 32. Truths**

The following weekend all the Nakama went together to visit the Visored, who actually were expecting the group. It was one of the things they had talked about before Ichigo and Rukia had left the warehouse. The Visored were intrigued about the Nakama, about a group formed by a Quincy, several shinketsu shinigami and a bunch of spiritually aware and empowered humans, all who had known about Ichigo, and about Shiro, and who had accepted him. It made him wonder, if those same Nakama would be willing to accept the rest of them and mostly, if others could be like them.

There was some hope, with what Ichigo had presented to Yamamoto in that video-conference, and with the way the Captain Commander had replied; that was a hope for a possible future, for possibly rejoining a society that had once turned their back on them, and while they knew they could live without that society, some of them still missed it, or at least a part of it. And yet, while that was hope, it wasn't enough; it wasn't enough for a government, for a leader to accept him, what was the most important to them in fact was to know if the society in general, if the rest of the people, could accept them.

Being a Visored, or something like them, himself, Ichigo had no trouble at all getting through Hachi's kekkai, then he made a point on keeping his hand on the barrier as the rest of the Nakama went through it. He knew Rukia could have gotten in by herself, and suspected that even Hachi's great barrier might not be able to keep Orihime out if she had enough strength of will, but decided not to try that particular theory.

The group of teenagers went straight through the debris-filled ground-level of the warehouse, down a trapdoor and into what was actually the main level of the Visored hideout, a training area not unlike Urahara's own. There, the Visored's were in a lose half circle, waiting; the Nakama immediately mimicked the formation, pushing Ichigo, Rukia and Uryuu front and center, to the same level Shinji held.

"So, these are your subordinates…" Shinji commented as he observed the teens carefully.

He, like Hiyori, had seen them before, but hadn't had the chance to actually look at them, carefully, see their stances, notice their attitudes, their aura.

The rest of the Visored, on the other hand, seemed to be absolutely flabbergasted by them all, the fact that there were that many humans, or part-humans with spiritual powers, and not only that, that they were there, in that moment, regardless of what may have happened in the past.

"You say that as though you believe I command them, in the way the old-man commands his troops in Seireitei." Ichigo huffed. "That would never happen."

"That you choose not to give an order, doesn't mean there aren't those who would willingly follow." Shinji commented offhandedly. "It's obvious by the stances of them all, that they're loyal to you, they would follow you, probably still will, and most likely even better and faster than Yama's own soldiers."

"They are not my subordinates, but my nakama." Ichigo insisted. "I do not give orders, I do not lead, I only fight to protect, with them by my side."

"You say you do not lead now, doesn't mean you won't sometime in the future." Shinji insisted. "I noticed it from the very beginning; or after I was able to move past the fact that you didn't seem to be half-insane due to your Inner Hollow at least. You have the making of a natural leader Ichigo. One meant to lead, meant to rule…"

There was a cough, or maybe a snort, or something along those lines, that came from Karin's mouth. Shinji's eyes immediately strayed in her direction, but before he could say a thing, Hiyori was slapping him in the back of the head.

"Idiot Shinji!" She bellowed at him. "Stop saying incoherencies! That orange-top leading! Like anyone would be insane enough to follow!"

There was no reply to her rant, except for Shinji's dramatic whining as he rubbed the back of his head. However, if anyone had bothered to truly look into the Nakama's eyes in that moment, they would have realized how wrong Hiyori actually was; they, at least, wouldn't mind following Ichigo, and would, without hesitation, if such a time ever came.

"Now, now…" When Karin spoke again there was a glint in her eyes and danger in her voice. "I believe I have unfinished business with someone around here or, most likely, more than one someone…" she popped her knuckles slightly.

"What are you talking about?" Hiyori demanded.

"Well, dearest Hiyori…" Karin's voice dripped sarcasm as she kept talking. "If you remember correctly, I told you when we last met that I would bring down whoever dared so much as lay a finger on my brother, or any other of the Nakama…I would really, really hate to be unable to keep that oath."

"If I remember correctly, you swore to bring 'me', down." Hiyori pointed out.

"True, but I know you weren't the one to kidnap my brother, so…" Karin shrugged.

"I have a bone or two to pick up with them as well." Rukia pointed out. "I actually forgot last week, but not anymore. I too told them they would regret if they messed with my Ichigo." The temperature in the room actually began going down. "Oh, and if you're wondering Karin, it was Love and Rose." She pointed to the two Visored in question. "So, how about you take one and I take one, and we all have some…fun?"

"Fine by me." Karin nodded.

Before anyone could say anything to try and make the two girls rethink their plan, they had popped the ginkongan into their mouths, leaving their bodies and were rushing straight at the two who had kidnapped Ichigo the week before.

"If they're doing this in my name shouldn't I be the one fighting?" Ichigo inquired as he too popped his gikongan into his mouth so as to be on the same level.

"Something tells me we better allow them to do as they wish." Chad suggested.

"Men." Tatsuki drawled as she too left her body. "It's a woman's prerogative to defend her man. Rukia is in all her right to stake her claim and she'll prove it by fighting the one who dared to try and take Ichigo from her."

The three males just turned to look at each other, obviously still not getting it.

"What's your excuse for Karin?" Uryuu couldn't help but ask.

"She promised to take down whoever threatened us." Tatsuki reminded him with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, we might as well treat this as a rather interesting training session." She turned to the Visored. "So, who's up for a little spar?"

"I'm confused by something." Kensei commented as he looked her up and down. "I understand why those three would get out of their bodies, but why do you?"

"I have a zanpakutou too." Tatsuki deadpanned. "And my power tends to work against my own body unless I'm in my spiritual form." She held her abnormal zanpakutou at the ready. "So, wanna spar?"

"What kind of zanpakutou is that?" Kensei asked confused.

"I know she's not a normal zanpakutou, but she's all I need." Tatsuki declared with a smirk. "Let's get rolling." She got in position and called her shikai. "Dust all who stand against us, Chitania! Initiate: Wood."

Seeing the form of her zanpakutou and its release, Kensei decided it definitely was nothing like any zanpakutou he'd ever seen, yet that made it all the more interesting. He had no idea how the supposedly human girl had a zanpakutou, or why in spiritual form she wore a yukata instead of a shihakusho, or even modern clothes; in the end, he didn't really care, he liked the idea of a little spar. It was definitely his favorite way of spending free time.

In the following minutes the place became an absolute mess as most of the Nakama and Visored chose a sparring partner and got the ball rolling. The exceptions being Yuzu and Hachi who instead chose to work together to keep the kekkai up, with enough layers considering everyone involved and their levels of power, and at the same time talked about the way they each used kidou, their experiences and tips.

It had definitely been a good idea to keep Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru away, even though they all were spiritually aware, and Keigo seemed to be developing what thus far was a passive ability (he could adapt to things very fast, and whatever attack got him one time his body and mind learnt to endure and evade on the future). Still, they would have been crushed with the pressure of the reiatsu of everyone around.

"Well, everyone seems to be getting along just fine with each other…" Ichigo commented in a deadpan tone.

"Idiot berry!" Hiyori screeched, throwing a sandal at him.

And that signaled the beginning of their own little spar.

Shinji for his part only sighed before whining about being left out and joining the party, mostly against Ichigo too; after all, human or not, the orange-haired was strong enough to take both him and Hiyori on without dying, or so Shinji hoped…

In the end the Visored and the Nakama got along famously. So much that they were all keyed into Hachi's kekkai on their own and were free to come and go as they wished. Yuzu loved going to Hachi, to learn more ways of making her kidou better, particularly kekkai, as that seemed to be Hachi's specialty and Yuzu knew very little of that area. Tatsuki liked sparring against Kensei and Mashiro. They all liked sparring in fact, something they treated as a mix of training and bonding sessions. Also, it all allowed Karin and Hiyori to recover some of the friendship they'd had a century before, in a way even better than it'd been back then, because Karin wasn't a child anymore, and Hiyori herself had matured a bit; Rukia also joined the strange dynamic, quite an interesting group they formed.

The most important fact, however, was how they proved that people could accept the Visored, even knowing who they were, about the hollows they had inside. The Nakama knew it, accepted the fact, and it didn't make them treat the former shinigami any different. Even Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru, when they eventually met them, they all got along just fine. It was, in a way, more than anyone could have ever hoped for.

**xXx**

Christmas was a happy and quite funny affair among the Nakama, particularly since neither Rukia nor Renji had the slightest idea what Christmas even was! Then, when they did, they pretty much went overboard with the gifts, and things only got crazier when they got some of their friends from the Gotei, like Toushirou, Rangiku, Byakuya, among others, involved.

In the end, there were lots of presents, much laughter, songs, joy.

"I really cannot believe we've never celebrated something like this in Soul Society!" Rukia commented laughingly.

The Kurosaki family was sitting comfortably in the living room, surrounded by gifts, boxes and wrapping paper. Cups of steaming hot chocolate with small marshmallows helping in keeping them hot, as well as some cookies specially baked by Yuzu for that day. Rukia had hoped her brother would be there, but it had just been impossible, at least she'd been able to exchange presents with him and Renji.

An interesting moment came when, that afternoon, as the Nakama got all together in Uryuu's penthouse to exchange presents, they came upon a big box addressed to all of them, which wasn't from any of them.

"Hey everyone!" Ichigo called loudly as he read the card. "We have one more present!"

"Who's it from Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked, interested.

"I thought we had finished exchanging presents." Karin commented thoughtfully

"This is from Kuugo and the others." Ichigo informed them as he held the card up.

That immediately had everyone rushing around the box, which called Rukia's attention.

"Who's this Kuugo?" The petite shinigami asked, confused.

"An old friend." Ichigo answered with a fond smile. "He and his nakama tend to move around. They lived here in Karakura about two years or so ago, didn't stay for long, not even a year. Last we knew they were planning to visit China, possibly Indonesia for a while."

"It must be interesting, to get the chance to go places." Rukia commented thoughtfully.

Just being in Karakura had been such an enlightening experience for her, still was at times, she could only imagine to be able to visit all the different places on Earth, to see so many different things; for Rukia knew not all places on the Living World were the same, some were vastly different, she'd seen as much in books and the computer, and could only wonder if she would ever get such a chance. It would be a wonderful experience!

The box was opened, and presents were handed around, one for each of the Nakama. The presents were in no way extravagant, or expensive, but they were still very much appreciated by each of the teens that received them. Uryuu was delighted by some Chinese fabrics and designs, everyone knew how much he loved to make clothes; Orihime got several postcards of paintings, and even a painting of a rainy landscape, because she loved the rain, loved seeing different places, and for some reason only known to her she preferred paintings and drawings over photographs; Tatsuki received a book on Sanshou, the Chinese free fighting style, a modern hybrid of several ancient Chinese martial arts; Chad got a few exotic shirts, since he liked colorful loose shirts; Yuzu a couple of cooking books of Chinese cuisine; Karin figurines of the ancient Chinese dragon and phoenix, because she'd been fascinated with those legends her whole life; and Ichigo received a knife that had the form of a miniature elaborate ancient sword, it was meant to be used as a letter-opener, but his card said it might be good as a secret weapon too. Aside from that the rest of the box was filled with traditional Chinese candy and some cards with prayers for good luck, health and success.

"I really, really hope I'll get the chance to meet these friends of yours someday." Rukia commented with a smile.

She could see how happy all the Nakama were, not just at the gifts they'd received, but at the fact their friends had remembered them, had even thought of sending anything it all. Rukia couldn't help but wonder what kind of history might be there, it reminded her that even though she was a Nakama then, she hadn't always been, and made her wish to know more, to know about those friends, about the past, about everything she might have missed at one time.

"I'm sure you'll be able to meet them some day Rukia." Ichigo assured her.

"Maybe we can convince them to drop by for a visit sometime soon?" Orihime suggested. "Last time we saw them was right before the spring, shortly before we met Rukia-san. I would like to see them again."

"You would just like to see your boyfriend again…" Tatsuki teased her best-friend.

"It's not like that!" Orihime cried out, blushing just slightly. "Shu-kun and I aren't like that, not anymore…"

"Orihime…" Tatsuki whispered, she hadn't wanted to make her friend sad.

"It's alright Tatsuki-chan, I'm not really sad." Orihime assured her.

"I just…" Tatsuki wasn't sure how to explain her curiosity, which had existed for quite a while. "I just…I never understood why you broke up with him…"

"He's just…not the one meant for me." Orihime explained with a sigh. "He wanted me to go with him, you know? When they all decided it was time to leave Karakura? Shu-kun said I had no family left, no reason to stay here. But I didn't want to leave, didn't want to leave you all. So I chose to stay, and I chose to break up with him."

"But I thought…I thought you and him…" Tatsuki didn't understand.

"I told you, Tatsuki-chan, he's not the one meant for me." Orihime insisted with a small, almost sad smile. "It's okay, I'm not sad about that. We just went on a few dates, and it was nice, but we weren't meant to be."

"If you're sure…" Tatsuki muttered.

It was obvious the short-haired girl wasn't sure herself, but chose not to press on, in the end, it was Orihime's romantic life. Tatsuki had been fortunate enough to find the love of her existence so quickly, but not everyone had such luck, she just hoped Orihime would find hers someday; and hopefully that love wouldn't carry the baggage hers and Renji's seem to carry, or Karin's and Toushirou's, because no matter how much those two evaded the topic, everyone knew they were meant to be…

At the end of the day, perhaps the most exotic present was one given to the Nakama by Urahara Kisuke: a set of thin but sturdy chains made of some unknown metal, to be worn as bracelets, created for those among the Nakama who couldn't leave their bodies, to allow them to cross the gates into the spiritual worlds without need for the huge reiatsu converter; they were, for all intents and purposes, personal reiatsu converters. It was truly an amazing, surprising gift, and the way Urahara chose to try and begin making amends, even if he himself knew it was nowhere near enough…it would take a long time, and a greater effort, for the Nakama to ever forgive him…at least they appreciated the effort.

**xXx**

After Christmas, a couple of days before New Year, the time came for another group visit to Karakura Cemetery. This time to pay their respects to Ishida Souken. The experience was quite different from their visit to Kurosaki Masaki's grave, or their meeting to honor Chad's abuelo's memory, as Rukia noticed even before they were out of the Kurosaki home.

"Put on the white dress Uryuu gave you recently, please." Ichigo told her as he kept his back to his half-dressed beloved.

The comment actually caught Rukia by her surprise. As over-the-top as Ichigo could be sometimes, he'd never been one to try and control her, the way she dressed, or anything at all; which is why she didn't understand why he was suddenly telling her what to wear.

"It's nothing against you, or whatever you want to wear." Ichigo qualified. "It's part of the tradition. You'll understand soon enough."

Still not sure what was going on, Rukia finally dropped the dark mauve and gray sweater she was about to pull on, instead putting on a long sleeved white dress Uryuu had made for her at some point. Along with that she wore white tights, dark blue boots and a dark-blue coat.

It was as they set off from the Kurosaki home, that Rukia realized something: the light-blue dress Yuzu was wearing, the white tunic-like shirt Karin was wearing along with her jeans, and the blue dress-shirt Ichigo was wearing over an off-white wife-beater, they all had been made by Uryuu, and it showed by the star-cross the young Quincy seemed to methodically embroider somewhere in every single piece of clothing he created, either big enough to be seen, or small to be barely noticed, it was always there.

Upon arrival to Karakura Cemetery Rukia realized something else: it wasn't just the four of them wearing something made by Uryuu, every Nakama was doing the same. Uryuu, for his part, was dressed in his Quincy attire; and not only that, so was his father. The petite shinigami had never actually seen the older quincy dressed in the formal clothes of his race; and that, along with the fist sized star-cross hanging from his neck, showed in that moment that Ishida Ryuuken was very far from a normal man. He was a Quincy, what's more, he was the Master Quincy; and even if he didn't flaunt his heritage the way Uryuu seemed to, that didn't mean the older man was any less proud of it.

Ryuuken had actually taken the day off, he always did on the anniversary of his father's death, choosing to spend that time with his son and, in a way, with the rest of the Nakama. Though the rest of the teens mostly stood guard, very much like Uryuu himself and the others did when the Kurosakis visited Masaki's grave.

Once there, after the more 'human' traditions of flowers, incense and prayers were completed; Uryuu and his father also used several Quincy techniques as part of their rites to remember the man who had been the last recognized Quincy Master; for even though Ryuuken had actually earned the title, no other race had been called to bear witness and confirm the passing of the title, the only ones close enough being the shinigami, and even with all the changes Ryuuken wasn't that keen on asking them for help fulfilling what he saw as an entirely pointless rite. In the end, Ryuuken didn't care if others saw him as a Master Quincy or not, he would still hold onto the Master Cross until death came for him, or he deemed his son ready for the position, whichever happened first.

A part the Nakama took great pleasure in, in every group visit, was story time. And yet that one was particularly special, since they could all talk about how Uryuu had finally managed to fulfill his sensei's greatest wish, for Shinigami and Quincy to work together, as allies. The Nakama's alliance with the Gotei 13 was really more than Ishida Souken could have ever dreamed of. The last time Uryuu had felt so proud had been when, after almost a year of efforts and suffering, he'd finally been able to create his purifying arrows. It was that great an achievement. The truly sad part came when he'd to admit to having let go the man responsible for the deceased man's death, and especially his further suffering in the Soul Society. The only consolation was that no one doubted the man would make a mistake at one point, the creepy, half-predatory looks he kept directing at each and every Nakama at every turn was enough proof of that; and when he made that mistake, either Uryuu or Ryuuken, or any other Nakama, would destroy him once and for all (though the Ishidas had dibs, for the previous crimes committed against their family, their bloodline, but especially Ishida Souken).

**xXx**

After Ishida Souken's memorial came New Year. And at least that celebration the shinigami were more familiar with, even if they weren't as enthusiastic about celebrating them as people in the World of the Living were. Understandable for people who got to live hundreds or even thousands of years, the change from one year to the next couldn't be expected to be that much.

The day was pretty great, and the Nakama spent it together, as they usually did. It was at times like that when they seemed, acted and even felt more like a family than just friends, such a thin line, one so easy to cross.

Even Keeva was with the group, though she was still pretty much a 'probationary' Nakama. The Nakama had since been told how she was a member of an almost-completely extinct race, though the name had never been given. The teens trusted her, to a degree, not as much as they trusted each other, but enough to give them a chance, enough to believe she might one day be just like the rest of them. It was an opportunity Keeva thanked and treasured, she'd never found someone she could be close to, aside from her sister, but so much had happened in the years since her adoption, that at times she saw Serenity more as a leader, a figure of authority, than as family. Uryuu, and his nakama, were another chance to fill that void in her heart, another chance to be close to someone, to have close, true friends, and possibly a family as well. It was definitely a wonderful way for her to start the New Year.

**xXx**

Meanwhile, Serenity was taking advantage of her solitude to indulge in something that came every so often to her, even if rarely willingly: a trip down memory lane.

The young woman sat in a comfortable small sofa by her window, hot chocolate in hand (with no marshmallows because she hated those), dressed in a long lavender colored robe and with her usual white veil, her ungloved hands looking too-white under the moonlight as she held in her hands her personal photo-album, which held reminders of her most important memories, of how she had gotten to where she was.

The first picture was one of her as a ten-year-old in a knee-length skirt and sleeveless top, sitting on a bed of a simply decorated room, beside her thirteen-year-old cousin, a few days after she'd moved in.

_A ten-year-old Serenity in a white skirt and a sleeveless lavender top watched, half-hiding behind the door of her bedroom, as the new member of the family installed herself in the until-then-empty guestroom. The newcomer was a girl, about three or so years older than Serenity, in a pale-red and pink summer dress, reddish-brown hair mostly covered by a white scarf. She had gotten installed in no time at all, something understandable since all she seemed to have with her was a black considerably big bag and a smaller handbag. _

_Serenity couldn't help but watch, curious. She knew who the older girl was, even if the two hadn't met in years, and she couldn't help but wonder what was going on. _

"_I know you're there, beag ceann." The soft voice of the older girl called from the door. _

_The ten-year-old blushed to the roots of her ebony-black hair, which seemed to bring out the strange reddish tint it had and contrast greatly with her light-gray eyes and alabaster skin. _

"_It's okay, come." The older girl called. _

"_Natalia?" Serenity asked as she slowly entered the older girl's new bedroom. _

"_Yes, beag ceann?" The girl, Natalia inquired. _

"_Ah…What does beag ceann mean?" Serenity asked, not quite pronouncing the words right. _

"_It's Irish for 'little one'." Natalia answered, still smiling. _

"_I did not know you spoke Irish." _

"_I don't do it often. At least I didn't use to back h…back at my father's house." Her eyes focused once more on the younger girl. "But that's not really what you wanted to ask…" _

"_Are you going to be living with Mama, Papa, little sis and I now?" _

"_Yes, does that bother you?" _

"_No, not really." She smiled brightly. "It makes me happy. I really like you cousin, and I've been sad that you couldn't visit us for so long." _

"_Well, I'm here now, and I don't plan on leaving for a while." _

"_I like that Natalia." _

"_I supposed you would. Oh, and please don't call me Natalia." _

"_Huh? But isn't that your name?" _

"_It is the name my Father gave me, but since he has chosen to cast me out, I think it's only right I leave all that connects me to him behind, including his name." _

"_What should I call you then?" _

"_Well, you can always call me your cousin, I'm still that…" _

"_Will you also be my sister now?" _

"_Yes, I can be your sister too. Would you like that?" _

"_Yes! I would like it very much!" _

"_I do too. Ad about my name…I think it only right that I take the one mother wished me to have, I'll have to see with Aunt Marie about changing it legally, maybe she knows someone who can help me. I don't suppose it will pose much trouble." She breathed deeply. "Yes, that's what I'll do, new life, new name…" _

"_New sister!" Serenity practically squealed in delight. _

"_New family." The 'former' Natalia agreed. _

The next picture was from a short time later, before the end of the summer, which meant both girls were the same age and in clothes of the similar style; however, they were sitting on the entrance of an abandoned train station, and Serenity remembered quite clearly what had happened that day, in that place:

_Dust rose and fell rhythmically as the two cousins-sisters walked down a rarely used road, following the mostly-abandoned train-tracks just a few blocks away from their home. It was a place where they could have some time to themselves, while still staying close to home, something very important as Marie didn't want them to go far. _

_The two girls were talking companionably, when suddenly sounds of crying reached their ears. Serenity didn't even think about it, running the several yards to where a little boy was on the ground, crying and sobbing. _

"_Hey, are you alright?" the young Serenity asked, crouching by his side. _

"_No!" He sobbed, not turning to look at her. _

"_What's wrong?" Serenity asked, in the same worried tone. _

"_A monster has been pursuing me, and I cannot find my mom!" The boy cried. _

"_Monster?" Serenity was confused, but decided to push that fact aside. "Do you want me to help you find your mom?" _

"_Would you, miss?" The boy seemed delighted by that. "Thank you!" _

"_I will." Sere promised him. "Just wait a minute okay? While I talk to my cousin." _

_The older girl had been watching her all along, and took care to speak in a very low voice when Serenity approached her. _

"_I don't know if you've noticed this, beag ceann, but that little kid is…well…" The teenager wasn't even sure how to say it. _

"_Dead, I know." Serenity nodded calmly. _

"_You know?" That actually surprised her cousin. _

"_I can sense it…somehow." Not even Sere was sure how to explain that. "Also, he's Bill Thomson, from down the street, he and his mom died in a car accident last week, I think." _

"_You seem to be pretty comfortable with what, to most, would be a quite strange situation." _

"_I've been in this situation before." Sere admitted. "I've been able to see and hear spirits my whole life; and at some point I began helping them, I like doing it, makes me feel useful, like I can do something for others." _

_It was obvious that the older girl hadn't been expecting something like that, even if she'd always expected her little cousin to be able to connect with the spiritual world, the fact that Serenity was already so connected was…staggering. _

"_What about this monster the boy, Bill, just mentioned?" The teenager asked. _

"_I actually don't know." Serenity said, thoughtfully. "I've heard other spirits talk about monsters before, but I've never actually seen one." _

"_I think you're about to…" The cousin muttered under her breath. _

_Right then a blood-freezing howl echoed all around, making Serenity instantly jump in alert. A second later, Bill was hiding behind the girls, muttering about the monster finding him. And in the next second, a seven foot tall crab-like black creature with a white porcelain-like mask was rushing at them. _

"_What is that?!" Serenity asked, trying her best not to panic. "It…it feels so wrong!" _

_She knew the presence of that spirit felt wrong, even if she had no idea how exactly she knew that; but in the same way, she also knew she had to stop the creature, somehow. _

_It looked like the older girl was going to try for a quick escape, but Serenity wasn't really paying attention to her. As the hollow roared less than five feet away, something inside the young girl seemed to snap. _

"_No!" She yelled as she held both hands before her, palms out. _

_It was as if the monster had crashed against some unseen barrier right in front of her hands. The creature had no idea what it was, neither did Serenity, but it was enough to make the monster run away and her collapse. _

"_Miss! Miss!" Bill began calling to her. "Are you alright?" _

"_I'm fine…" Serenity half-lied as she dropped to one knee, panting. "Just very tired." _

_Serenity was guided by her cousin to the abandoned train-station at the end of the block, where she sat as she did her best to recover from whatever it was she'd just done. Time passed, possibly minutes, possibly hours. Bill's mom arrived, meeting her son and the two left together, something that actually made the girls happy. _

_Eventually, Serenity recovered enough to actually turn to look at his cousin. _

"_What was that?" She asked, looking at her hands. _

"_If I had to guess, telekinesis." The teenager answered honestly. _

"_Telekinesis…" Serenity repeated with a tired sigh. "So now I no longer will be 'feeling' things, now I can also move things with my mind?" she turned to look at the older girl. "And you don't seem that surprised." _

"_I am, just not about the things you probably would expect me to be surprised." Her cousin admitted. "I knew you could see the spiritual world, because I see it too, however, I didn't expect you to have such a 'connection' to spirits already. I knew you would have abilities, yet again, because I have a gift myself; though I hadn't expected for you to already be using one, and to develop a second one so suddenly…" her eyes narrowed slightly. "How long have you been able to 'feel' things." _

"_Since I can remember, I guess." Sere admitted. "Though I didn't actually begin paying attention to it, didn't actually notice that others couldn't sense things the way I did, until about a year ago or so." _

_Silence reigned, as the teenager probably was left to consider the implications of everything Serenity had just confessed. _

"_What does this all mean?" Serenity asked, tense. "You said you expected me to see spirits, to have abilities, because you do, Why? What are y…we?" _

"_That's the crux of the matter, if only the beginning of a very long explanation." The cousin said in a serious voice. "We're réalta. It's Irish, it means star. We're both part of an ancient lineage of women with spiritual awareness and powers." _

"_If we're part of a lineage, if this is in our blood, how come I had never before heard about any of it?" Serenity inquired. _

"_It is a bloodline." The older girl confirmed. "But most have forsaken their own power, their past. Our mothers are the last two, as far as I know. And yet, only my mother truly practiced being a réalta, Aunt Marie preferred to be involved as little as possible." _

"_Is that why she 'feels' so sad every time I mention things I see and feel?" _

"_Possibly." _

"_Does she not like it?" _

"_I honestly don't know. I think Aunt Marie is afraid you might end up hurt. For example, what happened just now, with that Corrupt Spirit, if your telekinesis hadn't manifested in that exact moment we would have ended up very hurt, or worse." _

"_I think I understand. It's just…if we have this abilities, there must be a reason, right? I mean, I managed to protect that spirit with my new power, and that's good, I think. And if, like you said, we're the only ones left, that means there's no one else protecting the spirits. I want to be able to protect them…" _

"_Even if it's dangerous for yourself?" _

"_Even then." Serenity was suddenly full of confidence. "I like being able to help others. I would like to do it more, much more." She turned to her cousin. "Will you teach me? What I need to know to be able to help others?" _

"_I promise to teach you as much as I can. Just remember, once you've stepped into this world, you cannot go back." _

"_I'm ready." _

It had been crazy, absolute insanity, to believe she was ready for what would be coming. But then again, who truly expected someone, anyone, to be ready at ten-years of age for the rest of their lives? Particularly when it was a life so tightly connected to the spiritual and the supernatural. She'd made that statement so full of hope, of confidence, yet she'd had no idea of everything that would come to pass; of everything that meant being not only spiritually aware but empowered. She'd had no idea…At least she had survived…thus far.

That had been just the beginning, of her teaching, of her new life. Serenity learnt a lot in the next months, about the Irish language and culture, about the Réalta, their history, their powers.

The next photo in fact, showed her at one point during those teachings. In her room, wearing a longer skirt and a short sleeved shirt to help with the chill caused by the afternoon late-spring rains so common in their hometown, while her older cousin wore a dress and leggings, it was the first time Serenity wore the white scarf; both were sitting on Serenity's bed, legs pulled underneath them, feathers from a pillow floating around them, those, and the camera, had been manipulated by the girl's telekinesis.

_Serenity closed her eyes briefly to concentrate, placing the floating camera back on her desk, allowing then all the feathers to fall slowly onto the bed in a, mostly, ordered, bunch. _

"_How did I do, Deirfiúr?"Sere asked with an excited smile. _

_She was practicing, not just her telekinesis, but also her pronunciation of the Irish language, she wasn't very good at it yet; the telekinesis on the other hand… _

"_You're so good at this, beag ceann." Her cousin commented encouragingly. "It seems almost impossible that you've been practicing for less than a year." _

_Serenity was practically glowing with the praise, and it wasn't over yet. _

"_Deirfiúr?" She called softly to the older girl. "I wanna show you something." _

"_What is it beag ceann?" The fourteen-year-old asked. _

_For all answer Serenity closed her eyes tightly, pressing the palm of one of her hands to her forehead, while holding the other in front of her. At first it looked like some strange dust, or ash floating in the air, right in front of her hand. Then the quantity of that ash grew and grew, until it began looking less like dust and more like an actual something, then it gained color… _

"_Deirfiúr…?" The older girl rarely referred to the younger in that way, as sister, preferring to call her as she had from the very beginning: 'little one'. _

_After what felt like very, very long seconds, a form actually became visible, floating in front of Serenity's extended hand, it was a glass figurine, of a fairy with her wings extended, long, layered dress and long wavy hair seemingly floating in an invisible breeze, her bare feet hanging, as if she were actually flying. In fact, the fairy truly seemed to be flying, projected as it was on the air, by Serenity's new ability. _

"_You can create illusions?!" The teenager was absolutely shocked. _

"_Project, not create, not yet at least." Serenity qualified as she let go of the image and relaxed again on the bed. "That figurine I saw two weeks agp, when I went to that crafts market with Mama. Later on, I couldn't help but think about it, and discovered I could do this." _

"_But…wow…" The cousin-sister just couldn't believe it. _

"_It still isn't perfect." Sere defended herself. "It takes a lot of time, and effort to create the simplest image, and it never lasts more than a few seconds." _

"_But if you just discovered you could do this two weeks ago…?" _

"_Are you proud of me, Deirfiúr?" _

"_Prouder than you'll ever know, Deirfiúr." _

_Serenity's smile was blinding. _

Serenity passed several more photos, just briefly touching those memories in her own mind. Some of days spent training her gifts, others of outings, either as a family, or just the two of them and, of course, the usual holidays. Eventually her eyes stopped on a particular photograph, taken a year and a half after the one she'd focused on before. In it she was wearing a long skirt and long sleeved blouse, while her cousin wore a dress with a pullover on top, both with boots and gloves to guard the cold. One other detail was also noticeable: the pendant and the brooch they wore (one piece each) with the same symbol: a five-pointed star made out of intricate Celtic knots. The symbol of the Réalta, which showed they were no longer apprentices but true members of the ancient lineage.

"_Why can't Rachel be like us?" Serenity was talking about her little sister. "She turned ten last April, and I was ten when I began training. She could be like us, then there would be three Réalta, instead of only two." _

"_It's not as easy as that, I'm afraid." Her cousin informed her in a low voice. _

"_But…but she has the blood, doesn't she?" Sere was confused. _

"_She does, but even though the blood is important, it doesn't determine everything." The teenager explained. "In people like us, whose blood is already so thin…the gifts don't always show. I have it, you have it, and particularly powerful too, but Rachel doesn't." _

"_Ah…ok…" Sere sighed sadly. "I suppose it's better this way. Mama probably would only be sadder if Rachel got involved with this too." _

"_How much I wish I didn't have to involve you in this…" _

"_I don't." Sere's voice was full of confidence, like every time they talked about that. "I like… no, I love being able to protect others. That's why I'll never regret being a Réalta." _

"_Have you chosen what you'll be?" The older girl changed topic slightly. "You'll turn thirteen in February, and it's time for you to focus on what you want to be; quite a few options are open to you, with how you have several quite different gifts." _

"_Did you get to choose too?" _

"_No, in my case, it was my destiny to be what I am. I've told you before, I'm an Oracle, I was born to be one." _

_Serenity nodded, thoughtfully, as she considered what she wanted to be, what she wanted to do with her abilities. She had been an empath for as long as she could remember, then there was her telekinesis and her ability with illusions, what could she use all that for? And, of course, helping as many people as she possibly could, that was the most important part, the core of her reasons for being a Réalta. _

"_I know!" She suddenly knew the answer. "I'm gonna be a Peacekeeper!" _

"_Well, then you know the things you must focus on." The cousin said with a knowing smile. _

"_Yes." Sere nodded. "I have to learn to keep my emotions concealed, learn to be neutral no matter what, never let any previous knowledge of the situation or the people involved cloud my judgment…" _

"_Very true." The Oracle nodded. "You are allowed to use a veil to cover your hair and face, helping you with concealing your emotions. The rest you will have to learn as you go. As you know, a Peacekeeper is meant to act as a third party, help solve conflicts unrelated to her. She is meant to help prevent fights, even wars, by settling matter before things can escalate." _

_Yes, Serenity knew, and it was why she liked the idea of being a Peacekeeper so much. Above all, she was a pacifist, she hated conflict in all ways; doesn't mean she was afraid or hesitant to do whatever was needed to help protect, however, if she could help settle matters with words rather than fists, or some kind of power…it would be a dream come true. And yet, there was something that still bothered her… _

"_Deirfiúr…?" The Oracle asked, wondering what was in the younger girl's mind. _

"_I'm just wondering…will I really be able to help anyone as a Peacekeeper?" Sere asked in a low voice. "I mean, we're the last Réalta around, and you've never mentioned any other race around here. Even the ones you've told me about, like the miko, the Tuáreg, the Valkiries, they all are from other parts of the world." _

"_That I do not know of any other races around doesn't mean they do not exist." Her cousin reminded her. "You may one day be able to travel to places where such races exist, where you'll talents will be needed. Also, there's no rule stating that you must only help the members of the 'supernatural areas' as a Peacekeeper, you could very well do the same with normal humans. You would have to make sure your gifts are never noticed, but there's no rule against using them to your advantage in such a situation." She smiled with melancholy. "You never know what could happen in the future, one day you just might find yourself in the right place, at the right time, to be just what they need…" _

_The Oracle smiled at Serenity, and while the younger girl knew that smile hid something, she chose not to ask, chose to trust her cousin-sister, after all, there was no reason not to… _

"The right place, the right time…" The nineteen year old Serenity whispered to herself. "I wonder Deirfiúr, did you know, even back then, that one day it would come to this?"

Still with that question in mind Serenity went through several more pages of the album, until she reached the last one, one in which, even though the two girls (fifteen and eighteen by then) were dressed in their usual styles, it was clear how different the time was, as the older smiled half-dreamily, half-sadly, while the younger one did her best to smile, and yet the puffiness and redness of her eyes showed the truth she couldn't fully hide.

"_You cannot leave me!"_

Serenity's words still made echo in her own mind as she remembered that day, the last time she'd seen her beloved cousin-sister…

"Happy New Year, Deirfiúr…hope you're happy, wherever you might be…"

And with that, she closed the photo album with an audible snap.

**xXx**

The day hadn't yet finished, but the Nakama had separated, each going to their own homes to sleep, particularly since they began classes again the very next day. Certainly a tiring situation, but it was very important, particularly since college entrance exams would be taking place in just two weeks. The seniors with high expectations of themselves, of their future would want to take advantage of as much time as they had to get ready.

In any case, the four Kurosakis (even if one wasn't yet official) were just arriving to their home when they found someone unexpectedly waiting for them. Even though Ichigo had been on his guard in case his old man tried to attack him, though he actually hadn't in quite a few months, neither of the siblings could have expected their father as they found him: sitting on the living room, a cup of strong black tea in front of him, and his expression so absolutely serious, like they'd never seen it before their entire lives. Even Karin, with all her past-life's memories, couldn't recall a time when she'd seen him like that.

"What's going on?" Ichigo inquired, on guard.

Isshin, noticing the attitude his son was taking could only sigh and close his eyes briefly. He really didn't like the situation they were all in, but then again, who would in his place? So much had changed…at first, when he'd been found out by his children, his past unexpectedly revealed; he'd known things would change, it was only natural, since he no longer had to pretend his past had never happened, no longer had to act like he was nothing more than a small-town doctor. For the briefest time, in the days before the Nakama had infiltrated Seireitei to save Rukia, Isshin had felt like maybe it had been for the best, his children knew the truth and they could all be a family, with no lies, no pretending, just truth. Even after their return, his son had taken the teasing about his marriage good-naturedly, Karin had accepted the change in their dynamics, and Yuzu was as sweet as ever…and then everything had collapsed.

Isshin wanted to tell himself that he didn't know why everything had gone to ruin, that it had been a total surprise, and absolutely unfair…but he knew it would be a lie; and while he might have gotten somewhat used to lying to everyone, even his family, after almost two decades, he couldn't very well lie to himself, especially not when doing so wouldn't make things any better. If he wanted to solve things, he had to be honest. And the beginning of that honesty laid in accepting why his relationship with his family had been ruined: because he'd placed his trust in another person, over his own family. Granted, Urahara Kisuke was one of his best friends, had been for centuries, but still, he should have never trusted the blonde over his own family, especially when it came to the welfare of that same family.

The bottom line was that Kurosaki Isshin was a lousy father. He'd always known that. The fact that he'd lied to his three children their whole lives; that he'd been unable to save his beloved wife from a terror of his own past; that he'd been unable to convince his son the death of his mom wasn't his fault; that it had to be his oldest human friend, rather than himself who trained his children on how to use their inherited abilities; that he hadn't been able to stop his children, and their friends, from getting involved with the spiritual; but mainly, that he hadn't even known they were involved with the spiritual! It was all, stone after stone, part of the solid proof that showed how incompetent a father he was. And yet, he was still their father, and he didn't want to fully lose his children. He wanted to get them back, and he would, no matter what he had to do to achieve that…

"My children…" Isshin murmured, his whole demeanor that of a thoroughly defeated man. "We need to talk."

His attitude just put all of his children even more on guard, as if his words hadn't been enough already. It was just so unlike him, unlike the happy-go-lucky, forgetful, careless, more-than-half insane persona they had known while Isshin hid his past; and also the serious, focused, grieving former-captain they had gotten to know recently. The tired, defeated old man before them didn't fit either form.

"What is going on, oyaji?" Ichigo asked, very much confused.

Isshin's harsh inhaling just confused everyone further, but no one except the older shinigami seemed to realize how old it had been since any of the half-shinigami teens had addressed their father with their usual words, moreover, since they had addressed him directly, period.

"I really wish for us to talk." Isshin insisted, doing his best to keep himself, his rampant emotions, under control. "Please take a seat."

Ichigo and the twins turned to look at each other, unsure, wondering what exactly was going on, when Rukia finally interfered.

"Give your father a chance, Ichigo, Yuzu, Karin." She whispered softly as she held her beloved's hand. "I think this is really important to him."

The three just turned to look at her, still unsure, particularly Ichigo.

"Ichigo, you're giving Urahara the chance to make amends, even with all his past faults, against you, against me, against us all." Rukia reminded him still in the same soft voice. "Doesn't your father deserve the same consideration? He isn't as guilty as Urahara, and what's more, he's your father, give him a chance."

"Rukia…I don't know if I can…" Ichigo murmured, pained.

He'd tried, he really had, to connect with his father, and at one point he'd believed they would manage, when they had their first father-son talk ever, shortly before the ground had departed to go save Rukia. And then everything had gone to waste.

"Ichigo, don't do this, don't do this to him, but mainly, don't do this to yourself." Rukia insisted in a low, heartfelt tone. "Uryuu told me once about what you did for him and his father, what you told Ishida-shishou, how you convinced him to reconnect with his son. You cannot tell me you do not wish the same with your own father. Don't give up this chance, for all you know, it might be your last."

It hurt Ichigo, but he knew his beloved was right. Just as she was right in saying that they were all giving Urahara the chance to make amends, after all his faults; if they were able to deal with the emotional baggage of doing that, shouldn't it be easier to do the same with his father? But maybe precisely because it was his father, it hurt worse.

It took several more seconds of silent deliberation, but finally the four younger shinigami took seats on the two empty couches in the living room.

"Ok, here we are." Ichigo declared in an almost despondent tone. "What now oyaji?"

"Ichigo…" Rukia whispered, holding tightly onto his arm, trying to calm him.

"I'm sorry." Isshin whispered brokenly.

Those two words, such simple words, were enough to bring even Ichigo's storm of emotions to an absolute halt, as he turned to look at his father in surprise.

"I know it's not enough." Isshin went on. "I know saying sorry is pretty much useless in most situations. But even after thinking over this for so long, I still don't know what else to do. I know I've done wrong, mistake after mistake. Everything I've done your whole lives has just hurt you. But I really don't know what else to say or do right now except tell you I'm sorry."

Silence laid heavy over the whole family for what seemed like forever, but when it was broken, when Ichigo broke it, it was in a most unexpected way.

"You're right, saying 'I'm sorry' doesn't cut it." Ichigo stated in an empty tone of voice. "You have regrets now, but what about the ones I've had, the ones we've all had our whole lives? About the fact that you never told us about the power that ran in our veins? What's more, you pretended like you couldn't see what we all saw! The day we lost mom, when I blamed myself for her death, and my sisters lost their innocence at age seven. And we might as well have lost you then as well for all the good you've done since!"

"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu couldn't believe what her brother was saying.

"He's right Yuzu." Karin stated coldly. "I mean, he's supposed to be our father…and yet, the times when we needed him the most, where was he? When kaa-san was killed, when Ichigo nearly died himself, and more than once too, when we all suddenly began seeing not only pluses but hollows as well, when we developed our powers, when our friends developed their own powers, and then when we got involved in Soul Society's mess? Where was he every freaking time we needed him?!"

"Karin…" Yuzu whispered.

"It's okay Yuzu, sweetty." Isshin said in a pained voice. "Your siblings are just saying the truth as they see it, as they feel it, and that's why we're here."

"The truth?!" Ichigo's voice suddenly went from toneless, emotionless to painfully passionate. "Wanna know the truth? I kept telling everyone that I didn't mind if you were hiding your past from us, you were entitled to your secrets after all; but I think I was just trying to convince myself. Even after all their trouble, Uryuu had his father to teach him, and I didn't. I had shishou, true, but it still wasn't the same; all he could teach me was the basics, he never fully understood what my power was about." He took a second to gather his wits then went on. "Wanna know what else? Mom died, and I thought it was my fault! I thought I was a murderer, even though I couldn't remember a thing! I had been all alone with her, so what other possibility was there than I somehow killed my mother?! You went to Yuzu and Karin, tried to console them, and me? You left me hanging, or no, not even that, you began attacking me every day, when I woke up, and every time we met. Was that your way of punishing me? Of taking your frustrations for mom's death out on me?"

"Wha…?" Isshin certainly hadn't been expecting that. "Ichigo, son, I've told you time and time again I don't blame you…"

"Yes, your mouth says one thing, but your actions express an entirely different one." Ichigo interrupted him. "I was ten years old, a broken, scarred ten-year-old, and all you could do was scream about keeping my guard up and kick me around. You know that for the longest time I didn't defend myself, because I actually thought I deserved it?"

Everyone in the room gasped; even those who knew, at least in part, the trauma Ichigo had gone through during that time, could have never imagined something like that.

"I don't know what would have become of me if it weren't for Ossan and Nii-san…" Ichigo admitted in a low voice.

"Ossan? Nii-san?" Isshin drew a blank.

"The 'voices in my head'." Ichigo joked mirthlessly. "Which reminds me. I go through a traumatic experience, and you send me to a psychiatrist?! What the fuck old-man?! You should have known there was no way he would ever be able to help me, no way he would ever understand what was going on? Were you really that keen on getting rid of me? Was I really that much of a burden that you couldn't help me yourself?! Do you hate me that much?"

That was it, the crux of the matter.

It was then that something became clear. Things hadn't been solved back when Ichigo and Isshin had had their first serious conversation. It had been a chance to solve things, but not a magical cure, there was no magical cure. One couldn't solve everything just saying 'I'm sorry', couldn't say they knew someone just by talking once, couldn't say they were family just because they had the same blood…

And maybe just one talk wouldn't be enough to truly change anything, maybe it wouldn't make any actual difference, but it was a start, it was a damn good start.

* * *

I hope you liked this. I know some might feel we're moving a bit slowly, and that I'm dragging things out a bit, but there's a reason for all, which I hope will become clear eventually. Also, I can promise you that once the important things start happening... well, you better brace yourselves because it'll get insane (hope you'll enjoy that too).

To those who might be interested, particularly fans of X-Men, Cherik, and/or perhaps Nina in particular, in the next couple of days I'll be posting a One-Shot, current tentative title being: Miss Xavier (no genderbend, promise!).

See ya next week!


	33. Memories and Bonds

It's time! For what, you ask? To dive into my favorite Bleach movie: Fade to Black! (Well, actually I love both this one and Hell Chapter... the latter for the story itself, and this one for the Ichiruki. Anyway, here we go. This is not the whole movie, that will continue on the next chapter, and obviously there will be some changes coming. I planned this so very carefully and love how it came out, hope you will as well.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 33. Memories and Bonds**

Just a few days after the New Year, the time came to go back to school, and as the day of the entrance exams for college came closer, all seniors seemed to grow more and more stressed by the hour. The Nakama, of course, were no exception to this. They were all different. Ichigo was interested in studying Psychology and maybe some Literature, particularly the English one; Uryuu had decided to study some Business Management and Administration, and maybe some classes in fashion, to give him some ideas, since he'd decided to follow his dream of being a Fashion Designer, rather than trying for med-school.

In the particular case of those two, Ryuuken had actually suggested they not study medicine, unless they truly and absolutely wished to be doctors; explaining that for people like them, who could see spirits, who could sometimes sense them even before seeing them, working as a doctor, in a hospital, could become a very hard thing to do; they would have to see the people die, and then see them after they died, every time they did, every day.

Rukia would be studying Sociology, something she believed would help her in the World of the Living, and she also had a dream of, later on, teaching other Shinigami to better fit in modern human society, so they would be ready for their missions in the Human World.

The rest were planning on taking some classes in vocational school, as neither of them had any particular interest on university. Tatsuki would mainly be working as assistant teacher in the dojo where she'd taken classes for many years; Chad would be with his band more, they were trying to actually get a record out, make themselves famous; Orihime had considered being a preschool teacher but wasn't completely sure yet; the others had simply no idea whatsoever.

Finally the day came. It was a huge mess, classes had been canceled for all seniors that Saturday to allow for the college entrance exams. What really frustrated Ichigo was that that day was Rukia's birthday, and he'd hoped to be able to do something better than go take those exams. Still, at least they would be done with them by noon, then he was planning to take his beloved somewhere special, at least for part of the afternoon, since Byakuya and Ginrei had made plans for dinner at the Kuchiki manor. He insisted that even if Rukia was Ichigo's wife and technically a Kurosaki-Nagaken, she was still a Kuchiki and, therefore, Byakuya's sister; and the older noble wanted to be able to celebrate her birthday with her (something that, apparently, had never been done before). In the end Ichigo had agreed with the plan, as long as he was allowed to take Rukia out himself before they had to be at the Kuchiki manor.

The exams, while they were supposed to only take a few hours in the morning, were still a bit complicated. While the basic exams were taken by all of them together, those who actually had a school, or at least a specialty in mind had to take other more in-depth exams afterwards, and those took longer and no one finished at the same time. They had all known Ichigo's would probably be the hardest, so Ichigo had convinced Rukia to go ahead and not wait for him. Rukia had decided to go briefly to Seireitei to talk to her brother so she could tell him about the exams and approve the final details for the dinner. It seemed like a good plan, no one expected anything to go wrong, no one at all.

"Finally!" Ichigo declared as he exited the classroom, satisfied. "Now I must get home, with how long this took maybe Rukia's back already…"

He was just beginning to jog out of the school when he nearly crashed against one of his friends, Uryuu, who seemed to be leaving himself.

"Hey, Uryuu, sure didn't expect you to still be here this late." He commented.

"Yes well, my last examiner was late, since apparently I'm the only one interested in studying Fashion, even if just as a minor. And since people of other districts seem to be more important than one boy in a small town…" Uryuu shook his head. "Anyway, I just got out. How did things go in your end Ichigo?"

"Well enough." Ichigo shrugged. "Anyway, I must hurry and get home. Rukia's probably waiting for me already. See ya Uryuu!"

Ichigo was already running away even as Uryuu answered.

"Yeah sure…" Then he blinked once. "Wait, who?"

But Ichigo didn't hear him, he was already on the next block, and running fairly fast in the direction of his home.

He made it to the Kurosaki clinic fairly quickly, where Yuzu received him as she worked on preparing lunch.

"Hey Ichi-nii, you're home!" She was obviously happy by that fact. "Will you be having lunch with me and Karin-chan?"

"No Yuzu." He shook his head with a smile. "I had already told you, I'm taking Rukia out for lunch. I want to have some time with her before we have to go to that stuffy dinner back with Byakuya and all the other stuffy old guys…"

"Rukia?" Yuzu inquired, seemingly confused. "Who's Rukia?"

"What do you mean…?" Ichigo wasn't expecting that, not at all. "What do you mean who's Rukia? She's my…Rukia…"

He'd been about to say 'she's my wife', but the fact that Yuzu didn't even seem to remember anyone with that name, when just that morning she'd been so caring with the amethyst eyed petite girl, showed something was definitely wrong.

"Your Rukia?" Yuzu repeated. "You have a girlfriend Ichi-nii? Finally! And I didn't know! Why didn't I know you have a girlfriend?!"

"That's the point Yuzu, you did know!" Ichigo didn't know if he should be exasperated, or afraid. "Until this morning you knew perfectly well who Rukia was. We all had breakfast together! We had to stop you from preparing that bento since it wasn't necessary…"

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked, hesitant, confused.

Ichigo just began walking, straight to his room, he knew something was defiantly wrong and just couldn't place his finger on what.

"Ichi-nii…" Yuzu insisted. "I don't remember having ever met any Rukia…Is she some exchange student, or an older girl?"

Ichigo wanted to laugh at the way his sister had pretty much hit the nail on the head in both accounts, but at the same time, the fact that Yuzu still claimed not to remember Rukia just made him too afraid to laugh.

"You must remember Rukia Yuzu, you must." Ichigo insisted as he went into his room. "She's been living here for months!"

"Living here? But…" Yuzu was beginning to get really worried about her brother. "Ichigo, are you sure you're alright…"

Realizing that Yuzu must be as confused and worried as him if she, indeed, didn't remember Rukia at all; Ichigo turned around, holding her by the shoulders, as he began talking in his most soothing tone:

"Look Yuzu." He said softly. "Look around you. Look at the size of this bed, look at the extra books on the shelves, at all the bunnies around. Does any of that look like mine? Do you really think I would need this bed if I slept alone? If you open my closet, you'll find half of the clothes in there aren't mine, they're girl clothes, they belong to the girl who lives here, in this house, who sleeps in this room. It all belongs to Rukia."

Yuzu had to admit she could see all that, but she still didn't understand how it was possible.

"Ichi-nii, if this is all true… why don't I remember?" Yuzu asked in a sad tone.

"I don't know Yuzu, I honestly don't know." Ichigo admitted.

In the end, Yuzu went back to preparing lunch, while Ichigo began calling all his friends, one by one, with the excuse of wanting to know how they had done in their exams, while discreetly asking them if they remembered Rukia. None of them did. It was also at that point that he'd become aware of what Uryuu had said as Ichigo was running away, the blue-eyed one hadn't remembered Rukia either. No one did, except… Ichigo and… he remembered it then, the other person who might remember.

**xXx**

Orihime was sitting by her window, dressed in a simple top and shorts, playing what looked like a wooden transverse flute in a low tone when suddenly there was a loud, insistent knock on her front door.

"Coming!" She called as she hurried to the door.

She was quite surprised when she saw none other than Ichigo standing there, panting, with a half-wild looking; and then he began looking at her with an expression full of brilliant hope, and at the same time terrifying fear.

"Ichigo?" She asked, absolutely confused. "What…what are you doing here? I thought you would be…well…"

"Please Orihime…" He interrupted her, with a voice full of the same hope and fear as his expression. "Tell me you remember Rukia, please Orihime, tell me you remember her."

"Of course I remember Rukia!" Orihime said instantly, confused by his attitude. "Actually, as I was saying, I thought you were taking her on a date, you know, for her birthday!"

"Orihime…" Ichigo actually took his friend's empty hand in his as he spoke. "Right now, you're the only person aside from me who even remembers someone named Rukia exists."

"What…?" Orihime wasn't expecting that, not at all. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it exactly as it sounded." Ichigo said, trying to calm himself.

He was so delighted that someone remembered Rukia; even if it was just one person, even if he still didn't know what was going on, at least he wasn't alone anymore.

"I have no idea what happened." Ichigo let go of Orihime and mussed his hair, he was quite obviously upset. "Everything was just fine earlier today. We went to present the exams, after the basic one we each went to the ones of our specialties. Rukia was expected to finish first, so I told her not to wait for me, I would catch up. We were to go out for lunch, take a walk, before that stuffy dinner at the Kuchiki Manor…"

"But she went missing?" Orihime finished for him. "Where was the last place you know for a fact she went?"

"She was at the school, obviously." Ichigo focused, trying to remembering. "She told me she was dropping by the manor for a quick visit, to tell Byakuya-san how things had gone with her exams and make a last check on the preparations for the dinner, make sure those stuffy Elders and all the servants who don't like her much wouldn't try to ruin it."

"Maybe something happened when she was there." Orihime suggested. "Something that made it so no one else remembers her."

"Like what?" Ichigo inquired.

"I have no idea." Orihime answered honestly. "But at least it's a place to start."

Ichigo knew she was right. And he also knew who might have more information, whether he remembered Rukia or not.

"I need to go see Urahara." Ichigo announced.

"You think he will remember Rukia?" Orihime asked.

"Honestly? I doubt it." Ichigo admitted. "But he's my best bet to know if something, anything, happened in Soul Society."

Ichigo turned to leave, when Orihime stopped him.

"Wait a few minutes, I'm going with you." She told him.

In a couple of minutes she was holding a backpack and leaving the apartment with him. The two ran through Karakura at a fairly fast pace, Ichigo's worry for his beloved and Orihime's for both her friends fueling their energies as they reached the Urahara Shouten in what should have been record time.

"Urahara?" Ichigo called as he opened the shouji doors. "Geta-boushi?"

"Urahara-san?" Orihime called behind him.

"Excuse me sir, miss, we're closed today, for personal reasons." A strong voice informed him from another door. "In fact, there should have been a note stating so at the door."

Ichigo and Orihime turned to look at each other, there probably had been such a note at the door, they just hadn't seen it as they went straight through. In any case, the way Tessai was addressing them presented another problem:

"We honestly weren't looking for it, Tessai-san." Orihime excused them. "We're looking for Urahara-san, we need to talk to him."

"Whatever do you need the boss for?" Tessai inquired, confused. "How do you even know him at all? I don't remember having seen you here before."

"Tessai-san?" Orihime asked, not liking the implications.

"How do you mean you don't remember us?" Ichigo demanded. "We were here just last week. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, she's Inoue Orihime! It's us Tessai, the Nakama!"

Still, Tessai didn't seem to understand.

"Ichigo," Orihime turned to her friend. "I think he really doesn't remember us."

"How?" Ichigo demanded. "I mean, the others remember us just fine."

"Maybe…I don't know, did you ask them anything of what's going on right now, what's been going on since last spring?" Orihime inquired.

"Not really." Ichigo admitted.

"Maybe that's it." Orihime suggested. "Maybe something has made them all forget not only Rukia, but also everything related to her."

"So, since we didn't meet with Geta-Boushi until we were going to save Rukia, they don't remember any of it because they don't remember her?" Ichigo summarized.

"Pretty much." Orihime shrugged.

"You do know that sounds pretty insane, right?" Ichigo asked pointedly, then shook his head. "And yet again, it's the only half-logical explanation."

Orihime just shrugged again, she knew most people considered her to be a tad, or more, crazy, for the things she would sometimes talk about, the dreams she had, her theories, no one understood, really, why she was like that; though she didn't mind it that much, not anymore. Whether they understood or not, her friends accepted her as she was, that was enough.

"That's an interesting idea you have going there, miss." Urahara called as he appeared at the door, right beside Tessai. "Would you mind stepping in for a cup of tea? Something tells me you bring quite an interesting story."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed slightly, he still hadn't fully forgiven the former shinigami captain for going beside his back, and all the secret-keeping he'd done; but at least he accepted the blonde's attempts at making amends. It was the reason why the group had begun going to the shop every so often, to train there at times, allow Urahara, as well as Yoruichi and Tessai to watch, give their input once in a while, that kind of thing.

In the end they did go into the back of the shop, where Ichigo and Orihime explained in very basic terms who they were, who the Nakama were, and the fact that they all technically knew each other. They didn't go into the war, though they were sure Urahara and Tessai were both bright enough to realize it was a possibility. They chose to focus more on what may have caused the situation they currently found themselves in, and in how they might find out if something had happened to Rukia and how to get her back.

"Indeed, something has happened in Soul Society." Urahara nodded. "My sources tell me that just earlier today Kurotsuchi-taichou had some kind of breakdown, one of his experiments was set loose and it's been a mess in Seireitei since. Some reishi-devouring slug I think…anyway, I don't know how that may be connected with what happened to your…Nakama, but it's a place to start at least."

The other two knew he was right.

"Excuse me, Inoue-san." Urahara called suddenly. "You mentioned your powers just in passing, but if you can…sort of, undo things, couldn't you undo whatever has caused this apparent amnesia, give me back the memories I appear to have lost?"

Orihime and Ichigo turned to look at each other, they hadn't considered that.

"Try it Orihime." Ichigo nodded.

With that the Rikka wielder focused, calling on her Souten Kishun softly. She could sense a lot of things from Urahara, like a small cut he'd gotten while shaving that morning, a stubbed toe he'd probably gotten while moving stuff in one of the backrooms, and some other minor scratches and bruises the girl would rather not think much about. In the end, she couldn't find anything she could change to give Urahara back the memories about Rukia and the Nakama.

"It doesn't work." She announced as she called her Rikka back.

"Well, it was a good try anyway." Ichigo commented.

"Have you considered the possibility that the problem isn't in me, or in anyone who doesn't remember your nakama, but maybe with her?" Urahara suggested.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, while Orihime pursed her lip, they didn't like much how that sounded, but it was, sadly, sound. In any case, it had more merit that thinking something had affected every single person but for Ichigo and Orihime…

"Very well, we'll get going then." Ichigo declared as he got up.

"Just a minute." Orihime called as she got on her feet and hurried to the bathroom.

When she came out she was wearing a dark gray floor length long-sleeved yukata with a pattern of white, pink and purple magnolia, the sash being purple and pink as well. Her hair was half in a loose twist with a clip, the other half down, while the blue flower hairpins of her Shun Shun Rikka remained in the same place as always, keeping her bangs in place.

"Why exactly did you change?" Ichigo asked, caught by surprise.

"Well, we're going to Soul Society, where it's quite likely that they won't remember us, if our theories holds true." Orihime explained. "Dressed like this I'm less likely to call attention onto myself…I think."

"We'll have to talk to Yamamoto-san, or Ukitake-san, or even Byakuya-san." Ichigo stated as he used his badge to get out of his body. "The last thing I need is to have the Gotei 13 after me, while at the same time trying to find Rukia."

Orihime nodded, it was an understandable precaution to take, she just hoped the Gotei would cooperate with them, even with no memories about the teens.

Urahara and Tessai actually blinked as they watched Ichigo in the shihakusho, paying particular attention to the haori he wore, with the kanji for Nakama inside the rhombus that traditionally represented the Gotei 13.

"Excuse me," Urahara called. "I understand how Kurosaki-kun is getting there, even if the haori was quite a surprise, but what about Inoue-san?"

"I can get through just fine, with this." Orihime pulled up her sleeve just enough to show the chain wound around her wrist.

"What's that exactly?" Urahara asked, interested.

"It's a personal reishi-matter converter." Ichigo quoted with a snicker. "Or at least that's what you said when you gave it to all the Nakama who cannot leave their bodies."

"I created that?" Urahara seemed quite surprised by that.

"I suppose it's to be expected that, if you never knew us, you never had a reason to create it, therefore you don't remember doing so right now." Orihime nodded, mostly to herself.

"In any case, we must hurry." Ichigo declared. "I want to find Rukia as soon as possible."

To Tessai's and Urahara's further surprise he then unsheathed his zanpakutou and made a stab at the air, summoning a Senkaimon; then, without further ado, both he and Orihime stepped through and into Soul Society.

**xXx**

It had taken a while, hours in fact, but eventually the expansion of Kurotsuchi's out-of-control experiment had been stopped and, mostly, limited to the 12th District, where the HQs and barracks of the same division were located. The Kidou Corps were in charge of the kekkai that was keeping the substance contained, allowing anything but it in or out (so other shinigami could move freely to try and destroy the thing, then get out when they grew tired or the thing attack them); though, unknown to them, it wasn't their captain, or even lieutenant who had lead the creation of the kekkai, but someone else entirely.

A figure sat in a meditative position in the best-preserved roof close to where the kekkai had been created all her body except her hands covered in a reiatsu-dampening cloak. Her hands meanwhile, she held in specific hand-signs, resting over her knees so as too tire as little as possible and last longer. It was impossible for anyone who looked in her direction to know if she was even a man or a woman, though her voice gave her out when the Soutaichou himself appeared behind her to talk to her.

"You know, this wasn't part of the plan Soutaichou-dono." She commented offhandedly with a resigned sigh.

"Plan?" It seemed like Yamamoto hadn't been expecting that.

"The plan I made all those years ago." She clarified.

"And what kind of plan was that?" Yamamoto asked, interested.

"To never get involved with Seireitei's messes again." She deadpanned. "I should have learned my lesson the first time and left you to reap what you sowed."

"It wasn't much of a plan if you went back on it less than fifty years later." Yamamoto commented. "And you should mind your attitude more child, I don't allow just anyone to talk to me the way you do, you would do well to remember that."

"There's nothing you can threaten me with, I have nothing left to lose…that is, if I ever had something to begin with." She answered sardonically.

"That's a very cynical way of seeing things, especially for one as young as you."

"For those of us who never expected eternity, or any life after we closed our mortal eyes at least, every year we live beyond those modest expectations seems like forever, and for me… it's been much longer…"

"If it wasn't your wish to get involved with Seireitei, why did you?"

"You mean this time, or the first?"

"Either, both."

"The first time was all Shin's fault. We met in No-man's land, beyond the known inhabited districts of Rukongai. I actually don't know what the hell he was doing out there, as far as I know no shinigami ever bothers going that far. He saw me, he saw what I could do, said it was a huge waste that I was just staying there, existing but not quite living. He threatened with sending squads after me when I refused to just go with him and join the Gotei 13, said it was stupid that I wouldn't use my talent for good. In the end I agreed, but on my terms, I would join, but no one was to know about me. Of course, that didn't exactly work-out, several people did know about me, like Shin, Hachi-sempai, Tessai-sensei, Hiyori-chan…They knew me, more or less, of course they didn't know everything, but even when I was alive no one ever knew everything about me, not even my own mother. Anyway, they were dear to me, it's the only reason I even allowed them as far into my life, myself, as I did. And then they were gone…and I decided there was no reason for me to stay here anymore."

"Yet you came back…"

"I came back…it was all Isshin's fault! And Shin's! That idiotic peroxide-head told Isshin where to find me and what to say to convince to come back. Isshin wanted me to teach his baby-sister kidou, he told me Shin had been his mentor, had told him, to tell me, to do it for the Ave Blanca…so I did. I came back, I taught kidou to Nagaken Karin, and not just her, but several generations in the Academy, and then, not even I am sure of how exactly, I ended up becoming a shinigami, again…"

"He told you to do it for the Ave Blanca, in her memory…" Yamamoto noticed a particular detail. "Does that mean he does not know…?"

"That I am the Ave Blanca?" she finished for him. "No, he doesn't know."

Before anything else could be said, a messenger appeared on a knee right behind Yamamoto, which made the girl immediately lower her head, hiding behind the shadow of her hood as she waited for the message to be delivered.

"Soutaichou-sama, your presence is being asked for by Hitsugaya-taichou, Hisagi-fukutaichou and Abarai-fukutaichou." The messenger informed him. "Apparently a pair of ryoka have been found…inside Seireitei's walls."

The Ave Blanca could only blink in confusion, wondering if it was just a coincidence that ryoka had appeared right when Seireitei was already a mess. She had a feeling she was forgetting something, but just didn't know what.

**xXx**

Yamamoto arrived to his private garden in the 1st Division with some judicious use of shunpo. Arriving there allowed him to go into the Main Meeting Room from the small door at the front of the Main Meeting Room, allowing most of those present to believe that the Captain-Commander was there all along.

The old shinigami actually opened his eyes at the sight that met him in the room, a teen-aged boy with a mop of orange haired was dressed in a shihakusho, and a haori of all things, beside a girl in a flower-patterned yukata, and they were surrounded by more people than just those the messenger had named. Also, another thing of notice was probably the sealed zanpakutou Hitsugaya Toushirou was holding, a blade that obviously held a lot more power than its average size and form belied.

"What is the meaning of this?" Yamamoto asked as he observed everything.

"Soutaichou, Hisagi-fukutaichou and I caught this ryoka in the 9th District as we were checking over those who were affected…" Renji began formally.

"Can it really be considered 'catching' when we never put up a fight?" Ichigo drawled, apparently deep in thought. "I mean, really, we didn't fight, didn't even get on-guard. We simply came into Seireitei and walked to them, hoping to learn about what's going on around here and they all pulled their swords on us."

"We really don't mean any harm." Orihime contributed. "We're just trying to understand what's happening."

"Yeah sure." Renji snorted. "Like a pair of ryoka care."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, he'd forgotten how annoying Renji was before he met Tatsuki, or met her again, whichever.

"What I would like to know is how exactly they managed to get into Seireitei." Rangiku commented from behind Toushirou.

"We have passes." Ichigo answered honestly.

"Passes?" Yamamoto repeated, eyes narrowing. "Only honored guests from the most noble families in Seireitei have passes."

"We have them." Ichigo insisted.

"Who are you?" Yamamoto inquired.

"Finally!" Ichigo cried out dramatically. "The question I've been waiting for and no one seemed to consider asking!"

"I am…" Orihime had to stop a bit to let out a giggle before introducing herself. "My name is Inoue Orihime, spiritually aware and empowered human, healer, part of the Nakama."

"Nakama?" Several of those present asked at once.

"And I am Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo, shinketsu Shinigami, part of the Nagaken Clan, and Captain of the Nakama." Ichigo enlisted formally.

"Nagaken?" Toushirou almost choked on the surname.

"Shinketsu?" Kira cried out on another side.

"What the hell is Nakama?!" Hisagi and Renji demanded at once.

"We're a group formed by several shinketsu Shinigami, a Quincy and several empowered humans." Ichigo elaborated. "We are allied with Seireitei."

"Allied?" Several asked once again in unison.

For all answer Ichigo and Orihime both took out their respective badges; showing the symbol of the Gotei 13 on one side and the kanji for Nakama on the other.

"Combat passes?" Juushirou, who had been standing on a corner, watching, all along. "But they're not shinigami daiko…"

"I have no idea what made you decide to give me, give us these." Ichigo said waving the badge before putting it away again. "But each of us carry one, with the symbols of your group and ours, showing our alliance. They were supposed to work as IDs, didn't really, but anyway, that's not what's important right now. You gave them to us, just like you gave me the haori I am wearing, and a band Uryuu wears to show he's our second in command."

"It's been so long since the Gotei has made an alliance with a group of empowered humans." Juushirou commented thoughtfully as he watched the pair. "The last one must have been over three centuries ago…I wonder what the circumstances for us making this choice were…"

"The situation was complicated." Ichigo declared. "And I don't think it's as relevant right now. There's a reason why Orihime and I came here."

"True." Juushirou was really interested.

"It is in the records." Yamamoto stated, as he looked over the records Sasakibe had handed him. "There is, indeed, an alliance between the group known as the Nakama, and the Gotei 13. They are to guard over Karakura Town, Japan. It also states here the name of a liaison, a member of our ranks, whose name I do not know."

"But if they're really allied with us, why do we not remember?" Toushirou asked.

"That's part of the reason why we're here." Ichigo admitted with a sigh. "My…one of the Nakama has gone missing. The last thing we knew she was coming here, to check in with her family, but she didn't return afterwards. And not only that, aside from the two of us, no one remembers her ever existing! Something is wrong, and we need to know what, we have to find her, and soon!"

"If this girl was coming to check up on family here, may I assume she was one of us aside from being part of you Nakama?" Juushirou said. "Maybe even that liaison Yama-jii mentioned just now, the one we cannot remember…"

"Kuchiki Rukia." Yamamoto read from the records.

"Kuchiki?" Toushirou, Renji and Juushirou asked at once.

"Is she related to Byakuya-kun?" Juushirou asked.

"Yes." Orihime answered brightly.

"Yes she is." Ichigo confirmed with a sigh. "I cannot give any more details, it's too long a story to tell it right now. And anyway, we hope that once we find Rukia, once we find what's wrong with her, we'll find a way to undo whatever it is that has made everyone forget her, and with her the rest of us, at least when it comes to Soul Society."

"What is it you want?" Yamamoto asked.

"To find Byakuya-san, talk to him." Ichigo stated. "Even if it's unlikely he will remember ever having a sister, at least maybe he'll give us a place to start I just…" he sighed tiredly as he pulled at his own hair. "I already tried tracking her through the reiraku and I can't seem to be able to find her. That thing, that crazy experiment from that psycho Kurotsuchi is doing something to the reishi particles, and to all the reiatsu in the air, it won't let me find her!"

"Do you really think you could track her, if she's somewhere in Rukongai, from Seireitei?" Hisagi snorted. "She could be anywhere."

"Yes, I could have tracked her, usually." Ichigo argued. "I've done it before. Right now, I need a place where to start from to be able to find her, and I hope Byakuya-san will be able to give us that." He turned to Yamamoto. "Will you let us leave?"

There was a heavy silence for what seemed like a long, long time, before Yamamoto stood straight, eyes apparently closed, and spoke.

"You may leave." He said, ignoring the murmurs of the other shinigami. "Inform the rest of the shinigami that Kurosaki-san and Inoue-san are to be allowed to move through Soul Society as they may." He opened his eyes briefly to look at Ichigo. "I do not remember you, Kurosaki Ichigo, you or these Nakama. But if I signed on that alliance, that means I trusted you and yours to, at least, not be enemies. Do what you've come here to do, the Gotei's focus will remain on Kurotsuchi's out-of-control experiment. We each will do our part, and hopefully things will go back to what you remember as normal."

Ichigo nodded stoically. He really hoped so, otherwise, how could he be expected to explain, not just to the Nakama, but to the Gotei 13, that they were at war with Hueco Mundo and three traitor captains…the orange-haired didn't even know what the Shinigami's thoughts on Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen were in that moment! And were they even at war right then? Did Aizen remember anything? In any case, it was all too complicated, and way over his head, over all of their heads, and it wasn't really what they needed to be focusing on: the Gotei needed to focus on that psycho's stupid experiment, while he and Orihime would focus on Rukia, they would think about other things once that was done.

Ichigo and Orihime bowed once to Yamamoto and the rest of the shinigami present in a respectful goodbye before Ichigo took his zanpakutou back from Toushirou and the two left the 1st Division HQs.

**xXx**

The name Nagaken allowed Ichigo and Orihime entrance into the Kuchiki Estate easily enough. They were guided to a sitting room with view on some of the more 'public' gardens, and offered some tea and pastries as they waited for the 'Lord of the Manor'. It took several minutes, but eventually Byakuya made an appearance, dressed in his shihakusho, showing that despite it supposedly being his day free, he'd been called to work, probably because of Kurotsuchi's idiocy with his experiments.

"Nagaken-san, Inoue-san." Byakuya received them with a nod of his head.

The curiosity in his blue-gray eyes would pass unnoticed by all but those closest to the noble; however, Ichigo was one of those people, mainly due to his wife, and trying to connect more to the two people in her family who actually loved her.

"Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo, and Inoue Orihime." Ichigo introduced the two of them with a nod. "Thank you for seeing us so promptly Byakuya-san, I understand you must be very busy right now, you and everyone around here."

"You seem to know and understand so much, you seem to know me, well enough to call me by my first name at least." Byakuya commented pointedly. "Yet I do not remember you, either of you. The few people from the Nagaken Clan I know of, none bear the name Kurosaki, and Inoue isn't name of any clan or shinigami line."

It was obvious that Orihime wanted to say something, but she knew there was nothing she could do, they didn't remember her, they didn't trust her. Even Ichigo, he was only being given a chance because of the Nagaken name, if he didn't make things work…then she had no idea how they would ever get to Rukia.

"I know it's all very confusing right now, but I can explain…somewhat." Ichigo couldn't fully hide his nervousness. "I asked one of your servants to tell you to bring your notes on official records, alliances, and such."

For all answer Byakuya raised the notebook he had in his hand. In it were his personal notes regarding every alliance, induction and negotiation he'd lead the clan into since becoming Head of the Kuchiki Clan a little over five decades before.

"The Kuchiki have an alliance with the Nagaken." Ichigo stated solemnly. "No, don't say anything. I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not a mind reader, I…"

"Ichigo, you're babbling…" Orihime pointed out softly.

"True." The orange-head took a deep breath, focusing. "I know you don't remember there being any alliance, but I promise you there is one, because I signed it. It was an alliance brought about through marriage, of me, to your younger sister…" his voice turned into a whisper. "Or to be more precise, your youngest half-sister."

Byakuya's eyes opened wide as he heard Ichigo say that, something that thoroughly shocked Orihime, who hadn't managed to hear what had caused such reaction in the noble.

"I don't…" Byakuya began his denial almost automatically.

"Check your own records, you'll see I'm telling the truth." Ichigo interrupted him. "You should also be able to find your own notes regarding her adoption, fifty two years ago, more or less. Her name is Rukia…and she's Hisana's little sister…"

The use of both names, more than anything else, had Byakuya looking through his notebook, when soon enough he found the notes the orange-haired shinigami had mentioned. He also found other minor notes he'd made, about the Nakama, the true heir of the Nagaken, and the depth of the bond between Rukia and Ichigo.

"What is it you need me for?" Byakuya asked stoically. "If she is truly your wife, if your bond is truly what my own notes say it is, what is it you need me for?"

"I tried to track her down using reiraku the moment Orihime and I stepped into Soul Society, it didn't work." Ichigo admitted. "Something in Kurotsuchi's experiment seems to be blocking me from her. I'm pretty sure she's not in Seireitei, which leaves Rukongai. But Rukongai is so huge…I need a place where to start."

"And you thought I would be able to give that to you…how exactly?" Byakuya asked.

"Rukia has told me a lot from her past, but we never actually talked about where in Rukongai she lived before coming here to Seireitei." Ichigo admitted. "Since I suppose it's the same place Hisana-san came from…I supposed you would know."

Byakuya had to admit the logic was sound, even if much of it still sounded ludicrous to him. He wasn't actually sure what part was least believable: the fact that he had a little sister he didn't remember, a little sister whom he had adopted following a promise made to his deceased wife (and that was a whole other can of worms), that that little sister was married, and not only that but she shared a soul-bond with her husband, who was a noble-heir going incognito and a captain-level shinketsu shinigami; or, the fact that said shinketsu shinigami seemed to somehow know the darkest secret he, both as a Kuchiki, and simply Byakuya, had ever had: his father's lack of loyalty, and the results of that shame…

Orihime touched Ichigo softly, telling him with her eyes what he had already realized, Byakuya was still blocked by disbelief.

"I know you don't fully believe us." The shinketsu shinigami said in a soft, accepting tone of voice. "I understand you cannot trust us, it's to be expected, after all, you do not remember us, or Rukia, at all. Even if you probably remember Hisana-san asking you to find her before she died, you don't remember actually doing so. And regardless of what's in your records, or in your own notes, there's no guarantee they weren't falsified." He ran a hand through his head. "I'll be honest, I have no way to prove you beyond any and every shadow of doubt that what I'm telling you is the absolute truth. However, I have a question for you: what is going on here in the Kuchiki Manor? Right here, right now, what is everyone preparing for?"

Byakuya opened his mouth almost instantly, then closed it again, he didn't actually have an answer for that question.

"I'll tell you." Ichigo continued, his voice turning stronger. "It's Rukia's birthday, today. That's what everyone in this manor is preparing for. Even though she is now my wife, something not many people know actually. You wanted her birthday to be celebrated here, because it's a special day. It's the day she was born, and if she hadn't been, if she had never come into our lives, we wouldn't be who we are today, neither you, nor I, nor anyone else who's ever met her."

"You truly love this Rukia, don't you?" Byakuya couldn't help but ask.

"More than I've ever loved anyone before, more than I'll ever love anyone later." Ichigo answered in his most passionate voice.

"She's fortunate." Byakuya declared thoughtfully. "You both are. It's obvious that if you share a soul-bond the devotion is equal in both directions. Even if I cannot remember, I would be delighted to have you share dinner with us tonight, both of you."

Ichigo nodded graciously, he still hoped to have everything solved by the night.

"Inuzuri." Byakuya finally answered. "Hisana came from the 78th District in South Rukongai, it's also known as Hanging Dog."

Ichigo nodded, dipping his head in thanks to Byakuya before turning to leave.

"Orihime?" He called when she didn't follow immediately.

"You should go alone, Ichigo." Orihime told him softly. "You'll go faster. My Santen Kesshun will never be as fast as your shunpo. And if you really need my help to undo whatever has made everyone forget Rukia, and us, then you could bring her here." She cocked her head to a side. "Besides, I think I could be more helpful here, with getting rid of Kurotsuchi's experiment…for all we know, it might even be the cause of all the trouble in the first place."

Ichigo nodded, he knew how much Orihime hated feeling like a bother, she wouldn't like it if Ichigo wasn't able to move as fast because of her; and while her Santen Kesshun was great to help her move short distances, a trip to the third to last district in Rukongai…

"I'll find Rukia." Ichigo stated with conviction.

"I know you will." Orihime smiled softly. "Good luck Ichigo."

Ichigo smiled, and the disappeared into shunpo, so fast Byakuya couldn't help but blink in surprise, he hadn't seen someone that fast since Yoruichi…

After a few seconds contemplating the possibility of his former 'playmate'…or torturer, having trained the orange-head that was supposed to be his brother-in-law, Byakuya turned to look at the auburn-red-orange haired girl in the simple yukata, still sitting on her cushion.

"I'm afraid I have to return to my duties, to my Division, now Inoue-san." He informed her formally. "Would you prefer to stay here or…?"

"If it's the same to you, I would rather follow you." Orihime answered in a quiet but strong voice. "I wish to help in any way I can."

"And in what way could you possibly help?" Byakuya couldn't help but ask.

"I'm not a shinigami." Orihime answered the unasked part of the question. "But I have power nonetheless." She touched her hairpins lightly. "My Shun Shun Rikka grant me the power to create shields: to protect, heal and attack as needed."

"Interesting." Byakuya's eyes narrowed as he considered the possibilities. "You might be able to help a lot today, particularly if you can help us recover the shinigami lost beneath the strange…substance created by Kurotsuchi's experiment."

"I'll do my best." Orihime declared eagerly.

With a nod, the two were on their way.

**xXx**

Ichigo made it to Inuzuri in what must have been record time, thanks to Shiro's help in mixing shunpo and sonido into shindo (Ichigo had never been very creative when giving name to things, or creatures…Kon being the main example).

*So, what can we conclude thus far?* Zangetsu tried to keep Ichigo focused.

*All the memories are linked together, somewhat.* Ichigo answered thoughtfully. *Something has happened to Rukia, everyone has forgotten her, which at the same time has made everyone also forget everything related to her. It's why Urahara doesn't know us, or anyone here in Seireitei. But the absence of memories doesn't mean the things didn't happen, that's why the records still exist, why the changes still remain. If it weren't for Rukia I wouldn't be a shinigami, and even with whatever happened to her, I'm still one.*

*Very true.* Zangetsu nodded.

*What about your end, Ossan?* Ichigo inquired. *Have you been able to sense Shirayuki-san since all this madness began?*

*I have, though very faintly.* Zangetsu admitted. *It's like some kind of force is muting her own, keeping her in a corner, unable to get out, or even speak out…*

*Like when the snow-princess was in that damned tower?* Shiro suggested with distaste.

*No, it's something else.* Zangetsu shook his head. *Like she's behind some sort of glass wall. I can almost see her there, but cannot reach her…sort of like how you can sense your Rukia and yet cannot fully contact her.*

It was true, that was exactly what Ichigo was feeling in that moment, an absolutely maddening sensation that he hoped might change one they actually found Rukia. It wouldn't take them much longer, Ichigo had been sensing Rukia since they were at some point in the middle of Rukongai, had begun following that feeling more than Byakuya's instructions, just following those generally to make sure he didn't go in a completely wrong direction.

Eventually Ichigo reached a hill-cliff in the middle of Inuzuri, there he saw Rukia in a midnight-blue yukata with lighter-blue and green flowers and an orange and yellow obi. If her choice of clothes hadn't been enough to alert Ichigo that something was wrong, the fact that, even with him less than ten feet from her, he still couldn't feel his beloved, that would have been enough.

"Rukia?" He called when he was just a few steps behind her. "Are you alright?"

He was panting, extremely tired after using shindo for so long, and his anxiety wasn't making things any easier, not at all.

"Who are you?" The obsidian haired asked in a solemn voice.

And even though a part of Ichigo had already been expecting that, had even prepared himself mentally for it, it still hurt, deep inside his soul. The fact that his beloved did not know him, even when their soul-bond still remained…it was the most painful thing Ichigo had ever known.

"It's me, Rukia…" Ichigo began, hesitant.

He had honestly no idea what kind of consequences telling his name or their relationship to her would have, he was afraid it might only make things worse. And yet, he didn't get the chance to consider the risks for long, for they were interrupted right then by two individuals who landed in between the couple and looked to be about the same age as Rukia and him: one a medium-height green-eyed girl with blonde-hair and a pink-red fringe; the other a tall boy with blue-black hair and gray eyes, both were dressed in torn white yukatas, the girl's much shorter than the boy's, and yellow obis. Another particularity was that the boy was holding a huge white and red scythe, with an energy so dark Ichigo was immediately on guard.

"Shinigami!" The blonde said, as if the mere title was a curse.

"What's he doing here?" The boy asked in a very angry voice.

"Who are you two?" Ichigo demanded in return. "What have you done to my Rukia?!"

He couldn't help it, the possessive attitude just slipped through, but that was his wife they were keeping from him!

Before the two unknowns could say or do anything Rukia walked by them to stand right in front of Ichigo, a curious expression in her eyes.

"Rukia?" The blonde asked, confused at Rukia's attitude.

"Stay back." Rukia told them before turning back to Ichigo. "Who in the world are you? How do you know my name? And what gives you the right to call me yours?!"

"Rukia, I know you don't remember me right now, but trust me when I say we knew each other once, better than anyone has or ever will know us." Ichigo said in a soft, pained voice.

Her rejection of him hurt the orange-haired, deeply, even when he knew it wasn't really her fault, she had no control over her memories, or current lack thereof.

"Why should I trust you?" Rukia demanded.

"Why indeed?" Ichigo sighed tiredly. "I wish I could tell you I love you, that I know you love me, and have that be enough. I can tell you you're the love of my existence, my match, my wife, and none of that will be enough; you won't believe it, because you don't remember me …"

He was falling into despair, something the two other parts of his soul knew perfectly well, and not just because of the terrible storm going on in the Inner World.

"Do you remember Shirayuki-san, Rukia?" Ichigo asked, beginning to grasp at straws. "Sode no Shirayuki is your zanpakutou…"

"Zanpakutou?" Rukia interrupted him, puzzled. "I am a shinigami?" She turned to the two young ones. "I wasn't asleep all these years, was I?"

"Rukia…" The boy murmured, almost fearfully.

"Tell me more." Rukia practically ordered Ichigo.

Truth be told, Ichigo didn't know what else to say, he'd gone as far as declaring his love for her out loud, several times even! But that hadn't even fazed her. It didn't mean anything to her, because he didn't mean anything to her.

*Remind her about the bond Aibou…* Shiro whispered, trying to keep Ichigo focused. *If we can feel it, she should be able to as well.*

"We are bonded Rukia." Ichigo stated straight out. "We've been bonded for a while, probably longer than even I can imagine. I can feel our bond, can you?"

"What are you talking about?!" Rukia demanded, holding her head in pain and confusion.

"See into your soul Rukia." Ichigo said softly. "There you'll find your zanpakutou, as well as the bond that connects the two of us, a soul-bond, we're soulmates Rukia."

It was as if, even without doing anything, somehow the words were having an effect on the obsidian haired girl, it was a profound effect, but still not enough…

"Who are you?" Rukia asked once again, then clarified. "What is your name?"

"I…" With the expression of a man who had nothing else to give, or to lose, he answered, in a way similar to what he'd done that night, on their first meeting. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."

The words, like some kind of spell, caused an almost instant reaction, as Rukia's head snapped up, her mind assaulted by memories, so many memories…

_A strange first meeting, an enemy, a battle, a blade and… contact… it was the first time their two souls brushed together, and in a sense it almost was like they had before… or maybe they were just meant to connect all along. _

The petite girl in the yukata dropped to her knees as she held her head tightly, pain wrecking havoc to her psyche as she tried to deal with the sudden barrage of memories. There was so much, decades that she had passed by in an instant because, somehow, the most iconic memories seemed to all have taken place in the last year…

"Remember me Rukia, please." Ichigo insisted. "Remember the Nakama!"

"_It's different. We're not just mere classmates, or allies. We're more than just friends…not quite like family but…" _

"_Nakama." _

"_Yes, nakama, that's the kind of word I was looking for. We're nakama…"_

"All those memories we created, good and bad, in the sun and in the rain!" Ichigo went on.

"_It would seem like bad things have a tendency of happening when it's raining, huh?"_

Yes they did, bad things sometimes happened when it rained.

"Remember, how strong you were, that day, those days, both at Soukyoku Hill and at the Kuchiki Manor." Ichigo pressed on. "The times others tried to treat you as anything less than the beautiful and amazing woman and shinigami that you are."

"_I need to ask you a question. But I won't ask it to a porcelain doll, or a damsel in distress, I want to ask that question to a shinigami; so show me you're one and summon your zanpakutou!"_

"_Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" _

"You accepted me Rukia, all of me, the light and the dark. You're so incredibly strong, you believe in myself even when I don't…" he sighed. "Even if we first got together to follow the wishes of others, eventually it became our own wish, we made our own decision, chose our own future…which is how I made that question, for the second time, for good, and you answered it…Look at that ring on your finger Rukia, at the testament of the decision we made!"

She did as told, looking at the band around her finger, the black, clear, red, blue and violet diamonds that adorned her, and which she hadn't been able to remember, until then…

"_I know we're technically already married. But that time, we did it for all the wrong reasons. It's also not technically legal in this world. I now know what I feel for you, I know I love you. This time…this time I want to do things right, the way they should be done." He dropped on one knee, holding her hands in his. "Will you marry me Rukia?"_

"_Yes…I will marry you, Ichigo."_

"Ichigo…" She whispered out loud, in a mix of confusion and wonder. "Ichigo…my Ichigo…"

"Yes." Ichigo agreed immediately. "Your Ichigo."

"I…I'm remembering…" Rukia whispered, half-pained, as she raised her head.

"She's remembering…" The boy behind her muttered, pained himself for some reason.

"No!" The blonde snarled. "We cannot let her remember what happened that day!" she rushed to stand in front of Rukia. "Leave! Leave Shinigami! Rukia does not remember you!"

"You're wrong, I know you are, even if not fully, Rukia knows exactly who I am." Ichigo stated, full of confidence. "And even if she didn't, there's no way I'm going anywhere without her!"

"Rukia's not going anywhere with you." The blonde girl insisted. "That's not what she wants!"

"Is it really?" Ichigo's brow furrowed. "Or is it more that it is not what you want? I have no idea who you are, or the emo boy behind you, but there's no way in heaven or hell you're taking my Rukia from me!"

Rukia held the side of her head with a moan of pain, as if something in the way Ichigo and the unknown girl argued, pained her deeply, as if it made it harder for her memories to return.

"Nee-san!" The 'emo boy' cried out unexpectedly. "We need to stop this! If it continues, Rukia might never remember our names!"

"If we don't get rid of that shinigami, she might forget us completely, and our names would be a moot point!" The blonde retorted.

Ichigo still had no idea what was going on with those two, but his priority was Rukia.

"Rukia!" He cried out. "Remember please! Remember Sode no Shirayuki. You're a shinigami, and so proud of it. You're also a Nakama! The first time we met, when you risked your life to save me and my family, when you gave me your powers, when everything began…remember!"

"_Give me your sword, shinigami! Lets give this plan of yours a try." _

"_It's not 'Shinigami'. It's Kuchiki Rukia." _

"_I see…I'm Kurosaki Ichigo." _

It was as if suddenly something broke, something invisible, intangible, but equally important. Rukia's violet eyes recovered their brightness, and abruptly the orange-haired could feel her again, as clear as ever, inside his own soul…

"ICHIGO!" Rukia cried out at the top of her lungs.

The delight however, didn't last for long, as almost at the same time the blonde girl let out a scream of her own, heavy, deep black reiatsu swirling around her, and soon enough extending to reach her 'brother', surrounding Rukia in the process.

"You can't have Rukia." The blonde snarled. "I won't let you take her from us again."

"Nee-san…" The boy muttered in a low, sad tone.

"And if it's the only way to keep her with us, we will become one with Rukia!" The blonde announced with an almost insane glint in her eyes.

"We'll be together forever." The boy agreed.

Ichigo tried to do something, anything, but there was nothing that could be done. Way too fast the dark reiatsu grew, until his beloved disappeared inside it, along with the other two.

"RUKIA!"


	34. Snow and Ash

First things first: Shirayuki55, since I couldn't reply to your awesome comments through PM I do so here: Glad you like my ideas, I agree that some scenes of both movies are very intense, I hope I've manage to portray some of that. I agree with your point of view of certain events in Hell-Chapter, and I've a feeling you're really going to like what I've done with that one... all Ichiruki fans will! But that's later on. As for the Aranoniero (however his name is written), that one's closer and I hope you'll all like that as well.

Regarding possessive Ichigo and his use of "My Rukia"... possessiveness is a trait I don't find very attractive in real-life, but that's because I think that most tend to be very selfish when it comes to that. In my writing the possessiveness is always 100% mutual. When Ichigo says "My Rukia", he's also saying "Your Ichigo", he's hers as much as she's his. I'm a huge believer in true love, eternal love, soulmates. The idea of "two bodies one soul, two minds one heart". The idea of two people who are bound together in every way possible, from the beginning to the end of time, beyond time and space, beyond life and death. The possessiveness therefore isn't about 'owning' someone, as it tends to be seen in RL, it's about the connection. About the fact that they belong together, more than one belonging to the other. Several religions/folklore have the belief that at the beginning of creation human beings had four arms, four legs, two heads, but either they were too 'big' to exist like that, or became a threat to the superior power (God, gods, whatever) and thus they were split in two. Since then each half spends their existence searching for their other half, trying to be complete once again. That's what soulmates are about, that completeness. The acknowledgement that together you're so much more than you're apart.

Anyway, enough ranting, on with the second part of Fade to Black. And to Orihime fans, I hope you'll enjoy what I'm doing with her!

* * *

**Chapter 34. Snow and Ash**

Orihime remained two steps behind and one step to the left of Byakuya as he lead a group of seated members of his squad in keeping Kurotsuchi's experiment from gaining a foothold, apparently the Kidou Corps were having too hard a time keeping the thing contained as it, somehow, kept growing. Byakuya had insisted that Orihime not get involved in anything unless it was absolutely necessary; on the one hand he wanted to make sure she would stay safe, on the other, he didn't remember her and wasn't sure how much trust he could put in her, in her abilities. Orihime knew that and accepted it.

In that very moment several startled yells and warning calls put Orihime on high alert. She turned around just in time to see a 'tentacle' that had somehow managed to slip through the shield unnoticed by everyone and was about to completely bury half of the shinigami around her. The red-auburn-orange haired girl didn't think, she just reacted.

"Santen Kesshun! I reject!" She called her kotodama.

The shinigami, many of whom had frozen in place due to fear and shock at the sudden attack, could only watch as an orange-tinted translucent crystal-like shield materialized at an angle, covering all of them and stopping the 'tentacle' in its tracks.

The tentacle tried several times to push through, but the shield was just too strong, eventually its attempts stopped, when the sakura-like blades of Senbonzakura's shikai destroyed it.

"Inoue-san," Byakuya called as he turned to her. "Are you alright?"

"Just fine Kuchiki-dono." Orihime nodded respectfully. "The creature wasn't as strong as I feared it might be."

Byakuya was considering the possibilities, what they could achieve if he put Orihime's shield to good use, when he noticed that, for the first time, Orihime was walking away from him. It took him a couple of seconds to find her, but soon he did, she was walking to the edge of where her shield had been until some seconds before, to the blob the 'tentacle' had left, a blob where some shinigami had ended up trapped before the shield stopped the tentacle completely.

"Inoue-san…?" Byakuya called.

He remembered suddenly, quite clearly, the exact words she'd used when describing her powers: _"My Shun Shun Rikka grant me the power to create shields: to protect, heal and attack as needed."_ Could she possibly…?

Byakuya found the answer to a question he'd never finished, not even in his mind, right then.

"Souten Kisshun! I reject!" He heard the girl call new words.

An orange-tinted shield, very different from the one that had stopped the 'tentacle' in its tracks, appeared over the 'blob' and the shinigami trapped in it. For a few seconds nothing seemed to be happening and then, it was like the strange white substance suddenly were being dissolved into thin air. It happened in a matter of seconds, the thing vanished, leaving a bunch of shinigami standing, laying or even crouching, in the very positions they'd been in when being covered, only to fall the moment the shield disappeared.

For a couple of seconds nothing else happened, it took that long for all the shinigami present to realize the kind of miracle that had just taken place, the kind of miracle the young girl that had been trailing their captain since after lunch, had just worked.

Immediately a cacophony of voices rose, as people kept checking over friends and colleagues, marveling at what had just happened; while others thanked Orihime profusely, praising her miraculous powers for what they had achieved.

"Your powers truly are remarkable, Inoue-san." Byakuya commented as he walked to her.

"Thank you for your kind words, Kuchiki-taichou." Orihime bowed her head in thanks.

"I had never imagined a human could have powers such as yours." Byakuya declared. "Not even among the legendary miko, or the réalta."

"You know about the réalta?" Orihime was staggered at that sudden tidbit of information, but immediately tried to sound less suspicious. "About those ancient races?"

"It's the duty of the Kuchiki Clan to keep record of the history of Soul Society, that includes the treaties Seireitei has entered with races such as the ones I just mentioned." Byakuya explained in a very formal tone. "Can I infer from your words that you're interested in the topic?"

"Very." Orihime thought of an excuse for that fact, which was only half-lie. "As I believe Ichigo mentioned to you, we Nakama are a group who has one such allegiance with the Gotei. It wasn't until recently that we learned Seireitei had made such allegiances before, with races of spiritually aware and empowered individuals. That has made the whole thing of much interest to me. I wonder if maybe, finding out more about such races, I might be able to learn what has made us, those of us who aren't shinketsu shinigami, or Quincy, have our powers."

That, and it might help her learn more about the réalta, things that maybe not even Serenity knew, or hadn't told her yet.

"An interesting prospect." Byakuya declared calmly. "We shall go back to it, after we deal with the current situation."

Orihime nodded, getting focused on what was going on in that moment.

"Inoue-san." Byakuya called as he thought something over. "Is there a way for you to use both of the techniques you called on just now, at the same time, and on the same spot; and then move forward while keeping them active?"

It took the girl several seconds, but eventually she understood what he was planning. If she combined both of those techniques she would be able to erase some of the substance, while at the same time keeping Byakuya and his subordinates safe from a counterattack. Then, if in those conditions she managed to push forward she would be able to help the group do the same, but…

"Where would you expect me to get you?" She asked what she thought was important.

"Kurotsuchi's lab." Byakuya answered approvingly. "Would you be able to do that?"

For all answer, Orihime called on her Rikka and asked them. The fairies-flowers agreed it was possible, though they cautioned Orihime on how costly it all would be on her reiatsu.

"Very well." She nodded when she was done. "Kuchiki-dono, what you want can be done, it will be a bit costly on my reserves, though nothing we have to really worry about, and we won't be able to move too fast, least I risk my shields being penetrated. Also, we might want to take it especially slow at first, while I get used to the form and power of this new shield."

"New?" Byakuya wasn't expecting that. "I thought we were talking about the use of two techniques you used just now."

"That is true, but for something like what you are planning, it is preferable if I use one of my mixed shields." Orihime explained. "It's really just using two of them at the same time, however, since they're connected and interdependent I am actually using less reiatsu than if I called on the two techniques separately; on the flip side, I have to measure the right form and shape of my reiatsu since it's not the same as either of the original techniques."

Byakuya nodded, it sounded very much like the focus and considerations needed when using kidou, especially the most powerful Hadou. He gave orders to his subordinates to take formation while Orihime made her final preparations and began focusing her reiatsu.

"Very well, here we go." She declared as she raised her arms. "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily, Shun'ou, Ayame. Goten Sutashun! I reject!"

The new shield was the same color but had a quite different form from any of the previous ones the girl had used. It looked like a slightly twisted five-pointed star and after a few seconds it grew to cover Orihime, Byakuya and all the shinigami with them. Orihime spent a few more seconds testing the flow of reiatsu, she didn't want anything to go wrong. They were trusting her.

"There." She stated, her eyes fixed straight on her technique. "We can get moving now."

The shinigami adopted the formation as instructed, a small group of them surrounding Orihime in a lose circle, their priority was to keep the girl safe so she could stay fully focused on her own techniques and their advancement. The rest were ready to dispose of the experiment.

They began advancing then, and as they did, Orihime focused on letting some of the goop through the shield, keeping most of it back, and the 'tentacles' from attacking; however, as soon as the substance was through, the other part of the shield would reject it. If it moved too much, the shinigami would keep it at bay. That way they kept advancing, little by little.

**xXx**

Yamamoto was observing everything in silence from a spot slightly behind the Ave Blanca who, despite being already beyond exhausted, insisted on being the one to hold the shield. The Commander had to admit there was no one better to do it, not even the leaders of the Kidou Corps, which is in fact why he asked her to take charge of the operation in the first place. But still, it would help no one if she ended up dropping dead if she ran out of reiatsu.

Sasakibe Choujirou arrived to the roof right then and proceeded to recite the situation with each of the divisions working on keeping Kurotsuchi's experiments at bay, while Nemu led what remained of the Squad to try and find a way to stop the mess. She wasn't being very successful thus far, and Yamamoto was beginning to consider calling in Urahara Kisuke, the man appeared on the same records as the Nakama, and as the former 12th Division Captain and founder of the Bureau of Research and Development might be capable of solving the disaster they were in.

"Did she just go through the shield?" Sasakibe asked abruptly.

It was the truth, somehow the shield created by the Nakama girl had just pushed through the kekkai created by the Kidou Corps as if it weren't there. And not only that, the 'creature' wasn't able to reach them, and instead seemed to vanish as they moved forward.

"How can she possibly do that?" Several of the Kidou Corp members began wondering.

"It was in the notes." Yamamoto stated seriously. "Humans with reiryoku, whose will to protect and/or attack has manifested, become a power. The strength of their will seems to greatly influence their abilities, as much as the level of reiatsu."

"But to be powerful enough to go through one of the strongest kekkai in existence, as if it weren't even there…" Sasakibe wasn't fully convinced.

Ala Blanca, for her part, was an entirely different matter, her eyes fixed straight on the bright-haired young woman as she kept directing her own abilities, helping the shinigami through. Gray eyes fixed on the strands of reddish-hued hair…

"It's more than that…" She whispered, seemingly not even noticing she was talking out-loud. "The miracle lives again…"

**xXx**

"Rukia!" Ichigo cried out.

Loud metallic clashes echoed through the deepest parts of Inuzuri, signaling the battle going on between the orange-haired shinigami and the woman who, until a short time ago, was his wife. In a sense, she still was, no matter how much the strange fusion with the two unknown kids might have changed her.

In that moment Rukia was like a sort of darker version of herself, like a hollow version of herself, with ashen hair, black eyes, dressed in a white robe with a yellow sash (somewhat similar to the clothes worn by the kids) along with a red/violet cape; she also had the huge scythe the boy had been holding before, and was using it as a weapon against Ichigo.

"Reap him…Reap him…" She muttered in a strange, echoing, layered voice.

Ichigo had no idea what 'reap him' was supposed to mean, kill him? But something told him it wasn't that simple, not after that scythe seemed to begin going straight through his Zangetsu a few minutes earlier, in one of their first clashes. Zangetsu himself had no idea what that power was, only that it would be a very bad idea to allow it to happen. Shiro voiced his agreement, whenever he wasn't praising the darker Rukia…

*She just looks so hot…* Shiro stated. *Snow-princess is really smoking hot right now!*

*Shiro! Focus!* Ichigo snapped. *We have to find a way to undo what those creeps just did. Get my Rukia back! And stop calling my wife hot will you?*

*Just saying…* Shiro snickered.

His brief distraction cost him, Ichigo barely managed to shindo to a side in the last moment, before the scythe cut right through his neck.

"Stop it!" He yelled, not knowing what else to say. "Rukia, please, snap out of it!"

*Ichigo, you need to be focused, or you might lose your life.* Zangetsu reminded him. *As much as we may hate it, right now that's not your Rukia…*

*I know.* Ichigo replied as he kept fighting. *But no matter how many times I tell that to myself, no matter how different she might look right now. That's still Rukia, that's still my soulmate, and there's no way I could ever hurt her.*

And that was the crux of the matter. His plan when going to Inuzuri was to: find Rukia, kick the ass of whoever had her, and make things go back to normal; however, suddenly Rukia was no longer fully Rukia, and the other part of her was what was keeping him from his beloved in the first place…how was he supposed to kick ass now?

"Rukia please!" He called as he parried another blow. "It's Ichigo! Remember me!"

But it was no use, the strange fusion had caused what memories were returning to Rukia to be lost again, and Ichigo could almost feel his heart break.

**xXx**

Yamamoto never got around calling Urahara, and yet the man still arrived, along with Yoruichi, something the Commander couldn't decide is he was happy about, or not. In the end he decided just to accept it, the day was already strange enough to ponder too much on the details.

It was Kisuke who found Kurotsuchi's backup brain, the whole reason he wasn't forgotten, and yet he'd forgotten everything himself; an advantage Kuchiki Rukia did not have, which was why, in her case, she forgot everything and everyone forgot her. In any case, Kisuke was able to read the research Kurotsuchi was working on and make a plan on the best way to handle the situation. They needed to destroy a reishi converging device that was connected to the experiment creating the 'tentacles' and the strange goop. And the best part was that Kuchiki Byakuya and a small number of his men, along with Inoue Orihime, were already on their way.

The Commander for his part ordered the rest of the high-ranked shinigami to be ready to attack the experiment themselves the moment the shield fell, which would help them keep it from expanding and at the same time would give Byakuya an opening to finish with it.

"It's time to let the shield fall." Yamamoto told the girl sitting before her.

"But, I can still keep going." Ave Blanca complained.

"Maybe you can." Yamamoto didn't deny that. "But as long as we remain like this, we aren't progressing. We are not losing, but we aren't winning either. It's time we dealt with this."

Ave Blanca knew he was right, which is why she didn't complain anymore, simply nodding her head and making a series of hand-signs at the same time she muttered an incantation under her breath. Like glass breaking, the kekkai fell.

"Go!" Yamamoto ordered in a booming voice, even as he called on his own shikai.

In a second it was a mix of ice, fire, ash, energy, blades and a lot of reiatsu.

"Inoue-san, beware!" A voice called suddenly.

Orihime turned her head in time to see pieces of a frozen tentacle about to crash against her shield, she barely had enough time to focus more reiatsu, enough to keep that out, though a piece did get through, a couple of shinigami having to jump away so as not to end up hurt.

"I'm sorry!" Orihime called, embarrassed. "So sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about Inoue-san." Byakuya assured her. "You're doing a very good job. I think we're almost there."

They were, Orihime could sense the spot where the reishi particles converged as easily as Byakuya could, and knew that to be the trouble.

"Can you let me out to take care of this?" Byakuya asked the girl.

"I can do one better." Orihime told him after considering briefly. "If you touch me before releasing your zanpakutou, allow me to read your reiatsu signature, I can make it so my shield will allow Senbonzakura through, while still keeping the experiment out."

Byakuya liked that plan, so he pulled up a bit Orihime's sleeve, touching the back of her hand, knowing that skin on skin contact was important for the best reiatsu-reading possible. After a few seconds Orihime nodded, she'd gotten it, then Byakuya let go of her hand at the same time he called on his zanpakutou.

"Bankai." He let the zanpakutou fall. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Those observing from outside might have briefly thought that Byakuya was absolutely insane, at least until they watched the thousand sakura-like blades go right through the orange-shield as if it wasn't even there, and rushing against the experiment.

It was a huge demonstration of power. As every captain and lieutenant present made use of their respective shikai, and even their bankai in some cases; Kisuke and Yoruichi giving their assistance as well. Orihime couldn't help but marvel quietly, she hadn't seen such use of power since that day on Soukyoku Hill, when she and the rest of the Nakama had first taken on the Gotei 13 to save Rukia.

It was over quite fast. Still, Orihime refused to let the shield down until the shinigami around had finished destroying all the experiment and Byakuya confirmed that it was over. Then she simply called the Rikka back.

Instantly, there was celebration, and many of the shinigami that had been with her and Byakuya kept praising her for her abilities, for what she could achieve with them. Orihime couldn't help the pride bursting from inside her.

"The Gotei 13 is thankful for your assistance in this matter Inoue Orihime-san." Yamamoto said in a strong voice.

"It's been a pleasure to help sir." Orihime bowed her head gracefully with a smile.

"What do you plan on doing now Inoue-san?" Sasakibe inquired, curious.

"I…I would like to go find Ichigo." Orihime answered quietly, as he looked into the distance. "See if he needs any help…"

Several others nodded, understanding the young woman had to be worried about her companion, and after what they had just seen her do none of them were about to underestimate her or suggest in any way that she couldn't help him.

"I will help you get there, Inoue-san." Byakuya offered unexpectedly.

Yamamoto didn't say anything, though he nodded his acceptance. Ukitake, for his part, nodded approvingly, he was one of those most curious about the girl none of them seemed to remember, and he liked the idea of Byakuya helping, after all, the girl was supposed to be his family, even if not even the noble could remember her, it was still important that he be there.

"Let's go, Inoue-san." Byakuya took hold of her around her waist. "Hold on tight."

In a burst of shunpo, the two were gone.

**xXx**

"Stop it, Rukia!" Ichigo cried out for what must have been at least the twentieth time.

He tripped slightly as he shunpoed away from his 'opponent' several steps, holding his blade with only his right hand, as his left hung almost useless, bleeding, by his side. He'd been pretty much forced to go bankai at one point, as it became very hard for him to keep up with the 'Dark Rukia' in shikai, particularly when he had no interest in syncing with either Zangetsu or Shiro, or even going all out. He abhorred the mere thought of hurting his beloved.

*You're hurting her more like this.* Zangetsu told him, and not for the first time. *Allowing her to hurt you…what do you think your Rukia would say if she were to see you right now?*

*That I am a weak-assed pansy, and probably a coward to boot.* Ichigo muttered, voice full of self-loathing. *I know what she would say okay, I know she would hate all this, you need not remind me, Ossan. Still, that doesn't change matters any, I cannot hurt her.*

*No, I suppose it doesn't, and you can't.* Zangetsu admitted. *But unless you do something, soon, that decision will be taken from your hands.*

Even inside the Inner World, the zanpakutou spirit had sensed it as well as Ichigo himself, two powerful, controlled reiatsu were in route to Inuzuri, fast; and considering that one of them was Orihime, Ichigo could hazard a guess and say the other one must belong to Byakuya. The orange-haired couldn't risk it, as much as he may respect the man, the kind of brother he'd become in the last months, he still held duty very high in his list of priorities; if the noble saw the Dark Rukia, if he thought the normal Rukia was gone and not coming back, things would get ugly, very ugly.

"That man…we must reap that man's memories." The Dark Rukia muttered yet again. "If we do that, no one will be able to remember Rukia anymore." There was a shift in the voice. "That's it. Then we'll be the only ones Rukia cares about!"

So reaping meant taking away the memories, that was why Rukia didn't remember, and probably, somehow, why no one remembered her either. Ichigo knew for sure that was one thing he would never allow to happen to him. He was never forgetting Rukia.

"You lunatics!" He growled, directing the comment to the two 'children'. "Memories aren't everything. Rukia's soul remembers me, even if you try to stop her mind from doing so, her soul, her heart know me! You can't steal the bonds that hold us together!"

No, memories weren't everything, it was the truth, though one he'd only come to realize in the last few minutes. It didn't matter if Rukia didn't remember him, if she didn't know she loved him; he could make her fall for him again; if he had somehow managed the first time around, when he hadn't the slightest idea what he was doing, or even what he was hoping to achieve, it should be easier the second time around right? Besides, memories or no memories, the bond was still there, they were still soulmates, still fated, everything else…was inconsequential.

Yet again Ichigo had to pull back after several more clashes. While the orange-head had always known Rukia was strong, he never imagined she could be such a formidable opponent. And he was quite sure it wasn't all because of the strange fusion, she was really, really strong.

"But it's not all about the power…" Or was it? Something had just occurred to him.

*Aibou…?* Not even Shiro knew what he was thinking, and he didn't like that.

*That's the real problem, isn't it?* Ichigo asked into his inner world. *With those children, and the hollow-like presence together, Rukia's will has been overwhelmed. She's still the strongest presence, which is why she retained the image, but her mind and soul aren't in control right now. She needs more power to regain control…*

*Aibou…are you thinking what I think you're thinking?* Shiro asked quietly.

*It's such a huge gamble, isn't it?* Ichigo answered with another question. *But she, if anyone, is worth the risk. She's worth any risk.*

*That she is.* Shiro agreed completely. *Go get back your snow-princess, Aibou.*

*You have my support as well Ichigo, and I'm sure Shirayuki-san will help us too, in any way she can.* Zangetsu put in his two cents.

Ichigo nodded, gratefulness filling his Inner World.

The shinketsu shinigami was only half aware of the two reiatsu that had finally stopped, standing in the very limits of the hilltop where the long, strenuous battle was taking place; the young man's full concentrating was on something, or rather someone else.

Orihime stepped away from Byakuya, nodding silently, thankfully at him before turning to her Nakama. She was about to say something when she noticed the very serious expression on Ichigo's face; she knew then something was about to happen, and decided to leave him to it.

Right then Ichigo focused all his reiatsu, all his desire to get back his Rukia, all his love for her, and then shot straight at her.

With the Dark Rukia, the hollow power in her kept growing, so much and so fast it would soon alert the Gotei 13. She saw Ichigo rushing at her and moved her own weapon to attack, even half insane as she was, she knew the shinigami had to die.

Then, contact. Silence reigned supreme as the dust settled, revealing the results of the latest clash, only it hadn't been a clash at all, not really, it had been more…

Byakuya blinked, not quite believing what he was seeing, the kind of risks the young man was taking to get the woman back. Beside him, Orihime pressed both hands over her mouth to hold back the scream that had wanted to come out at the scene her eyes were witnessing.

In the middle of a small crater, the two 'opponents' half-stood, half-knelt, one with a scythe digging painfully into his side, blood falling in steady though barely noticed rivulets down his black hakama; the other with a blade running straight through her chest, some drops of her own blood on the black tip, contrasting greatly with her white attire.

For a seconds, nothing seemed to happen, then there was a bright flash of blue and white light, the mix of both of their reiatsu. When the light died down Rukia was once again in the flowered yukata, Ichigo in his normal shihakusho, with the sealed zanpakutou of both of them, laying, unsheathed, at a side.

"Rukia…" Ichigo whispered, holding her tightly to himself.

"Ichi…go…" He heard her whisper back.

The relief and joy Ichigo felt in that moment was enough to completely erase all the despair and the pain he'd gone through in the last few hours. Rukia, his Rukia, was back, and nothing else mattered in that moment.

No one could have expected what happened next. A worm-like phantom-ish hollow detached from Rukia's still trembling form, ignored Ichigo, before leaping straight at the two standing, watching from several feet away.

Orihime's reaction to the sudden attack what absolutely instinctive, she didn't even need to say a word as three of her Rikka materialized in front of her and Byakuya in an instant, forming her triangular defensive shield.

The hollow, realizing it wouldn't be able to get through the shield, moved against the next target, the ones most vulnerable in that moment.

Ichigo and Rukia realized what was going to happen, a fraction of a second before it did. Then the hollow crashed against the two fallen 'children', who screamed and began trashing the moment the creature touched them.

"No!" Rukia's scream joined the others.

Not knowing what exactly was going on, Ichigo watched his beloved stumble in the direction of the wailing children.

"Homura! Shizuku!" Rukia cried as she dropped to her knees by them, touching both repeatedly. "No! Leave them alone! Stupid monster! You're not taking them from me again! Not again! You Are Not Taking My Children From Me Again!"

What looked like a storm of white reiatsu rose from Rukia as she held onto the two children, draping her body over theirs, as if trying to shield them with her own, smaller form. And so, the hollow moved against her instead.

"Rukia!" He cried out as he rushed after her.

He stumbled and nearly fell completely just a second later, as he felt something inside his own soul coming dangerously close to snapping.

"Rukia!" He screamed.

Somehow, the half-unconscious, badly hurt children seemed to react to Ichigo's screams.

"Rukia?" They both called as they turned to look at her.

For all answer Rukia began wailing and trashing, as the dark reiatsu began enveloping her again.

"NO!" Ichigo yelled as he got to Rukia, holding her to him as tightly as possible. "Rukia!"

He could still feel the hollow putting great stress on the soul-bond, it was like it would snap at any moment. If that happened…no, he just couldn't think about it, the prospect about losing Rukia, even if just in that rather small way, was more than he could handle.

"Ru…kia…" The children called again, growing more and more worried. "KAA-CHAN!"

It took that long for Orihime to break out of her stupor and rush to where the others were. She immediately dropped to her knees between the four laying on the rocky ground, moving her hands and eyes around repeatedly as if trying to find something to do, some way to help; she hated seeing others hurt and doing nothing.

"Ichigo, what is going on?" She asked after a few seconds.

"The fucking hollow is trying to take her over, for good." Ichigo answered with a snarl. "It's tugging at our bond…so hard…"

"What can I do?" Orihime asked, nervous.

"Try to help the two children." Ichigo answered.

That answer really caught both Orihime, and the still standing Byakuya by surprise.

"They are important to Rukia." Ichigo clarified. "She will hate it if something happens to them on top of everything that already did…"

"What do you plan to do, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Byakuya asked in a very serious tone.

Ichigo took a second to wonder if Byakuya was referring to him like that because he still didn't remember, or because he did and was worried about his sister. In the end, in didn't matter, it didn't change the situation any.

"I'm going to make sure Rukia wins this." Ichigo answered.

Carefully, he touched his forehead to hers, closing his eyes and focusing. Before he had pulled Rukia into his Inner World, now he wanted to do the exact opposite, he wanted to go into hers.

"Ru…kia…" The dark haired boy muttered in a pained tone.

Orihime became aware of their bad injuries right then, and trying her best to push the situation with her two nakama to the back of her head, she focused on her healing shield and covered both of the unknown children with it.

"This is…all our fault…" The boy whispered as he closed his eyes tightly.

"This was supposed to be our punishment, not hers." The blonde added.

It was until then that the two became aware of the orange-tinted oval dome covering them, they immediately turned to look at Orihime.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The blonde demanded in a harsh tone.

"Helping you." Orihime answered softly.

Or at least that's what she was trying to do, and though she had no trouble healing the minor injuries that the two had gained during the fight against Ichigo, there was something else in them, some kind of metaphorical hole through which their life seemed to be leaking. They were dying and Orihime didn't even know why.

"Why isn't this working?!" She cried out, stressed.

"Because we're already dead." The boy deadpanned.

That definitely called both Byakuya's and Orihime's attention.

"If you're dead, how are you here?" Byakuya wanted to know.

"We wanted to see Rukia-kaa again so much…" The boy whispered in a grieving tone. "All that's happened has been our fault. Because we wanted her, but we weren't worthy…"

"This was our punishment." The blonde muttered again. "Because we didn't listen to Rukia… We didn't listen, and everything that's happened since then has been our fault."

"We lost so much…" The boy whispered, beginning to cry.

"And yet we wanted her back, we wanted to see her again, to have her give us our names, like she was going to before everything went so wrong…" The blonde cried. "Before that idiot shinigami ruined it all. Before he took us away…" she turned to the sky, as tears fell down her dirty cheeks. "We just wanted our kaa-chan back!"

Orihime was very upset, and Byakuya could see that clearly. However, he had no way to help her. While he was very good at kidou, healing one wasn't his thing, and if those children were really already dead, had been for decades, there was nothing he could do, nothing either of them could hope to do.

"Inoue-san." He called her softly. "I don't think there's anything that can be done…"

"There is, there has to be." Orihime insisted.

"Inoue-san." Byakuya insisted. "It is quite obvious to me that you're somehow winding back time to undo the wounds in the children, that works well for things that happened recently, but if what killed them did so a century ago…you cannot go that far back."

The noble really didn't like having to say that, it was obvious the girl was a very caring, very sensitive person, it felt wrong to have to take away what hope she might have…but if he didn't stop her he might push herself too far. It wasn't worth it for her to die, especially if not even her death would change anything.

"I don't wind back, I reject…" Orihime clarified, then something occurred to her. "I cannot reject enough time, but I can reject something else."

Before Byakuya understood what exactly she was planning, or either of the children could think about saying anything, the young woman had called back her Rikka, only to send them again, with a new kotodama this time:

"Shun'ou, Ayame, Souten Kisshun! Nibankyuu! I reject!"

**xXx**

Ichigo had to use all his strength of will to control his need to hurl. What he had just witnessed, what had happened to Rukia, but especially to those two children, innocent children, a century before…it made him totally sick. He understood in that moment why the two hated shinigami so much, and also why Rukia was so important to them, so much they would do anything to have her back. Rukia was their mom, as far as they were concerned, and regardless of how young she might have been at the time, how young she might still be, one way or another. They did everything in an attempt to get their mom back…and who was Ichigo to say it was wrong of them, when he had no idea how far he would go to get his own mom back?

"It is truly a tragedy what happened in the past, but you need to focus on the present Ichigo." A serious voice told her.

"If you don't, there's no way those kids are getting back their momma, or you your snow-princess, aibou." A second voice said in a more biting tone.

Ichigo blinked as he noticed suddenly where he was standing. It looked like a park, or the clearing in a forest, except it was winter, and the lake occupying at least half of the area was frozen. There was snow and ice all around, snowflakes floating as if in some kind of permanent, soft snowstorm. And yet, somehow, it wasn't really all that cold.

He was in Rukia's Inner World, and somehow, getting there he'd ended up pulling both Zangetsu and Shiro with him, it was them who were trying to get him to focus, and he knew why. Sode no Shirayuki was standing a few feet away, on the edge of the lake, watching the vicious battle taking place over the reflecting surprise, the battle between two that looked so much alike and yet were entirely different.

Ichigo was about to call to her, until he realized that would be extremely stupid, one did not distract a person in a life-or-death battle; and, in a sense, the fight taking place before him was more than even that. All he could do was focus on their stressed bond and send as much love, confidence and strength through it as he could. He believed in Rukia, she could win, she would win, anything else was simply not acceptable, or possible.

However, with Rukia, she wasn't actually trying to win, or at least, she wasn't actively trying to defeat her darker half; instead, she was attempting a more unorthodox approach.

"We do not have to fight." Rukia insisted as she evaded a slash from her darker half.

"Yes we do!" Dark Rukia replied. "We have to fight. I have to win, I have to take you down, to take control…otherwise I will be erased from existence!"

"I would never do that." Rukia shook her head.

"That's what you say now." Dark Rukia snarled. "But I'm a hollow, you're a shinigami. Who do you think you're fooling?! You already went against me…"

"Because you were hurting the children, my children." Rukia answered defensively. "No one hurts them and gets away with it."

"Even worse." Her opponent growled. "Then you'll just use that as an excuse to destroy me!"

"I do not want to destroy you, not if I don't have to."

"Why?! Why not?! You're not making any sense!"

"We don't have to be enemies. We can learn to co-exist, help each other."

"I'm a hollow, I don't do 'playing nice'."

"You could if you wanted to, you're already taking parts of me, making them yours, otherwise you wouldn't still look like me after Ichigo lent me his power to overcome the fusion. You are a part of me already. If you accept it, we can learn to handle it."

"I don't believe you!"

Rukia had no idea what else to do, or say, how to convince her 'darker twin' that she was saying the truth, and then she became aware of her beloved's presence in her Inner World, and she also noticed he wasn't alone…

"Look behind you." Rukia parried a blow before speaking again. "Can you see the orange-haired shinigami standing there, with a white double by his side?"

A couple of blows more and the two switched places.

"I see him, them." Dark Rukia stated. "What about them?"

"Can you sense what makes them similar, and what makes them different?" Rukia inquired.

It took several seconds and some more, less strong, blows, before Dark Rukia could truly get a feel for the energies of the two teenagers.

"One is a shinigami, the other is a hollow." Dark Rukia seemed completely confused by that.

"One is like me, the other like you." Rukia reinforced the idea. "The first is Ichigo, my soul-mate, and the other is his Inner Hollow: Shiro. They are part of the same soul, of the same person, just like we are…or could be."

"Would you really accept me?" Dark Rukia asked, unsure.

"I already do." Rukia assured her. "The question is, can you accept becoming a part of me?" she sighed. "You'll spend most of the time in my Inner World, with Shirayuki-san. Once I learn how I'll do my best to include you in the fights, and it's likely that at some point I'll need your help, just considering the enemies I'll be going against…"

"It would make things interesting." Dark Rukia admitted. "And something tells me if I don't agree, then I will be erased…"

"I just don't want others to end up hurt."

"And you would hurt yourself to manage that?"

"Without hesitation."

"You know this will have consequences? Deep, permanent consequences?" The hollow closed her eyes, not sure why she was feeling so afraid, not for herself but for the one offering her so much. "Your soul will be split. The power given to you by the ones whose soul is bound to yours will allow you to endure this, and to heal from the trauma, but the splitting will be permanent. Just like his is…"

"I know, I guessed it was a possibility. I accept it. I accept you."

Those seemed to be the magic words. As Dark Rukia rushed her dark counterpart one last time. Right before their weapons could clash, they disappeared, and the two slammed against one another. A snowstorm seemed to appear right on the spot, the howling of the wind made even worse by the feminine screams coming from it.

"RUKIA!" Ichigo screamed.

For him it was even worse, he wasn't only hearing his beloved scream, again, he could also feel the tear on the bond, grow more and more; so much it was like the bond would fully snap any second. That was the only reason why he hadn't rushed straight into the snowstorm to save Rukia, the pain he was in in that moment was so great he couldn't move, couldn't breathe and could hardly even think.

Shiro hated so much to see his partner, his brother like that, he couldn't help but drop on his knees, taking hold of one of Ichigo's hands, trying to offer some kind of comfort, even when he could feel the echoes of the bond tearing and understood why the orange-head was like that.

Then, it was like everything snapped in an instant. Ichigo and Shiro both extended their free hands in the direction of the sudden-exploding snowstorm.

"RUKIA!"

"SNOW-PRINCESS!"

It was over.

For a second, an almost eternal second, nothing happened. Then, it was like an implosion, of reiatsu, of pure strength of will, and heart, and soul.

When everything cleared again Ichigo and Rukia were standing in the middle of the frozen lake, with their counterparts standing at their sides, and they were all holding hands.

Ichigo and Rukia could both sense the difference easily enough. Rukia's soul had split, the power Ichigo had shared with her through his zanpakutou allowed her to heal from something that would have destroyed most mature, powerful spirits. Then, half of her soul had fused with the remnants of the old memory-reaping hollow. The soul-bond, after coming so close to snapping so many times in a short while had finally stabilized again, managing to compensate for the change. In the end, all four of them were soul-bonded, each to their respective counterpart, as well as their 'Perfect Match'.

"Well," Ichigo decided to break the ice with a witty comment. "Seems like you'll be getting your snow-princess after all, eh Shiro?"

"Snow…no way!" Shiro shook his head with a wicked smirk. "This new girl is much too hot for that! Smoking hot!"

The 'Dark Rukia' looked Ichigo's white counterpart up and down before snorting and looking away pointedly.

Ichigo and Rukia couldn't help it they laughed.

**xXx**

That evening the dinner took place at the Kuchiki Manor as scheduled. It was a good thing that, even if practically everyone forgot Rukia, the members of the household were so used to just follow instructions that they never stopped arranging everything.

Ichigo and Rukia spent the night clinging to each other, basking in the fact that not only their soul-bond still existed, but the one formed between their Inner Hollows seemed to have strengthened the union as a whole. Orihime for her part had been unconscious since the two left Rukia's Inner World which, they suspected was becoming Their Inner World, judging by the city that was forming around the small winter-meadow, especially the skyscrapers which were so characteristic of Ichigo's world. The other parts of their souls had no problem whatsoever with the sudden development, since it allowed them to be closer themselves; though the Dark Rukia, whom Shiro had taken to calling Kaijin (Ash/Embers) kept rejecting her 'soulmate' rather coldly. Ichigo and Rukia found it very funny.

The truly miraculous thing that afternoon, was the recovery of Homura and Shizuku who, in fact, went back to being children after Orihime's use of her powers on them; they were exactly like they'd been a century earlier. They had all their memories intact, of their death, of their time in Hueco Mundo, their attempts to get Rukia back; But they were alive, as if that fateful encounter with the possessed shinigami had never happened. At first they had actually feared Ichigo, or even Rukia would hold something against them for their actions, but they didn't. What's more, Ichigo proposed that the two be adopted by Rukia and him, making them truly Rukia's children, a proposition they accept with great delight. Rukia in particular was absolutely delighted, she had always seen the two more as her children than siblings, and having them truly be a part of her family was more than she could have ever dreamt of.

It was an unprecedented move, for a pair of adopted nobles to adopt two Rukongai children themselves and give them their name, however, Kasumi fully supported Ichigo's decision. And in a clan as small as the Nagaken, any possibility of its strength increasing was accepted with little doubt or complaint. And even if the Kuchiki would like to say some things themselves, it wasn't their name being offered, so their opinions mattered little,

The following morning after breakfast, when Orihime went back to sleep to recover from the use of her powers the previous day, after leaving Homura and Shizuku to explore what was, effectively, their new home to their leisure, Rukia, Ichigo and Byakuya got together in Ichigo's private office with some tea, to have a pretty serious conversation.

"You have Inner Hollows." Byakuya stated blankly, watching the pair carefully.

Rukia was so shocked by her brother's words she nearly spat the tea she had just spit.

"Well." Ichigo said after sipping his own beverage. "If that's not a conversation opener, I don't know what is."

"Stop your sarcasms Kurosaki, this is serious." Byakuya stated in a sold voice. "You and Rukia are, somehow, Visored."

"Well Byakuya-san." Ichigo said, still pretty relaxed. "I have to say that while your first comment was pretty much on target, you're rather mistaken on the second."

"I know what I sensed coming from you, from both of you." Byakuya insisted. "The dark reiatsu, the double-layer of power…you're like Hirako and the others."

"Once again Byakuya-san, you're only half right." Ichigo insisted.

Byakuya was about to say something, but Ichigo stopped him with a hand motion. He knew Rukia was still shaken by how quickly her new status had been discovered, they hadn't even begun her training yet; in any case, that meant Ichigo would have to handle explanations himself, he just hoped Rukia's brother won't kill him before he's done.

"It is true we have Inner Hollows, I won't deny it." Ichigo said directly. "But things aren't as simple as you might believe either. We're not really Visored, even though the basis of their powers, and ours, are the same; there are some details that make us very different. Mashiro named me the 'Maskless Visored', and as childish as I think the title might sound, it is actually quite fitting. Because that's the core of the difference between the Visored, and us, the masks…"

What followed was the most detailed explanation Ichigo could manage. He knew that Byakuya, more than anyone aside from him and Rukia (in each other's cases) deserved to know everything he possibly could about the situation. He explained how he'd ended up with a hollow himself, what it all meant to him, not just the powers, but mentally and emotionally. Then they had gone into how and when Rukia had found out about him, her acceptance of him, and of Shiro. Then they went into what had happened the previous day…

"If the hollow possessed her, like what Aizen did to the Visored, or what that other hollow did to Shiba-fukutaichou and his wife, how is Rukia any different from the Visored?" Byakuya asked.

"Because I accepted her." Surprisingly, it was Rukia who answered.

"Accepted her?" Byakuya repeated, not quite sure he was understanding correctly.

"Kaijin, that's my darker twin's name, just like Shiro is Ichigo's." Rukia explained. "And while I may have ended up with a hollow in a similar way to the Visored and… Kaien-dono and Miyako-dono, the difference is that I chose not to fight her. I proved I could do it, by standing up to her, but in the end chose not to do so, never tried to destroy her. I gave her my trust, and she gave me hers, very much like Ichigo and Shiro did with each other. And even though Kaijin might have been a separate entity at once time, the same ability that allowed her to assimilate others before, allowed her to join with me. Then, when acceptance came, my soul split…" she raised her hand to stop the upcoming denials. "I know that would normally destroy someone, but Ichigo had lent me some of his power just before, to allow me to break the fusion between Homura, Shizuku and myself. That power allowed me to endure the split and recover enough that now I have two souls instead of one, or three if you count Shirayuki-san."

"So, is there any risk?" Byakuya asked, above everything, worried for his sister.

"None." Rukia shook her head. "Kaijin really isn't bad. Right now we're still getting used to the fact that we were originally one, and yet at the same time not. Also, the soul-bond Ichigo and I share seems to have extended to our Inner Hollows, which puts a new level in our dynamics."

"Eventually she'll be able to train to use Kaijin's powers." Ichigo added. "Just like I use Shiro's."

"What powers are we talking about here?" Byakuya wanted to know all he could.

"Well, Cero is a given." Ichigo began enlisting. "I think Rukia should be able to use bala as well, I cannot, since I don't have the control necessary. There are other special abilities Kaijin might have, like the memory reaping and such and, eventually, Resurreccion."

Byakuya nodded, Ichigo had already explained about his own Resurreccion, and while a part of him worried what all this might mean for his sister and her husband in the long run, how the Gotei 13, and especially the Chamber 46 might react when they found out, and eventually they would; he also couldn't help but be thankful, because it all meant his sister had access to another source and level of power, and she wasn't alone. Ichigo would make sure she was alright, he would be with her every step of the way, and even with as extraordinary as her situation might be, she would never be alone. Nothing was more important than that.

There was only one detail left.

"All this is going on, has obviously been going on for a while, at least where Ichigo-san is concerned." Byakuya stated in a low but very serious tone. "Yet I didn't know…"

"Before you say something, or suggest something that might end up with someone being hurt, I will explain that." Ichigo interrupted him swiftly. "It was not, as you might be thinking, a lack of trust. The truth is, we…Rukia didn't want to place you in a compromising position. Make it so you might have to choose between your family, and your duty…again."

"I would make the right choice." Byakuya declared stoically.

"I know that." Ichigo didn't even hesitate when saying that. "Still, we thought it best if we didn't force you to choose until it was absolutely necessary. After the last 'conversation' we had with Yamamoto we considered telling you everything, we never came to a definite decision. And then this happened…" he shook his head. "I never imagined we could end up in this position some day, that Rukia might end up like me…a hybrid. But, on the flip side, at least she and her Hollow aren't actually actively trying to destroy each other."

That was definitely a very good thing.

"We trust you Byakuya-Nii-sama, I trust you." Rukia confirmed with a smile. "You're my big brother,

how could I do anything but? I just, I really didn't want to put you in a difficult position. Make things more complicated for you…"

"There's no complication in this Imouto-chan." Byakuya said with the softest voice anyone had ever heard from him. "It might have taken me a while to fully act like it. But in the end, you're my sister, nothing is more important than that."

Rukia smiled brightly at her brother at that, as did Ichigo. Byakuya was truly becoming the best brother he could be, and that was definitely a good thing too.

**xXx**

Rukia and Ichigo left Seireitei along with Homura and Shizuku that same afternoon, knowing their Nakama must be very worried about them. They had talked to Urahara before he and Yoruichi left Seireitei again, about getting gigai for the children and arranging papers for them; the shinigami-turned-shopkeeper had promised to have everything ready when the small family got back. Officially they would be the Kurosakis new foster children, only those closest to them would know who their parents actually were.

Orihime was left to rest some more in her room at the Nagaken Estate, she would be making her way back either that same night or the following morning, arrangements had been made and Kasumi would open the Senkaimon for her to go back in time to get to her apartment, shower, change and get to school on time. At least that was the plan.

In the end Orihime spent most of Sunday sleeping, getting ready to leave early on Monday morning. Dressed once again in the yukata she had arrived in, she agreed on a short breakfast with Yailen before walking to the prepared Senkaimon. During the breakfast Orihime noticed the older girl kept looking at her strangely, as if searching for something that couldn't be seen at plain sight, however, in the end Yailen said nothing.

"See ya, Yailen-san." The Rikka wielder said goodbye to the older girl with a smile.

"See ya Orihime." Yailen answered, a strange glint in her eyes. "Good luck."

Kasumi insisted on sending a couple of escorts with Orihime, just to make sure the girl would arrive alright, it took the teenager until they were already halfway through the Dangai to convince the two guards that she could go the rest of the way alone, it wasn't like she hadn't gone through the Dangai before, and her Rikka would make it so that even if the Senkaimon opened in the middle of the air, she could handle the situation.

Once the escorts were gone, Orihime continued her careful walk down the Dangai at a steady pace. She wasn't running, didn't really need to, as long as the Cleaner didn't appear she had no need to rush, and it might not be a good idea, considering the clothes she was wearing.

It was right as she was less than ten feet away from the end of the path, that things changed abruptly. She could feel power, dark energy, as a rip opened in thin air, right behind her. It was followed by the entrance of a dark reiatsu into the Dangai, a presence she could identify scarily easily, even after only having seen the owner twice.

"Onna." A hard, cold voice called her from behind.

Orihime turned around slowly, calmly, her eyes showing no surprise, no fear, as if she'd known it was all going to happen long before her 'visitor' appeared.

"Hello, Ulquiorra." She greeted the newcomer easily.

**xXx**

_In a time of wars, of lords, of princesses, and samurais, of warriors and great powers, a small girl stood in her room, dressed in a furisode kimono in shades of blue, purple and some red and orange, the image was that of a rainy horizon; her long straight hair was as black as a raven's wings, and her eyes violet as the midnight moonless sky. _

_The main door of the room opened and a tall man dressed in an elegant kimono entered. _

"_It's time." He announced in a very serious voice. _

_The two servants who had been standing, pretty much unseen, at corners of the room, went to place a couple of bags by the little girl, before bowing deeply to the man and leaving the room. _

_Right as they left a young boy, barely a year or two older than the girl, entered the room and immediately took the bags, before going to a corner of the room, where a huge tapestry of another rainy landscape, this time a garden, hung. The boy moved the tapestry to reveal a hidden passage, there he stood and waited. _

"_I don't want to leave, Chichihue!" The girl cried as she threw herself into the man's arms. "I do not want to leave you!" _

_Until that moment she'd been the picture of the perfect poised princess, but she couldn't keep faking it, not when leaving hurt so much. _

"_This is necessary my little princess, I wish it weren't so…" The father shook his head with regret. "It is not fair for you to have to pay for the mistakes of my past. But that is how it is. For your own safety you must leave, tonight. And you are to never come back." _

_She knew all that, it had been explained to her before, didn't mean she had to like it. But in the end she loved her father, very much, because she loved him she wanted to stay, and for that very same reason she would leave. Because it was what he wished her to do. _

_With a nod, the little princess walked to where the boy was waiting for her, he placed a black cloak over her furisode, to hide her from plain sight, before going into the passage, to guide her. For one last time, the girl looked back, at the father who observed her from her door. _

"_I love you Chichi…" She whispered softly for what she knew would be the last time. _

"_I love you too." He whispered back at her. "Always and forever. You're my little princess, never forget that. My Amekimi…" _

_With a last, teary nod, the girl nodded once and then disappeared into the passage. _

_It was the beginning of a story… one which one day would become legend._

* * *

Regarding Orihime's 'new spell': Goten (Fifth-Heaven) Sutashun (Star-shield). Like the two mixed shields from before, it's essentially two of them working in tandem, and the reasons for them to exist are as she explains to Byakuya in the chapter itself. I really wanted to explore more the idea Kubo started in canon when he gave Orihime her fourth shield, but it never went anywhere. I won't be giving Orihime any more spells but she doesn't need them, I don't think. Still, there's a lot more to come on that front!

From this chapter on we're starting something that can essentially be seen as a 'story inside a story'. That's important for one of the subplots in this fic, I'm sure the reasons will become obvious really fast, if they haven't already. If anyone wants to make guesses as to where things are going I'd be delighted to read all about your thoughts of this.

To Orihime, Ulquihime fans... your moment's coming! The main part of the Hueco Mundo arc is coming!

See ya next week...


	35. Breaching the White Castle

Are you ready for this?! Me? I honestly don't know, but too late to turn back... Hueco Mundo here we go!

Shirayuki... regarding the liberties I'm taking... from the moment I began Nakama, one of the things I wanted to go was take all the fillers (or most of them, at least), the ones that don't actually fit into the story, and that they never tried to make fit, and put them together in a logical, comprehensive way. I also take every opportunity I can for character development and to add in background and world-building. I hope you'll enjoy. Also... one of the scenes you've been waiting for is here... I'm sure you know which one I'm referring to...

And on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 35. Breaching the White Castle**

_They had been on the road for a whole night and day by the time they finally stopped. They took a bit longer to go around a very small town, before finally reaching their destination, an Estate built in the middle of nowhere, limited on the sides and the back by two rivers joining, and on the front by the forest, through which a very narrow, almost invisible path ran. _

_It was the secret home of Lord Arashikensei, known as the Honor King by his subjects and allies, and the Swords' Storm by his enemies, some being both at the same time. The man had had the place built many years before, to be a place where he could go to recover, or spend some free time, a secluded, safe place. No one but his most trusted, his second in command, Head of the Samurai Guard and personal guard even knew about the place. And it had been chosen, to be the new home of what the Lord valued above everyone and everything. His youngest child, beloved daughter, his little princess: Amekimi. _

_It was raining, hard, when the small carriage finally stopped in the empty entrance of the Estate. It had been raining all day. All servants had been sent away during the young princess' arrival. No one was to see her, no one but her personal guard would even know she was there, or who she was. If she was to be safe, she would also have to be invisible, for as long as possible. _

"_Happy birthday to me…" The child whispered to herself, her whole form hidden by the long, thick cloak she wore. _

_She was peaking out of her carriage, by a corner of the heavy curtains that covered the side-window. She knew she was not to get out, or even move the curtains, not until her personal guard got her out. However, she wasn't expecting the person who actually got her out… _

"_Hanshi?" The girl asked, full of confusion. _

_The man just looked at her as he opened the door a bit more, allowing her to see him. He was standing there in his fighting kimono, but while he was holding the door open with his left hand, his right arm hung from his side, completely immobile, useless. _

"_Oh Spirits…" The princess gasped as she covered her face with both her hands. "He's dead isn't he? Chichihue is dead?" _

_The man stepped back, allowing the girl to get off the carriage, with little attention to her moves, or the mud she was getting on both her kimono and cloak. In that moment nothing mattered but the news the man was bearing, the news she had to endure, the same day of her sixth birthday… _

_Once she was out, the man dropped to his knees, ignoring the mud as well, body completely folded in a penitent position. _

"_I am very sorry, Hidenka-sama…" He whispered in a low voice. _

_It took several minutes for the girl to fully control her hysterics, but even when she found the strength to speak again, there was such sadness in her voice, in her aura, that one would believe the skies were crying with her, for her. _

"_What happened, Kyoshi-hanshi?" She asked quietly. _

"_We were betrayed, Hidenka-sama."He explained, still not standing again. "By supporters of the first two wives. They acted against your father and his samurai, all but me were slaughtered." He shook his head. "I only held onto life, onto the shame that it is to live when the one I swore to die for is no longer here, so I could give you the news yourself. You deserved no less than the truth Hidenka-sama… Once I am done here, I will be able to salvage what honor I have left, and then ask Heika-sama for forgiveness in the next life." _

"_I do not think Chichihue would think you have failed him, or us, thus far, but you may yet." The girl said in a suddenly serious voice. _

"_Hidenka-sama…?" The man was confused. _

"_There is no shame in living, not when it has allowed you to follow your duty." Amekimi told him softly. "And now I wish you would accept an order from me." _

"_I live to serve, Hidenka-sama." He assured her immediately. _

"_I wish for you to finish your son's training." The girl told him. "If he is to be my personal guard I want him to be the best, better even than you, if such a thing is even possible…" she sighed. "While the betrayers may ignore my whereabouts for now, it won't be this way forever. A day will come when they will begin looking for me, and eventually they will find me. I do not wish to live in a golden cage forever…" _

_The man understood, he had always thought it was unfair to hide the girl away in a secret estate in the middle of nowhere, even if it was for her own good. However, they had never planned for how things had gone. His Lord had expected to be able to keep his child away, unseen, until those who might wish her harm forgot about her, until she could live her life, free of fear. However, with the Lord dead, that was unlikely to happen now. Now, for her to live, she would have to be protected, most likely for the rest of his life. She was right, she needed to have the best to protect her, already that was his son, he was the best of his age, yet he could be better; and why not? He might even end up being better than his own father. _

"_Very well, I will do as you command." He nodded in a loud voice. _

_It looked like Amekimi was about to say something else, when Kyoshi's next words caught her completely by surprise: _

"_I live to serve you, I die to serve you, now and forever, Amekimi-hidenka-sama." He recited in a solemn voice. "My life is yours, my blood is yours, I shall forever do as you command. For you are my princess, and I, your loyal guard…" _

"_Rise now, my loyal guard." She finished the small ceremony with the smallest smile, the only she could bring herself to give. "Kyoshi-san…" _

**xXx**

Tatsuki was one of the last to arrive to the Urahara Shouten that afternoon, ready to kick some ass if she didn't got some answers, satisfactory ones, and soon.

"Where the hell is Orihime?!" She demanded as soon as she got to the backroom.

She was already rounding on Urahara, when Chad placed a hand on her arm and shook his head.

"We already asked." Uryuu pointed out. "He does not know. Orihime hasn't come here. In fact, as far as he, and everyone else here in the Shouten are concerned, no Senkaimon has opened all day, no one has come."

"Is she still in Seireitei then?" Tatsuki was trying, with all her strength, to hold onto some hope.

"No." Rukia shook her head morosely. "We phoned Kasumi-dono. She says the Nagaken Senkaimon was opened for Orihime on schedule, she went into the Dangai early this morning."

"Went into the Dangai, and then didn't come out, tell me that's not as bad as it sounds." Tatsuki said, about to go into a panic.

"How bad it is depends on your own point of view I guess." Ichigo spoke up as he snapped his phone shut. "That was Kasumi-oba-san on the phone. She said two guards were selected to escort Orihime through the Dangai; about halfway through she convinced them of letting her continue on her own. They didn't like it, but since she was the authority then and there…"

"Are they crazy?!" Tatsuki snapped. "They should have never left her alone."

"One of them didn't." Ichigo qualified. "He followed Orihime, discreetly and at a distance. He was about to leave when she had almost reached the end of the path, when things changed. From the description he gave, a garganta was used, a male came out and more-or-less coerced Orihime into the Garganta with him."

"What do you mean more-or-less?" Tatsuki asked, confused.

"The guard says there was no fight, Orihime didn't really try to defend herself, or escape, nothing." Ichigo qualified.

"She might not have been able to." Rukia pointed out. "After what she did for Homura and Shizuku, she might not be back at top shape just yet."

Ichigo nodded, conceding that was also true.

"Who was it that got her from the Dangai?" Uryuu voiced the question he thought was the most important at the time.

"According to the description the guard gave us: Ulquiorra, the Cuarta Espada." Ichigo answered.

The grim tone in his voice reflected what they all knew already: if it had been Ulquiorra, that meant that the move was more than sanctioned by Aizen; it was even possible that the man himself had ordered it. Which meant they would have to be careful how they responded to it, be sure they covered all their bases; though, at the same time, there was one basic, obvious course of action to take.

"We need to rescue Orihime."

**xXx**

An hour later they are all ready. Either in their spirit forms, or dressed in comfortable clothes they can fight in, the Nakama get together in Urahara's training grounds.

"Why can't we go too?" Homura asked as she watched from the side.

It was something that obviously was making the young-teenager-looking girl very sad. It had been hard enough to get her and Shizuku to let their new 'parents' leave for school that morning. The two were being home-schooled for the time being since they'd never gone to school, and they were beginning to grow again rather fast. Urahara's theory was that they wouldn't get to look as mature as they did during the 'situation' in Soul Society, but they couldn't stay looking like little children since, for all intents and purposes, they weren't really children anymore; the scientist-shopkeeper suspected they would end up looking like teenagers, somewhere between the children they had been a century before and the adults they had grown to be in Hueco Mundo. The plan was to have them home-schooled for the following year and, hopefully, they would be able to begin formal schooling on Spring of the next year. It would also give them time to learn about the Human World, so they wouldn't have it as hard as Rukia back then.

"Where we're going, it would be dangerous for you, my darling." Rukia whispered as she held the blonde tightly to her body.

"What if something happens to you?" Homura whispered brokenly.

"Don't worry, your tou-san will be there." Rukia went to whisper in the girl's ear. "Nothing will ever happen to me when he's by my side."

While seeing Rukia as and calling her oka-san had been as natural as breathing for Homura, doing the same with Ichigo as her otou-san…was another matter entirely. She still had trouble moving past the fact that the orange-head had pretty much tried to take Rukia away from her, her and Shizuku. Though, to be honest, Shizuku seemed to have no problem at all seeing both Rukia and Ichigo as parents, and took great delight in showing it; maybe it was because he was a boy, he was happy to have a dad too, and not just a mom.

Ichigo approached the blonde while Rukia went to finish making her preparations, he didn't try to hug her, knew Homura wouldn't like it, but still stood close enough that she could feel his body heat, and hear his voice clearly even as he whispered.

"I know you still don't trust me Homura." He told her softly. "We got off to a bad start, what with what happened this weekend. But if you're to believe anything, believe that Rukia is the most important person in my life. I will always do anything, and everything needed to protect her, no matter what. Just like I will do my best to protect both you and Shizuku, from now on."

Homura knew he was saying the truth, if she had learnt something of the events of the last few days, it was how important the young human/shinigami considered Rukia to be, and how far he was willing to go for her. She believed her 'mom' to be right, as long as Ichigo was with her, she would be safe.

"Just, keep her safe." Homura stated in a low voice.

"I will." Ichigo promised, he need say nothing more.

After saying that Ichigo ruffled Shizuku's hair a bit, chuckling when the boy slapped his hand away and whined. As strange as it may be, to technically be a father at eighteen, especially of children that were, technically, older than him, and who looked just a few years younger than his own sisters; Ichigo couldn't help but like it. And the way Shizuku looked at him, like he was the greatest hero ever, it made Ichigo feel like the tallest man on Earth, and at the same time he couldn't help but feel the weight, the huge responsibility. He was responsible for another person, for a son…and a daughter. It was staggering.

Ichigo reached the rest of the group right as Rukia was almost ranting at Urahara.

"We're putting our trust in you Urahara, again, you better not fail us this time." Rukia stated in her Kuchiki voice. "If you betray us, it will be for the last time."

The former shinigami captain nodded; he had finally learnt his lesson, apparently. Besides, it wasn't like the teens were asking much from him, only to stay on guard, make sure there would be no problem in Karakura.

"If it's the same to you all, I would have no problem helping." A voice called from a side.

Everyone turned at the same time to see Keeva standing at the foot of the stairs, and she wasn't alone, standing beside her was a woman whose age was impossible to tell due to all the cloth covering her skin, nothing but the her forehead and eyes could be seen.

"Who…" Uryuu began, only to realize it a second later. "Serenity-san?"

"I am." The woman nodded gracefully. "Keeva told me about Orihime-san's kidnapping…"

"That's true, you've met Orihime, haven't you?" Karin remembered that.

"I do." Serenity nodded calmly. "We met several weeks ago. We have some… common interests. Mostly boring stuff that's not really important right now." She didn't give them time to interrogate her. "I'm here to assure you that if any danger comes to Karakura, I'll make sure it's eliminated before anyone gets hurt. The town will be safe while you go get your nakama back."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Uryuu asked, guarded.

"You don't." Serenity replied easily. "I'm giving you an option, for you to have one thing less to worry about, so you can focus completely on getting to Orihime-san and then getting back."

"I thought Keeva-san said you didn't fight." Karin commented, eyes narrowed.

"That I usually don't do it, doesn't mean I don't know how to." Serenity told her, not affected at all by the younger girl's distrust. "I'm quite proficient in the use of my own abilities, just like each and everyone of you is in the use of yours."

Something suddenly seemed to occur to the youngest of the Nakama.

"How did you get down here, in that skirt?" Yuzu asked, curious.

Serenity actually smiled, even if no one could see it beneath her veil, except for Keeva, who knew her lady enough to see the reflection of the smile in the gray eyes.

For a second, there was nothing, until Yuzu and Ururu gasped at the same time. The rest followed their eyes, soon realizing what had made them react like that: the veiled woman's feet, nor her skirt, were touching the ground anymore, she was pretty much standing on thin air.

"You can stand on air?!" Several of them were absolutely shocked.

"No, at least not the way Shinigami, or Quincy, do it." Serenity answered as she got back to the ground. "I can levitate, it's one of my gifts."

"I certainly doubt you can kill hollows, even a worm-like one, by levitating." Karin snorted.

Several of the Nakama were actually taken aback by the raven-haired's attitude regarding the woman offering them help. Ichigo, at least, understood her, how could they trust the welfare of their town to someone they didn't know at all?

"No, I cannot." Serenity gave Karin that. "But levitation is a power I use mostly for my own commodity. Several flights of stairs are made a lot easier when I can pretty much float up and down them." She turned slightly, facing a good-sized boulder in the distance. "No, to fight hollows I use another ability of mine. I use this."

They could all see how she raised both of her hands before clapping rather harshly; what none of them expected was the sound of her clap to be surpassed by the loud rumble of grounding rock. The Nakama as a whole then turned, following her line of sight, to see two thirds of the huge boulder in the distance, turning to nothing more than dust.

"Y…you're the one who destroyed the last Arrancar." Rukia realized suddenly. "And the hamen before that…"

"Yes to both." Serenity nodded again.

"Very well, we'll trust you, at least for the time being. "Ichigo announced. "Right now we need to get going. We have no idea why Aizen may have wanted to kidnap Orihime, but we cannot take any risks. We're getting her back, now."

Everyone agreed. They had no idea what Aizen's plan might be, but it couldn't be good. In any case, they weren't about to leave one of their own in a hostile environment for more than absolutely necessary. They didn't even want to imagine how things would go if Aizen were to discover the true nature of Orihime's powers…

"I was on the phone with Yamamoto-san just now." Ichigo announced. "I informed him about the situation, and our plans. Renji, Hanatarou and Isane-san are on their way from Seireitei, they will be here to act as contact, backup, and to give first aid if we happen to need it upon our return. If we aren't back in three days the official backup team will be sent."

"Does Toushirou-kun know the situation?" Karin couldn't help but ask.

"I don't think he does, not yet." Ichigo answered honestly.

"Good." Karin nodded, satisfied.

She really hoped that he wouldn't be finding out until they were back, the last thing they needed was a panicked captain, and that's what he would turn into if he learnt she was in such a situation. Toushirou didn't deal well with those he cared for being placed in danger, never had, and it had only gotten worse since her 'death'. Not that she could blame him. And even if she downright refused to give a name to what they had, what they were, Karin knew they cared for each other, deeply, she was willing to accept that much; the rest were inconsequential details.

"Ukitake-taichou and Nii-sama have been informed as well." Rukia pointed out. "They say to be careful and wish us well."

"Nakama, are you sure you do not wish to use my machine…?" Urahara signaled to a couple of pillars mounted behind him.

"If your contraption works, we still don't know were it will drop us." Uryuu announced. "We would rather use our own means of transportation."

"I'm afraid a Senkaimon won't get you to Hueco Mundo…" Urahara began, unsure.

"Who says we were talking about a Senkaimon?" Ichigo smirked as he spoke.

Before a single word could be spoken several of those present noticed how Ichigo's brown eyes were flecked with yellow, and then there was the black ring around his irises; both clear signs of the power he was getting ready to call on.

"Kurosaki…kun?" Urahara asked, shocked by the darkness in the reiatsu.

"This is what you've been wanting to see all along, isn't it, Urahara?" Ichigo questioned with a smirk. "It's the real reason why you called the Visored. It wasn't about them helping me control this power, or at least not just that. You yourself had no idea how I had gotten it, how long I'd had it, or if I even needed help. However, not knowing gave you plausible deniability, you could claim you were only calling the Visored for me, and not for yourself, that you were only wanting to help me. The truth is that you were hoping for something more. You were hoping to get to see." He smiled knowingly. "All those years ago, you used the Soukyoku to help the Visored regain themselves, they did, and then they left. You never got to see them after they'd gotten their new abilities under control, never got to see what a hybrid truly was about, what you had been dreaming of ever since you first had the idea of creating the Hougyoku."

Everyone turned to look at Kisuke, not having expected that at all, and they knew it to be true, as crazy as it may sound, because Ichigo wasn't asking, and Kisuke wasn't denying. Kisuke had had other reasons for calling the Visored to Karakura besides helping the boy…his curiosity.

"I'm sorry, I will have to disappoint you." Ichigo went on without missing a beat. "You won't be seeing any masks today. I don't have one, and I never will. If you want to know why…either ask me when we get back or ask one of the Visored, we've talked about this." He shrugged. "In any case, time to open the passage…"

He focused, taking Shiro's memories of the starkly-white exceedingly-big perpetually-night desert of the upper part of Hueco Mundo. Then he made several motions with a hand, finishing with a snap of his fingers; the Garganta opened.

"Road to Hueco Mundo open now." Ichigo called in a theatrical sound as he signaled to the black hole. "Everyone ready? Nakama, lets go!"

Urahara, Yoruichi, Tessai and Isshin could just gape, as Ichigo and Rukia smirked, before all of the Nakama disappeared into the Garganta, with it closing behind them.

**xXx**

Orihime was sitting in a couch, in the mostly empty room she had been locked in shortly after her arrival several hours early. It was white, like everything else seemed to be in that place, Las Noches, Aizen had called it, one sole window, with thick bars, over her head, and the door was thick, solid metal, impossible for her to force open. There was a chance she might have been able to force her way out with some liberal use of her powers, but that wasn't her intention, not at all.

The door opened right then, Orihime didn't bother turning around, she knew perfectly well who it was, could sense his reiatsu. Ulquiorra entered the room, pushing a small car with a tray of food. It was all very basic, some rice, sushi and a cup of tea.

"It's time for you to eat, Onna." Ulquiorra informed her in a harsh tone.

Orihime looked at the food in silence before shaking her head.

"I'm not really hungry." She said in a low voice.

"It would be in your best interest to obey Onna, eat the food." Ulquiorra insisted.

"I really do not think I can eat right now." She said, still quietly.

Ulquiorra watched her, obviously angered by the fact that the instructions weren't being followed. However, he hadn't been told to force her either so, for this time, he would let it slide.

"You will not be able to get away with this attitude for long, Onna." The Espada declared, aloof. "Here in Las Noches, all of Aizen-sama's orders are to be followed."

"Because if you don't follow orders he will kill you?" Orihime couldn't help but ask.

Ulquiorra just watched her, not saying a thing.

"There were ten Arrancar sitting in that room, earlier today, I can guess they were the Espada, because you and Yammy were among them." Orihime explained. "However, Grimmjow wasn't there. Ichigo told us about him, the Sexta Espada. We also deduced that his attack on Karakura hadn't been sanctioned. Was he punished for his actions? Was he killed, or something, which has made it so he's not an Espada anymore?"

For a while, silence reigned, as Ulquiorra just stared at her, as if trying to discover something without saying a single word.

"What is it to you if he has?" Ulquiorra couldn't help but ask eventually. "Why should it matter? Why should Grimmjow matter at all?"

"Maybe it shouldn't, he shouldn't." It seemed as if not even she fully understood why she cared, or she wouldn't admit to it. "I just think it's sad, when a leader resorts to threats and violence to keep control over his subjects… that doesn't promote loyalty or respect, only fear."

"Fear brings obedience, anything else is irrelevant." Ulquiorra declared calmly.

"No." Orihime was, for some reason, very stubborn about it. "That's not how it should be done…that's not how he did it…"

"He?" The Espada couldn't help his slight curiosity.

"Someone I knew a very long time ago…" Was all the answer the girl gave.

"Humans." Ulquiorra looked away from her. "You are all so insignificant you would consider a decade, or even a year to be a long time…"

Orihime had had it with him insulting her. She was having a bad day already, she hated worrying her nakama, and not being there to help when they needed her. She was also tired of Ulquiorra's emotionless attitude, it grated on her nerves, and while usually she was a pretty passive girl, in that moment she was pretty stressed out already and not in the best of moods. Besides, if she was really an 'honored guest' that should give her some leeway with how she acted…

"I may be human, and you may consider me insignificant." She stated in a no-nonsense tone, looking directly at Ulquiorra. "But since Aizen wanted me here, there must be something good about me. It's not like I'm here by choice."

It was obvious that the Espada didn't like having Orihime talking back at him, especially when she had gone against his initial instructions already; and at the same time, he wasn't used to her attitude, and wasn't sure how to proceed, no specific orders had been given about it.

Orihime hummed slightly and straightened up, satisfied by her victory, however small.

"You are way too relaxed for a prisoner…" Ulquiorra couldn't help but comment.

"If you, or Aizen, wanted me dead, you would have tried to kill me in the Dangai." Orihime deadpanned. "Where you could have disposed of my body quite easily. Also, had that been the case, I wouldn't have gone down that easily."

"You believe a piece of trash like yourself could have defeated me?" Ulquiorra said in a cold, yet at the same time emotionless, tone.

"Probably not." Orihime admitted, chewing on her lip a bit. "But I managed to defeat Loly, I might have been able to give you a good fight."

"Trash will never be able to give a fight, less of all a good one." Ulquiorra stated in a cold tone before turning around and leaving the room.

"Not all fights are fought with fists and powers…" Orihime whispered to the closing door.

After being intercepted by Ulquiorra right before getting back to the Living World, Orihime had been sent through a Garganta that opened right outside the huge white building located in the middle of the dessert of Hueco Mundo. There, she had been led to the main room where, sitting on what looked pretty much like a throne, was Aizen Sousuke.

The man had looked at her in such a way, it seemed as if he were trying to see through her, or into her; it was a good thing the girl knew mind-reading was not a shinigami talent.

Orihime hadn't been long with Aizen, just enough for him to look her over and give some speech about her being his 'guest of honor'. Ulquiorra was supposed to be her 'personal guard', just to be sure other hollows wouldn't hurt her. He had expressed curiosity about her, as a Nakama, and a human with powers. Then he'd said something about talking with her again in the future and had sent her to her room.

It had been quite obvious that most of the Arrancars present, especially the Espada, hadn't agreed with the new 'guest', though only two voiced objections, and they were all ignored. Orihime kept her silence all the time, just speaking when a question was directly asked to her, and even those were basic ones: confirmation of her name, the fact that she was a Nakama, she had powers, and how long she'd had them. Surprisingly enough, she hadn't been asked to demonstrate any of her powers, though she'd been prepared to downplay them as much as possible if it became necessary. She didn't know if Aizen had chosen not to bring that up because he already knew enough about her powers to be interested, or he was just trying to play some kind of sick mind game with her, making her think she still had secrets.

In any case, Orihime knew her nakama were coming, there was no way they would let her remain a prisoner for long. She just hoped that when they did go after her, it wouldn't somehow make things worse. The kind of reiatsu she'd felt in that room…the Nakama weren't yet ready for that kind of fight, none of them, not even Ichigo.

**xXx**

Ichigo, Rukia, Karin, Yuzu, Tatsuki, Chad, Uryuu and Keeva jumped out of the black hole that had appeared on thin air, and onto the white sands of Hueco Mundo. As soon as they landed they were all on high alert, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"So, we're here, what now?" Uryuu asked.

They had been quite quick on getting to Hueco Mundo, they knew they had to find Orihime, get her back, but they hadn't made much of a plan for how they were going to manage that.

"That building." Karin announced, signaling to the huge white structure.

"Any reason you're so sure?" Tatsuki asked, curious.

"Number one, it's really the only freaking building around here." Karin deadpanned.

"Number two, that's Las Noches." Ichigo put in his two cents. "Nel and the others avoided that place like the plague, just like they wanted to avoid Aizen…one can expect the two to be connected. Which means that's where we need to go."

They all agreed, they also had no better plans, and immediately got on their way.

As they went, Ichigo kept looking around, trying to find some signal of Nel and the others, if only to know they were alright.

"Ichigo…" Rukia called, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're worried about them aren't you? About Nel and the other hollows?"

"I am." Ichigo admitted. "I know it sounds insane to some. But in the few days I knew…or more like Shiro knew them, I liked them. I hope nothing bad happened to them. That they weren't tracked by some Cazador and taken to Aizen, if that's the case…"

"Have some hope." Rukia whispered with a small smile. "You might see them again yet."

Ichigo nodded and then focused again on the task at hand. They had to find Orihime, find her and save her; he would worry about Nel and her 'brothers' after that was done.

**xXx**

As soon as the Garganta closed in Urahara's basement, everyone turned to look at Serenity, however, she was already walking in the direction of the stairs.

"For better efficiency we shall divide Karakura in quadrants." She declared even as she walked away from them. "I will take the third one, since my apartment is in that zone."

"Castelo-san…" Yoruichi began.

"Just Serenity, please." She stopped walking and looked over her shoulder.

"Serenity-dono." Yoruichi called.

Her address called some attention, and the other adults turned to look at the noble heiress with different degrees of curiosity on their faces.

"I recognized the kind of deference in Castelo Keeva-san's expression earlier." Yoruichi explained before turning back to the girl. "You're important. A Lady. Am I right?"

Serenity just inclined her head briefly in agreement.

"So, Serenity-dono, will you be alright handling a quarter of Karakura on your own?" Yoruichi finished the question she wanted to ask.

"I will be fine." Serenity assured her easily. "I've dealt with Corrupted Spirits before, even those you call Arrancar. I am powerful enough. Trust me, nothing will be able to get past me."

Yoruichi nodded, not fighting that further.

"I suppose the rest of you can divide the other three sectors among yourselves." The Réalta declared, before turning again and levitating herself out of the basement.

The woman had walked just a few blocks when she suddenly found herself face to face with a man in a white suit, prematurely white hair and blue eyes.

"Lady Serenity…" The man addressed her with a formal European-style bow.

"Master Ishida." She replied in kind, doing an elaborate curtsy.

They each finished the introduction by touching their respective pendants: the Celtic Star of the Réalta and the Star-Cross of the Quincy. It was a very, very little known fact, but Réalta and Quincy had been close allies once, many centuries before. In fact, no few times réalta had married quincy, because quincy women were so rare, and the quincy needed a woman with spiritual power to be able to have offspring, especially ones with power as well. It was for that very reason that neither Souken, Ryuuken or Uryuu had any siblings, and why the men had only had one son each.

"So it is true." Ryuuken said solemnly as he straightened up. "You're one of the Stars. A Réalta Criostal, judging by the psionic powers you've displayed thus far."

"You would be right." Serenity nodded, then added in a proud tone. "It does my heart good to see that such a proud bloodline has held on through these hard times…"

"I could say the same about your lineage." Ryuuken replied. "I really wasn't expecting to ever meet one of the Stars… the lineages were said to have been lost a very long time ago…"

"They nearly were, and even now we only exist on the edge of extinction." Serenity admitted. "We live such complicated times, such dangerous times…"

"Is that why you've chosen to walk such a dangerous, self-destructing path?"

Ryuuken's question seemed to come out of nowhere, it left Serenity frozen in place for a short time as her eyes opened wide, showing a storm of emotions her stiff body wouldn't reveal.

"I'm right, am I not?" Ryuuken pressed on. "Sioraí Serenity…"

**xXx**

The group kept running in the direction of Las Noches for what seemed like hours, when they were abruptly interrupted by what looked like a sand-hollow. Immediately they all began using some of their basic attacks, they blew off, froze, crystallized, destroyed or even vaporized pieces of the creature, but it was never enough, it always reformed itself with more sand.

"What now?" Tatsuki asked with a growl.

She and Keeva were feeling pretty frustrated. Since their powers manifested in mostly physical things, they did nothing against that particular hollow.

"I have a plan." Yuzu commented unexpectedly. "All we have to do is destroy the mask, right?" She didn't even wait for an answer, already knowing it. "Can you corner him? If you do that I think I can handle the rest."

Not sure what Yuzu may be planning, and not fully comfortable with the idea of his little sister destroying the current enemy, Ichigo still indicated the others to do as the girl asked. It took them almost a full minute but they managed, getting the hollow completely surrounded right as they noticed Yuzu had stopped whispering an incantation.

"Such a long incantation…" Rukia whispered in awe. "She's using a very powerful kidou…"

She didn't even need to finish her thought, as it was confirmed right then, as Yuzu extended both of her hands, palmed opened, bracing her arms against one another before calling:

"Hadou #88. Hiryuu Gekizoku Shinten Raihou!"

The lightning attack that left her hands was such it left everyone gaping; except for the hollow, its mask was totally disintegrated, while a great deal of the sand surrounded it crystallized.

"Wow…" Keeva and Tatsuki could hardly believe what they were seeing.

"Go Yuzu!" Rukia and Karin cheered at the same time. "You're awesome!"

The youngest twin could only blush. It had taken her a very long time to be able to do a kidou of that magnitude, she was happy it had turned out so well. It was the first time she'd managed to defeat a strong enemy all on her own, and it made her very proud.

They were still celebrating, when one of their own interrupted.

"Well, we're here now." Uryuu announced.

It was true, they'd been so focused in fighting the hollow they hadn't even noticed they had made it to the walls of Las Noches.

"Now what?" Keeva asked, knocking on the wall to the test how solid it might be.

"Now it's time for some good old-fashioned breaking and entering." Ichigo declared with a smirk as he raised his zanpakutou.

**xXx**

Orihime was standing beneath the window, humming softly when suddenly the heaviness of a great reiatsu made the girl stumble just slightly. It was like a great weight, a great power, and yet after the first touch it no longer pressed upon her, in fact, it was almost as if tendrils of that power were reaching for her, trying to connect…

"This power…they're here." Orihime whispered to the empty room. "The Nakama have come."

Less than two seconds after she had said that out-loud, the door to her room opened abruptly, showing Ulquiorra standing there.

"Aizen-sama requests your presence, immediately." He told her in his emotionless voice.

She knew the truth, that it had not been a request, she could do nothing but obey; however, she wasn't about to put up a fight for something so small. In any case, even talking to that sociopath should be better than having to stay between those four walls for much longer, she was bored enough already. And she might just learn something useful…

She spun around sharply to face Ulquiorra, showing no fear, or hesitance, she went to stay by his side, waiting for him to lead.

"Let's go then." She told him.

With disguised curiosity, Ulquiorra did as bid. Guiding Orihime, this time through different hallways, to a different room. This one full of screens, and empty except for Aizen, who sat in a high-backed chair, and motioned for her to take the other one.

"Welcome, Inoue-san." He received her with a too-wide smile. "Sit, sit. It's time for our talk."

As the girl went to take her place, with Ulquiorra remaining suspiciously outside the room, she became aware of something: while most of the screens showed nothing, seemed to be even turned off; some were, in fact, active, one of them showing her nakama as they ran into a wide-room, followed by a huge hollow, only for their path to be cut by another, slimmer one before they could get out the other side.

"I decided now was as good time as any for us to have our conversation, Inoue-san." Aizen pulled her attention back to him. "If you please…"

Yet again, he wasn't asking, and there was no pleasure to be had in the upcoming conversation, she knew that much. That was going to be one stressful conversation…and it was.

It began simple enough, with Aizen asking her about her life, her family, her studies. Orihime tried her best to keep her answers direct and short but couldn't help herself when the topic of her brother came on:

"My brother was an innocent!" She stated in a very emotional voice. "All he wanted was to protect me, like he had since I was born! But he couldn't be left alone, no, hollows had to go after him, turn him into one like them! They turned Sora-nii-san into a hollow!"

"You know, if he's a hollow, you have a second chance to see him, here in Hueco Mundo." Aizen commented in what he probably believed was an empathetic tone. "I wouldn't mind him joining my forces."

"That won't be necessary." Orihime said in a suddenly very stoic voice. "He's gone."

"It really would seem like sometimes all a shinigami is capable of is destroying…" Aizen sighed dramatically. "But that is why I want to change things…"

"Please, don't try to sell me your ridiculous story, because there's no way I'm going to fall for it." Orihime stated in a deadpan tone.

"I could make you believe it." Aizen half-threatened.

"No, you cannot." There was no hesitation in her voice, or her pose.

"Oh, I'm sure you must have heard by now what I can do…" Aizen began.

"I have." Orihime interrupted right out. "And I'm telling you already, regardless what you do, it will never work. My Rikka won't allow it."

"Your Rikka…" Aizen repeated thoughtfully. "I imagine you're talking about your powers."

"My Shun Shun Rikka." Orihime nodded.

"And what are your powers, exactly?" Aizen inquired, very interested.

Orihime didn't answer, she was distracted. She'd kept half of her attention on the screen showing some activity, had seen the two hollows, the gatekeepers, attacking her nakama, only to be confronted by Tatsuki and Keeva straight out. The young Réalta seemed to have become even faster and stronger than before, and Tatsuki was no slouch either, the fight was over before long, certainly before any of the others could interfere…

When the Nakama had left that dome, that screen had deactivated. A different one turned on a short while later, it showed the eight Nakama stepping into a circular room, with a total of half a dozen doors, including the one they'd entered through. One soon enough showed to be caved in, leaving still four possibilities.

"Don't…don't…don't…" Orihime muttered under her breath.

However, in the end they decided to do as the Rikka wielder feared they would. Split, in pairs, each taking a different path: Ichigo would go with Rukia, Karin with Yuzu, Chad with Tatsuki and Uryuu with Keeva. Yuzu used a special kidou to act as a short-distance radio, so they would be able to communicate with each other, probably if one of them found her (Orihime) or there was an emergency.

"Inoue-san…?" Aizen called her.

The girl almost jumped. She'd been stressed enough when knowing her friends were in Hueco Mundo. She also had the feeling that, considering the kind of technology Aizen seemed to have in Las Noches, he must have known the moment they arrived, not just to his 'castle' but to that world itself; which meant everyone in Las Noches must know already the Nakama were there; which mean they had pretty much walked straight into a trap.

"Yes?" She asked in a small voice, turning to look at the psycho.

She knew none of the Nakama could truly defeat at least half of the Espada, not even Ichigo, and they had split…most of them were so powerful, but even all the power in the world was nothing without experience, they weren't ready for the kind of fights coming their way. Just like she wasn't as ready as she hoped she would be for the kind of mental and psychological games Aizen was already beginning to pull on her.

"I would like to know more about your powers." Aizen explained.

Orihime really didn't understand why Aizen kept trying to make it sound like they were having a very pleasant conversation when it was all really more of an interrogation. In any case, when answering that question she focused on telling him the least she could about her abilities, describing them in the way her own Rikka had described them the first time she'd used them: the tri-link shield, which could repel upcoming attacks; the dual-shield, which undid damage and injuries sustained; and the solitary shield, which could cut through anything with less reiatsu than the one she was using. She also made sure to repeat several times that she was still a mortal human and, as such, had limits on how far she could push her abilities.

The 'conversation/interrogation' continued as Aizen asked for a recount of the Nakama's infiltration in Soul Society, which Orihime gave, downplaying not only her powers, but everyone else's as much as possible; except Ichigo's and Karin's, there was no way she could downplay theirs when Aizen himself had fought them.

All the while, as she kept talking, half of Orihime's attention stayed on the screens, as several of them began turning on, showing her nakama and the fights they were involved in. Uryuu, Chad and Karin were fighting some Arrancars, a female and two males, neither of which seemed to be powerful enough to be worried. However, what caught, and suddenly seemed to demand the Rikka wielder's full attention, was when Ichigo and Rukia began fighting a male Arrancar who took off his mask to reveal a face so much like Ichigo's it was scary.

"What is that?" She couldn't help but ask out-loud.

Aizen, wondering what could have caught his conversation-partner's attention so completely, looked over his shoulder, following her eyes to the right screen.

"Who is that?" She asked again.

"That, is Aaroniero Arruruerie, my Novena Espada." Aizen announced, emotionless. "He may only be a Gillian, even as an Arrancar, but he is not to be underestimated, his powers can be quite… interesting sometimes…"

Orihime didn't reply to that comment, she just knew, somehow, that things were about to get really delicate with her nakama…

**xXx**

Ichigo had known something was wrong, from the very moment he and Rukia had exited the hall they were running through, only to enter a huge space that somehow seemed to have a blue sky, and sunlight; both which were pretty much impossible since there was neither in Hueco Mundo, and they would have known if they had changed worlds at some point.

That same feeling had only gotten worse when the Arrancar had appeared and made them follow him into a completely darkened room. He'd given some strange excuse about light hurting him, and only in the darkness being able to reveal himself, only when he had, it was to reveal a face that shocked Ichigo and Rukia both.

"K-Kaien-dono…?" Rukia asked, her reiatsu lashing out with her stress.

"Rukia…?" Ichigo asked, worried at the way she was reacting to the stranger. "You said Kaien? As in Shiba Kaien?!"

"Kaien-fukutaichou-dono…" Rukia whispered for all answer.

Ichigo cocked his head sideways as he looked the Arrancar up and down, he could see the likeness between him and the other man; even if the hair color and eye color were drastically different, their factions were alike enough. He also knew who the man was, or had been, the Shibas oldest son, the 13th Division lieutenant, Ukitake's former second in command, Rukia's former superior, and mentor, according from what she had told him. Kaien had been Rukia's commanding officer, her mentor, and her friend…still, none of that explained what the hell he was doing there, and as an Espada?!

"It's been a while, you look well, Kuchiki." The Espada commented with a smile.

Ichigo wasn't sure why, but he really didn't like the way the other male was addressing Rukia.

"And what's this?" The Arrancar turned to look at the orange-haired. "Wow! A mirror image, with opposite colors!" he turned to Rukia. "What did you do Kuchiki? Went and found yourself a clone of me, a stand in?"

Ichigo really didn't like the way that man was talking, and calling the younger shinigami a clone, a stand in? What the hell?!

The Espada had gone off to give some twisted story about having vanished from Soul Society after his 'death' in battle against Rukia, only to reappear in Hueco Mundo, somehow gain control of the hollow body and go on to become an Espada, all as part of some plan to defeat Aizen and his followers from the inside. And all through his explanation, he had ignored Ichigo completely, which really only made things worse.

Then the moment had come when the so-called Kaien had called to Rukia, supposedly so they could talk more about the plan, and she had reacted like any subordinate would, following the orders without even stopping to consider anything.

Ichigo barely saw the attack coming in time, in a fraction of second he shunpoed to Rukia, took hold of her, and pulled her behind him. Even with his speed, he ended up with a cut on the back of his hand.

"You're fast." The Espada praised Ichigo. "I suppose it was a bad idea to ignore you…" he turned to Rukia. "What's wrong? Seems like you're making a really mysterious expression there, Kuchiki. It's almost funny even." He chuckled darkly.

He went on to 'praise' Rukia on her abilities, claiming that a while before such an attack would have killed her. Then, when Rukia demanded to know how much of what he'd said was a lie, he claimed everything was, he addressed himself as Kaien, the former 13th Division lieutenant, and Rukia as a shinigami and the woman who killed him, claiming that last as his reason for trying to kill Rukia right then.

Through it all, the petite Shinigami didn't say a thing, didn't move, she was barely breathing. And it was at that point that Ichigo decided he absolutely loathed the 9th Espada.

"Are you, prepared to be killed by me, Kuchiki?" The Espada asked with a smirk.

"If you think I'll let you lay a single hand on Rukia, you've got another thing coming." Ichigo snarled as he got on guard. "I don't care if you're Kaien, a mere hollow, or even the fucking Spirit King. You try to kill her, and I'll end you personally."

"Stop, Ichigo." Rukia said, placing a hand on his arm slowly.

"Yes stop, whoever you are." The Novena said in a dismissive tone. "This doesn't concern you."

"Whatever concerns Rukia, concerns me, that's the way it is." Ichigo deadpanned.

"Interesting." The Espada smirked. "But in any case, Kuchiki knows I am right. Her life belongs to me, because she took mine. It's only fair…"

Ichigo was about to snarl his refusal when Rukia walked around him, for a moment he worried, until he noticed her expression: it was no longer the surprised one of when they had first seen the face behind the mask, the horrified one as the story had been told, nor the absolutely destroyed one of when she'd first been attacked. No, nothing like that, instead, in that moment Rukia looked confident, strong and fierce…Ichigo's Rukia was back.

"Calm down Ichigo." Rukia told him softly. "The Novena's appearance just caught me by surprise, but I'm okay now." She turned to look at the Arrancar. "I have no idea how much of what you told me before was really the truth, but I don't care either, even if you somehow have Kaien-dono's soul, I know you're not him." She didn't let the other one talk. "I don't care about your words anymore. You may have believed me to be nothing but a weak little girl, one who might kill herself if asked by a monster wearing Kaien-dono's face; or maybe you thought I would become your slave to pay for my sins…but you won't have either. Instead, all you will be getting is the taste of my steel, again." She drew Shirayuki. "I have no idea how you survived our last battle, but this time I will make sure you are really destroyed. I will kill you, and free Kaien-dono's soul, that will be my repentance!" She voicelessly activated shikai. "You cannot use my pain or my guilt against me anymore, because they're gone. I've been forgiven by others, and have forgiven myself already. It is true I killed Kaien-dono that night, so many years ago, but what I did was my duty, to the Gotei 13, and to Kaien-dono himself. He didn't blame me then, and he wouldn't now if he were really here." She smiled slightly. "You've lost already, Espada, you lost the moment you decided to use the face of someone dear to me to destroy me. All you've managed is to give me the strongest motivation possible to bring you down!" she turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo, I know what you must be thinking, but please, stay out of this. This is my fight."

"As you wish, midget." Ichigo nodded, his lips smiling but his eyes hard. "Go show what you're made of my Rukia, I believe in you."

With that all talking ended, and the battle began.

**xXx**

In different areas of Las Noches, Uryuu, Chad and Tatsuki could feel the echo of the reiatsu that revealed that an intense battle had begun between Rukia and a powerful Arrancar. Keeva couldn't sense it but Uryuu's reaction was enough to show her something was going on. At that point she was still feeling quite satisfied with herself after her fight with the gatekeeper, enough that she had allowed Uryuu to fight the Privaron Espada: Cirucci, all by himself. Chad too had fought on his own, another Privaron, having convinced Tatsuki it was his turn to fight. They were done with their battles, having noticed that the Privaron, even when being in their own territory, weren't quite as powerful as the Arrancar they had fought before, back in Karakura.

In any case, the two pairs of Nakama were moving on, after having sent a small message to Yuzu that they'd won their battles, and knowing Karin had just finished her own against the last Privaron. However, it had taken them all by surprise when Rukia's reiatsu had suddenly risen so much somewhere in Las Noches, along with that of a hollow.

"That's not like the one I just fought." Karin commented as she sensed the reiatsu. "It seems like Ichigo and Rukia found a truly powerful Arrancar, possibly even an Espada…"

"I just hope they'll be alright." Yuzu said in a soft voice.

"I'm sure they will." Karin assured her. "Ichi-nii and Ru-nee are very strong. And we must keep going. See if we can find Orihime…"

"I'm afraid you just ran out of luck, little girl…" A cold voice stated from around a corner.

Instantly Karin's guard was up, however, neither she nor Yuzu could have ever expected who they were about to face.

**xXx**

Back with Ichigo, Rukia and the Novena, Rukia was badly hurt, and there was blood dripping from Ichigo's clenched hands as he forced himself to stay where he stood, to just watch as his beloved was beaten worse than anything he'd seen before. He wanted nothing more than to step in, destroy Aaroniero in the most sadistic way Shiro could think of, and then rush with Rukia to Yuzu so she could be healed. But the orange-haired knew that if he interrupted that fight, Rukia might never forgive him. Besides, he knew just how strong she was, he knew she was capable of winning that fight.

In that very moment Rukia crashed against the floor, hard, barely managing to half roll to a side before Nejibana speared her through; even then, the trident managed to pin her shihakusho down, making it that much harder for her to move, especially with her wounds. Rukia was bruised and bleeding, and while none of her injuries were life threatening, they still hurt and kept distracting her from her fight; even being no stranger to pain, fighting the way she was, was not an easy thing to do. Especially when her opponent knew all her moves already.

"Rukia!" He cried out. "Damn it, get up! I believe in you midget, we all do. All you have to do is believe in yourself!"

Ichigo's words seemed to awaken something in Rukia, a strength she'd been missing just a second before. Aaroniero could see it, even if he didn't understand what it was.

A second later, as the Espada made a move to kill Rukia, he suddenly found himself unable to move, as his feet were freezing over. There was a flash of white light as Rukia's Tsukishiro activated. Aaroniero barely managed to sonido away in the nick of time.

"Idiot, she only managed to kill herself." He cursed, his feet and fingers frostbitten.

"You shouldn't be so sure." Ichigo called from a corner, a small smirk playing on his lips. "My Rukia is anything but stupid…"

Right as Ichigo said that, Rukia appeared with shunpo right in front of Aaroniero, her second dance already on her lips and zanpakutou. What was more, her whole body seemed to be outlined in a white so bright it almost looked blue. Ichigo knew what it meant without a single word being said: Rukia had just synced with Sode no Shirayuki.

"You may look like Kaien-dono." Rukia stated passionately as she held her zanpakutou straight in front of her. "You may have his zanpakutou and his memories, but you will never be Kaien-dono! If you were, you would realize there's no way I would have stayed at that level of power after forty years!" her reiatsu rose like a storm around her. "But you aren't Kaien-dono, you're just holding his soul prisoner, and I'm going to release it! I'll free him, and Miyako-dono, and everyone else you might be holding captive! Now! San no Mai, Shirafune!"

Briefly, Ichigo had no idea what Rukia might be planning, he'd seen her use that dance before, the last time they'd fought dozens of hollows, and in some of their more arduous training sessions; but she had always used it to reform her blade, and it wasn't broken in that moment. It wasn't until it actually began happening that he understood: the technique was meant to detect all the moisture in the air, gather it to the remains of the zanpakutou, and freeze it so the blade could be reformed. With the zanpakutou unbroken, the moisture froze into new blades instead, which Rukia then could use with the union of her will and Shirayuki's to direct straight at her opponent.

Aaroniero didn't even bother trying to evade, while there were quite a number of blades, he figured they wouldn't be enough to do much damage. What he didn't expect was, that once they hit, the blades continued to do as the original technique intended, to freeze any and all moisture in the environment, freezing him in turn, from the inside out.

In the end, all Rukia had to do was walk to the Espada and hit him with the pommel of her zanpakutou, he broke into pieces. Then, a cero coming from Ichigo incinerated the frozen pieces for good measure; there was no way Aaroniero would be surviving that.

"You've been avenged now, Kaien-dono, for real this time." Rukia announced solemnly.

Rukia's triumphant expression held for a couple of seconds, before she collapsed onto her knees, her aura dissipating, the synchronization had taken a lot out of her, perhaps too much.

Right then, the room was invaded, by several Cazadores and their hounds, Ichigo had Zangetsu in shikai in a second, and was killing the first in the next, however, before he could move onto another one, a voice stopped him.

"You move a muscle, and the bitch dies." A cruel voice threatened.

Ichigo turned to see Rukia with a blade to her throat; she was too exhausted, couldn't fight, couldn't even move. The orange-haired began cursing himself, how could he not have felt the new enemy coming? Though he had a good idea of why he hadn't seen him, he'd met the new Espada before, even if it was impossible the other would recognize him.

"Zommari Rureaux…"

**xXx**

For a few seconds, Orihime had been absolutely delighted, her nakama had won all their battles, and they had even managed to destroy all three Privaron Espada, a couple other Arrancar, and the Novena. Orihime felt almost giddy with happiness; until she witnessed each of her friends meet their next challenge, challenges they couldn't possibly surpass, especially not with the condition some of them seemed to be in after their other fights…

"Wonder what will happen now…" Aizen commented with a gleeful smile. "Will the Nakama live, or will they die?"

For the longest time, Orihime didn't answer, she just watched: as Chad and Tatsuki were beaten to an inch of their lives; as Uryuu lost an arm and Keeva seemed to somehow burn herself as she tried, fruitlessly, to help him; as Yuzu was thrown against a wall violently and Karin began losing control of her bankai, again; as Ichigo allowed himself to be hit, repeatedly, while watching Rukia being held against a blade…

"Ulquiorra, give the order." Aizen instructed.

"As you wish, Aizen-sama…" Ulquiorra replied dutifully, before vanishing with sonido.

For a second, Orihime felt lost, she hadn't even known that Ulquiorra was there, had he been there all along? But then again, that didn't matter, only one thing mattered:

"NO!" Her scream froze Aizen in place, then she stared at him with so much hate, no one could have ever believed her capable of it. "What do you want?"

"Why, my dearest Inoue Orihime, I want you…"

**xXx**

_She…what was she? A Miko? Her mother died long before her training could be finished. A princess? Her father was gone, and her half-siblings all hated her, wanted her gone. She was a miko without training, a princess without a kingdom, a young girl without a family, without a home, and with an uncertain future… _

_Amekimi was guided to her quarters, a set of room separated from the rest of the Estate, to which only she, her personal guards and a handmaiden would be allowed access. She could finally get her cloak off and a bath was being prepared for her. _

"_This will be, from today on, your new home, Hidenka-sama…" Kyoshi informed her. _

"_It's a beautiful place." Amekimi agreed as she looked through a window. "But I don't know if I can ever see it as home. Home is supposed to be more than a building, it's supposed to be a place where the heart resides… I don't know if I have any heart left, I have lost everyone I ever cared about, everyone that mattered to me…" _

"_You are young still, Hidenka-sama, other people, many people, may come to find a place in your heart with time." Kyoshi told her, worried by the negativity in her voice. _

"_Maybe…" Amekimi whispered back. "Maybe, someday, I'll find my heart…" _


	36. Battles Won and Lost

Many times in my fics I've spoken about taking a left turn and down a path never seen before... or something along those lines. I think I might have even said it before in this fic. In any case, the moment has come. This is where it all begins, in some ways. Up until now we've stayed fairly close to canon, even with all the new things going on. It was a case of 'the more things change the more they stay the same'. But the thing is... I began writing Nakama at a time where the Hueco Mundo arc was taking place, and I had all these ideas in my head... and while we'll still be seeing some of the things from canon, like a certain movie we haven't gone into yet, and one or two of the missing filler arcs. The main, basic storyline (the manga-canon) is going to change a lot from this point on.

I wouldn't call this a full-on AU, because the basis was still the same as canon, Ichigo, the shinigamis, the Soul Society, so much of the basis remains the same, even if the story has been slowly changing. And, like I warned in the last paragraph, it will be most different from now on. So, in other words, people, kiss canon goodbye.

Here we go!

* * *

**Chapter 36. Battles Won, Battles Lost**

Ulquiorra was standing right outside the door to the observation room, where Aizen was conducting his interrogation of the human girl Inoue Orihime. He could hear well enough to know everything that was said, and nothing really seemed important to him, as far as he was concerned, the so-called 'honored guest' was nothing but a weak, annoying mortal insect.

"Master…?" A voice called him.

Ulquiorra turned to look at his fraccion when, whatever it was he was about to say, was drowned by the sudden passionate yelling coming from inside the room.

"My brother was an innocent!" She stated in a very emotional voice. "All he wanted was to protect me, like he had since I was born! But he couldn't be left alone, no, hollows had to go after him, turn him into one like them! They turned Sora-nii-san into a hollow!"

The Fraccion looked away following those words, as if he didn't believe it to be right, for them to be hearing such personal things from the young woman; however, Ulquiorra couldn't care less.

"Stupid sentimental weakling…" Ulquiorra muttered under his breath.

"You know Ulquiorra, you shouldn't talk about what you cannot understand." The Fraccion told him in a somewhat reprimanding tone.

The Cuarta was so surprised by his Fraccion referring to him by his name, rather than 'Master' or his title, even when no expression showed on his face, that he didn't say a thing, or try to stop the younger hollow as he turned and slithered down the hallway.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes briefly, he really didn't understand that hollow. He might have taken him as his Fraccion, had been curious enough about how such a young and low leveled hollow could have broken his mask; and they couldn't be any worse than his last Fracciones. He was an odd one, that hollow, he didn't seem to like Aizen, didn't refer to him with any respectful suffixes, with any suffixes, period; yet he followed Ulquiorra's every command dutifully. He'd seemed like the perfect subordinate, until that morning, until Ulquiorra had gotten back from his little trip into the Dangai with the new prisoner: Inoue Orihime.

As the minutes passed, Ulquiorra half-absently noticed that he was becoming more and more aware of Inoue Orihime's reiatsu, the way it shifted and changed throughout her interrogation. She was mostly calm, except for an underlying tension, and yet her reiatsu would spike every so often, at the same time her voice would rise with emotion. The Espada had no idea why he was suddenly so aware of her presence, but he was, and that didn't seem like a good omen, as much as he might not believe in those.

As he heard the girl explain her powers, Ulquiorra couldn't help but think that either she was as useless as most of the humans…but no, she couldn't be that useless, he'd seen her create a shield capable of keeping back attacks from three different Arrancar, including a couple of direct hits from Yammy… in fact, that was what had made Aizen curious on the first place, wondering what the limits of her powers might really be. That, compared to the way she was describing her own abilities in that moment, could only mean one thing: that she was holding back, keeping what she could truly do a secret.

"Fool…" Ulquiorra muttered under his breath with derision. "As if anyone could really keep something from Aizen-sama…"

Then things changed again, for the longest time not a single word was said; the Cuarta imagined she must be seeing her Nakama battling against other Arrancars, as Aizen had intended. Her reiatsu was anxious, and building up steadily, along with the tension, he imagined.

Minutes passed, so slowly. A moment came when, for several seconds, he heard Orihime laugh briefly, in obvious delight at something, a battle her nakama had won probably. Ulquiorra didn't know why, but there was something in her laughter that called on unknown feelings in him, something he couldn't remember ever feeling before: a mix of frustration, what humans knew as sadness and… something entirely unknown. However, that laugh, and his own reaction to it, didn't last for long, soon enough that laughter had changed to a whimper, and the reiatsu lashed around with enough despair that Ulquiorra couldn't help but take notice.

"Wonder what will happen now…" Aizen could be heard saying with what must have been a gleeful smile. "Will the Nakama live, or will they die?"

The Cuarta knew his Lord was waiting for an answer from the girl, but none came, she obviously didn't have the mind for it, however, that wouldn't stop him, or Ulquiorra himself.

"Ulquiorra, give the order." Aizen instructed.

"As you wish, Aizen-sama…" Ulquiorra replied dutifully, before vanishing with sonido.

He was almost sure that he could hear her denial, loud and full of despair; however, it didn't matter, it was already too late, the order had been given, and he had a duty to follow it.

**xXx**

Orihime was standing on her Santen Kesshun, flying down the hallways so fast, she had left Aizen behind even with his shunpo. The last thing she'd seen was all her Nakama being guided into the same room, even when some of them were already in a very bad condition… and Ulquiorra has headed that way as well… the Rikka wielder knew she had to get there, and fast, before it was too late.

The violet eyed girl arrived to the huge room in a matter of seconds. The first thing she became aware of was Nnoitra, who was about to hit Chad for what would probably be the last time. Orihime didn't think twice about it, she didn't even have to give the order, the Santen Kesshun disappeared from beneath her feet, allowing her to land as if she had jumped down; a second later it materialized between Chad and his aggressor. The shield vibrated harshly under the hard blow, yet it didn't break, Orihime smiled.

Rukia's scream broke the tense silence and Orihime immediately spun, looking at the opposite corner, the scene she found there was such she was horrified. Ulquiorra was standing there, with his hand buried deep into Ichigo's chest.

"STOP!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Everyone in the room immediately turned to look at Orihime, who had dropped to her knees in horrified shock. Still, Rukia's hysteric cries didn't stop, nor Karin's furious screams, she couldn't move, parts of her body were badly burnt after she had lost control of her bankai; beside her Yuzu sat on the floor, holding her head which was bleeding, she had a concussion, couldn't focus her kidou. Uryuu was still bleeding badly from the stump where his arm had once been, and neither Tatsuki nor Keeva could move after their own whiplash from their respective powers, and the beating they'd taken from their attackers.

"Stop this please!" Orihime cried in despair. "I do not want this."

Ulquiorra didn't know why, but he pulled his arm back and walked away from the fallen shinigami with the hole in his chest. He would say he cared for nothing, but something about Orihime's cries and tears, about her pain and despair, made him very uncomfortable.

Abruptly, the young woman's whole demeanor changed, as she remembered something extremely important. Realizations she had before, but never at such a pivotal moment, at least she didn't think so.

"Souten Kisshun!" She called purposefully.

"I just knew, something like this was going to happen." A tired voice muttered under his breath.

Still with most of her attention focused on everything she wished to undo, Orihime turned to look at the owner of the voice. It was Grimmjow. A Grimmjow who for some reason or another was missing an arm, and who had a huge burn on his back, where his Espada number was supposed to be. What little attention the Rikka wielder had placed on him, had a very bad feeling about that situation, however, at the same time it wonder about his words.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him softly.

"That is Ulquiorra's symbol." Grimmjow explained with a tired sigh. "I don't know if the bastard has realized it himself, but when he takes interest in certain prey, he always rips a hole in them in the exact same place as his own…"

Orihime shook her head, it was a very bizarre, and sadistic way of showing interest. However, she couldn't keep thinking on that for long, as her full attention was pulled back to her technique, healing several of her Nakama, particularly Uryuu and Ichigo, was proving to be harder than she first expected. The young woman didn't want to have to use the Nibankyuu, didn't want to reveal too much of her own power, but she would if she had no other way to save those dear to her.

The moment she upped the level of reiatsu being used, two of those present reacted in a very particular way, as if the aura being emanated by the shield called to them in some strange way…

"Well, well, well, Inoue-san, it seems you were holding back on me." A pleasant, yet at the same time sickening voice called right then.

Orihime simply looked away, still focusing on healing her nakama, there really was no point to saying anything, the deal with the devil had already been struck…

"_Why, my dearest Inoue Orihime, I want you…" Aizen said in a very predatory tone of voice, even with his pleasant-smile in place. _

"_You want me?" Orihime repeated, not quite understanding. "Why me?" _

"_Because you fascinate me…" Aizen announced as he gave a phantom caress to her cheek. "A human, an insignificant mortal…with powers that surpass those of some of the oldest and most powerful shinigami in existence…" _

_Orihime didn't like it, she really didn't, but what choice was there? She wanted her nakama to be alright, to survive, after all, it was her fault they were even there… she never wanted to be the cause of a death… never again… _

"_You want me… would you let my nakama go to have me?" She offered. _

"_Oh…" Aizen smiled, even more predatory. "I wonder if you even know what you're offering…" _

"_You let my Nakama go back to the World of the Living, safe and sane, you do not try to send assassins after them…"Orihime enlisted. _

"_And if I commit to that?" Aizen questioned. "What will you commit to, Inoue-san?" _

"_I'll stay here." She answered without an ounce of hesitation. "You will have me." _

"_Oh, I like that…" Aizen commented. "I always knew the ryoka would be interesting… you just weren't the one I had the most in mind originally… but I guess that doesn't matter anymore, does it Inoue-san?" he didn't really expect an answer. "You'll be a wonderful addition to our little… family… yes, a wonderful addition indeed…" _

Aizen was insane, there was no question about that; but making a deal with him was the only way she could be sure her nakama would survive through the day, so she wouldn't regret it. No matter what happened in the future, she would never regret doing everything in her power to protect…

**xXx**

"_Is that why you've chosen to walk such a dangerous, self-destructing path? … Síorai Serenity"_

Ishida Ryuuken's voice kept echoing inside Serenity's mind as she sat in a bench, in a park, the very same spot where she'd talked to Kuchiki Byakuya a month before: and the words she'd said to the shinigami too were in her memories:

"_Love is still there, it's still just as terrible and wonderful, ugly and beautiful. Love still exist, I just am not meant to find it … I just… I do not have the time…" _

It was all part of the same, the same truth, her curse, the reality of being something she should have never been, something her Older Sister had expressly forbidden her from being. Had she perhaps known what Serenity would do?

_It had been a while since Serenity had chosen to become a Peacekeeper, and the girl had been studying for that ever since. She'd taken some afternoon and weekend classes and extracurricular courses on Psychology, Nonverbal Communication, Emotions, even Theater. Her cousin/sister actually thought she might be taking it a bit far, Serenity just thought she was being through, in the end, it all helped her. _

_In that moment Serenity was training not her mind and emotions, but her actual powers. Her telekinesis to be precise. She was sitting on her bed and had already worked on moving objects of various sizes, either in place, or across the room, she had even attempted to levitate the bed, with her still on it, and couldn't move it more than a couple of inches, the weight was too much for her still considerably low and not-fully developed power. _

_It was then that she had an idea, what if she were to move herself? She knew that levitation was technically another power, and her cousin was already worried enough with her wielding three, for some reason the younger girl couldn't comprehend. In the end her curiosity was just too much, she wanted to see if she could actually do it. So she began focusing, the same way she made her mind somehow 'order' an object to move, she ordered herself to do the same. Suddenly, she could no longer feel the quilt beneath her crossed legs. _

_Serenity didn't quite believe yet that she'd managed it, when a drowned mix of a gasp and a scream broke her concentration, making her fall back onto the bed in a tangle of limbs. _

"_Wha…?" She called, confused. _

_As soon as she could, the young teenager straightened back up and searched with her eyes for the one who had distracted her: it was her cousin/sister. _

"_Deirfiúr…" She began. _

"_What in the name of all that's holy do you think you were doing?!" The older girl demanded in a very altered tone. _

"_Wha…?" Sere still didn't understand what was wrong. "I was training my telekinesis, then I wondered if I could move myself like I move objects. I just wanted to see if I could do it… and did you see? I could! I could levitate!" _

"_You shouldn't have even been trying!" The older teen still wasn't happy. "This shouldn't have happened… you shouldn't…" _

_Serenity was so terribly confused, she couldn't understand why, instead of being proud for her achievement, her older sister seemed more frustrated and…it wasn't anger the younger one was sensing from her, no, it was… sadness… _

"_What's wrong Deirfiúr?" Serenity asked in a soft, half-empty voice. "Why is it that this distresses you so much? I would have thought you would be proud…" _

"_Why would I be proud of what could mean your death?" The cousin inquired softly. _

_By that point Serenity really didn't understand anything. _

"_You remember when I told you the history of our race?" The Oracle inquired. "I told you we have existed for many centuries. For a while there were full villages where almost every woman could be expected to be a Réalta." _

"_But all that changed." The Peacekeeper continued for her. "During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, the Church's Witch Hunts… it might have been a coincidence, it might not, but many of the women pursued belonged to various spiritual bloodlines, a good number were actual réalta. That's the reason why the popular image of a witch shows a red-haired woman, like a pure-blooded Réalta…" _

"_Exactly." The older girl nodded. "If you remember everything I told you, you will also know that in the end the Réalta that were left were forced to flee for their lives, it's how the bloodlines ended up in America, some in Mexico, but most in the United States. A few dissolved with the bloodlines of the nature-spirit users, the more traditional witches, in places like Salem, and such. Others began disappearing, as they chose to forsake their powers, their history, for a chance of a better life." She sighed. "There's a reason for that." _

"_Every time a Réalta died her spirit would dissolve, becoming part of the Earth, there was no afterlife for them." The younger girl continued for her. "Also, those who actively used their powers ran the risk of those same powers turning against them; and even with those to whom this didn't happen, eventually their body or mind could no longer sustain them, they… well, I guess they ran out… so to speak." _

"_Yes, that's true for all Réalta, both Criostal and Iarann." There was a long silence before she went on. "However it's even true for one other… the Síoraí…" _

"_Síoraí? That means… eternal, right?" _

"_And perennial, endless, timeless, everlasting… it's so ironic really, because if one thing, if one person, is none of those things, that's the Síoraí. Though, I guess the name might be related to the power, rather than the one to wield it." _

"_What is a Síoraí?" _

"_A Síoraí is a Réalta, a Criostal, in fact. But one who doesn't just play with one color of the rainbow, or two, or even three, one who has managed to become the rainbow itself…" _

"_Someone capable of wielding all the psionic powers…" _

"_Yes." _

"_Is such a thing even possible." _

"_It has happened. There are records of it. The last known one was Lily Spéir, over two centuries ago. She disappeared around the time the Witch Hunts reached their climax." _

"_Was she caught?" _

"_No, and even if she had, nothing but her own power could have taken her down at that point. No, she chose her sister and niece to lead the survivors to America, while she went in search of a small group that had gone missing after trying to hide themselves in France. It is said that she followed their trail as far as Egypt, or Indonesia, not sure which, but shortly after that she vanishes completely. There are legends, that she made it all the way to Japan, never actually found any Réalta, but she found a man she loved, and with him had a daughter. It's the greatest legend among the Réalta in fact: a Síoraí's miracle child…" _

"_That still doesn't explain why it's so bad to be a Síoraí, shouldn't having that many powers be something good? It means you're stronger, more capable of fighting, or protecting." _

"_Not when it means irremediable death, and always at a very young age." _

"_What aren't you telling me, Deirfiúr?" _

"_There is a reason why there has been no Síoraí since Lily, and even before her they were rare. Very few were willing to deal with that kind of sentence hanging over their heads…" _

"_What kind of sentence?! No more games. Tell me why you don't want me to be a Síoraí, because I know that's the whole point of this conversation." _

"_You know how a Réalta is condemned to having her own powers kill her, sooner or later. The Iarann actually have it worse, because their very nature of their powers is in their whole bodies; muscle and bone, they fail. In the Criostal, it's their minds, and that's really no better. I'm not going to go into any details, you probably can imagine it. But what you probably cannot fathom, is how far it goes for a Síoraí. We're talking about someone capable of using all the psionic powers, but it's not just that. There's a reason why they are called the Rainbow, even though the psionic gifts are only six… that's because for a Síoraí, a seventh power appears; one that is formed from the union of the other six: it's the absolute manipulation of spiritual energy and matter: of reishi." _

"_Oh my…" _

_Suddenly Serenity understood, the real weight of being a Síoraí, and its burden. Being able to manipulate anything that had spiritual energy or was made of spiritual particles; but by being able to do such an incredible thing, a legendary level of power that would usually be referred as only being possessed by god… they also condemned themselves to the worst death possible: such a power turning against anyone… it would be beyond agony… _

"_It's not just the kind of death, it's also the time…" The Oracle said in a very low voice. "No Síoraí has ever lived beyond twenty-five… the more powerful they are, the sooner they die. And if they happen to be actually using their powers when they did…" _

"_Innocents would end up hurt." The Peacekeeper finished for her. _

_Silence lasted for a very long time. A heavy silence, full of sadness, of grief, of pain… _

"_Promise me Serenity, promise me you will not become a Síoraí." The Oracle spoke with the strongest, most serious voice anyone could have ever heard from her. _

_The Peacekeeper nodded stoically, yet never gave a verbal answer, and her eyes wouldn't meet those of the older girl. _

She hadn't promised, not really, because even back then she knew, that if it ever came to it, she would take that power, and any and all consequences that came with it, to help, to protect, to be who and what she chose to be.

"I wonder if you knew, back then, that it would come to this…?" She whispered to the empty darkening sky. "Do you hate me for going against your wishes? Are you disappointed in me?" she sighed and shook her head. "Even if you are, I wouldn't change a thing. Because, to the day I finally leave this existence, I will know I didn't take the power, for the sake of power alone, I did it for the right reasons: to protect. And I could never regret that. After all, protecting everyone, no matter what the cost to myself, was a lesson you taught me yourself, Deirfiúr…" She looked up to the sky. "I am proud of what I have achieved thus far, of what I may yet achieve, before this life is taken from me, I don't regret a thing…" she sighed again. "I am Síoraí Serenity…"

The woman was still mostly buried in her own thoughts when the sudden appearance of over half a dozen reiatsu in Karakura had her on alert almost instantly. They weren't enemies, nothing like that; the Nakama had returned, and with no greater numbers than they had left. Serenity knew something had happened, had somewhat known even before it happened, still, she knew if she wanted to find out any details she might have missed, she would have to get them directly from the source this time. With that, she began walking.

**xXx**

Ururu was sweeping the front of the Urahara Shouten, despite the fact that it was night already. If only to have something to do. Homura was helping her, though it was a wonder how exactly the older but younger looking girl had managed that; she was just trying to keep the two kids' minds off the fact that their 'parents' were gone on a highly dangerous mission, where many things could happen, most not good. Also, Isshin had been called on a medical emergency and couldn't look after them at the moment.

They were still there, the two girls sweeping, and Shizuku standing on the fence, watching them silently, when a heavy reiatsu called the attention of all of them.

A Garganta opened unexpectedly, no more than a few yards from them, and from it came the Nakama, all being dropped unceremoniously onto the pavement.

"Kaa-san!" Homura cried, rushing to Rukia.

"Tou-san!" Shizuku realized soon enough Ichigo was, in fact, the worst off.

"Boss!" Ururu cried out. "The Nakama are back! And not in the best condition!"

'Not in the best condition' was a serious understatement, while most of the wounds were gone, all the Nakama's reiatsu were still seriously drained, their clothes torn and bloodied, showing just how bad off they had been at one point, and the hole in Ichigo's chest was still in the process of closing. In the end, Orihime hadn't been able to heal it completely, but the moment they had been thrown into a Garganta, Shiro had begun working his regeneration to help his aibou.

In a matter of minutes the members of the Urahara-Shouten had all the Nakama in futons in the biggest backroom available. Shortly afterwards Isshin, Ryuuken, Serenity and Yoruichi arrived from where they had been, guarding the town. Renji, Hanatarou, Isane, Toushirou, Rangiku and Byakuya also made their way to the Shouten from the spots in Karakura where they'd been standing guard. While they weren't really the backup team Toushirou had chosen, they all wanted to be there, worried about the Nakama and their mission to Hueco Mundo, and the Commander had decided to allow it, if only on short term, since things seemed to be pretty calm in Soul Society for the time being.

"Are my children alright?" Isshin demanded as soon as he got inside.

Byakuya didn't voice a question about Rukia, or anyone, but his interest was quite palpable. Toushirou had a similar expression as he want to stand by Karin, Rangiku following him. Isane and Hanatarou, for their parts, actually began helping Tessai with raising the Nakama's reiatsu, as none of them seemed to be in need of healing for the time being.

"The twins are very low on reiatsu, it seems whatever injuries they may have had were healed before they got back here, same with Ku… Rukia-san." Kisuke informed him seriously. "Your son on the other hand… he was obviously badly hurt at some point, and whoever treated all their injuries didn't manage to fully heal him for some reason… however, soon enough it won't be a problem, I suspect… his Inner is dealing with it."

Isshin nodded, he hadn't known Ichigo, or his hollow, had high-speed regeneration as one of their powers, it was a good thing, it made the chance for Ichigo to die lessen…

"What about Tatsuki?" Renji inquired.

"She, and the others, as you probably can see for yourselves, obviously sustained quite serious injuries recently." Kisuke announced, keeping his own emotions in check. "However, all seem to have been healed, only their reiatsu remains a problem, as it's pretty low in all."

That was enough to prompt all of those who knew how to transfer reiatsu to do it. Kisuke handling Ichigo himself, knowing it might not be a very good idea for some people to notice the darkness in his own reiatsu due to his Inner Hollow. Byakuya was the same in relation to Rukia and her own Inner.

Serenity, knowing that no one would be able to help Keeva on that front; it was one of the negative details of being a Réalta, their energy couldn't be replenished by anyone but themselves, not even another Réalta; so she simply ignored the two men's conversation and went to kneel beside her adopted little sister.

"Keeva…?" She called softly, touching the younger girl's cheek.

"Sere?" Keeva asked, half-asleep.

Serenity couldn't help the sad smile on her face, which no one could actually see, though it was there. It had been so long since Keeva had referred to her as Sere, it was usually 'Lady Serenity' nowadays, and while the older girl wouldn't admit it out-loud, she missed the easy relationship they seemed to have: before Japan, before their training for war, before the death of her own cousin and older sister…

"What happened Keeva?" Serenity asked very softly.

For all answer, Keeva took hold of Serenity's hand and with great effort place it on her own forehead, before closing her eyes. The older girl didn't say a word, simply closed her own eyes and focused on what she wanted to see:

"_Well, well, well, Inoue-san, it seems you were holding back on me." A pleasant, yet at the same time sickening voice called right then._

_Orihime didn't reply to those words, but Keeva knew there was something definitely wrong. Maybe Orihime had been trying to keep her powers somewhat hidden from Aizen, and in the end took the risk to save them all; it made the Réalta feel extremely frustrated, her newest best-friend was getting in trouble because of her, because she hadn't been strong enough. _

_Yet, at the same time, Keeva knew it was arrogant of her to think like that, it wasn't like she was the only one to fight, the only one to lose, the only one hurt. If anyone was guilty, it wasn't only her. And in any case, it wasn't a matter of guilty, only of victory and loss, they had won some battles, lost others; it was a miracle they were even alive…or not, not a miracle, more like Orihime's doing, she was saving them, at some great cost. _

_They all learned the cost soon enough. Once the injuries of most of them were sufficiently healed; except Ichigo, as his wound seemed to be much worse, so much it was a miracle he was even still alive, Aizen gave the order for all of them to be sent back to Karakura. No questions were asked, though it was obvious most of the Espada present either did not understand Aizen's rationale, or simply did not like his decision. Still, a Garganta was opened, and one by one, they were pushed, or even tossed into it. Rukia was actually the first, with Ichigo, as she refused to let go of him even for a second. Keeva herself, and Karin were the last ones. _

_Karin was, in fact, talking to Orihime in hushed tones when Keeva approached them, an instinct told her the Rikka wielder wouldn't be going with them, that had been the price. _

"_Karin-kun please, I need you to trust me." Orihime was saying in a very low voice. "Listen, if to save Hitsugaya-kun, you had to do a deal with the devil, would you do it?" _

"_This is about more than just us, isn't it?" Karin seemed to realize that right then. _

"_It is." The older girl admitted. "So much more…" _

"_I don't like it, and the others won't either." Karin muttered, uncomfortable. "But I will try to give you time. However, I have no guarantees how long that'll be. We both know Aizen wants you here, or this whole situation wouldn't be happening. Your own secret plans aside, being wanted by Aizen is never a good thing. You… well you've seen how that turned out for Hinamori-sempai, and even that isn't over yet." _

"_I know, I understand the danger, but there's still something I need to do." Orihime insisted. _

"_You're so stubborn." The physically younger girl sighed. "I imagine it would do no good to try to insist on this… anyway, be careful. And whatever you're planning, try not to get yourself killed. Ichigo… all of us, we would never forgive you, or ourselves if that were to happen." _

"_I'll be careful, as much as I can." The Rikka wielder assured her. _

_Even as Keeva heard the exchange, she understood very little, and something told her the ashen eyed girl didn't know much more than herself. _

"_It's time for you to leave, Nakama." Aizen called from a side. _

_All the others were gone already. _

_Karin was just turning around, and Keeva was considering what to do, or say, when Orihime called to her. _

"_Keeva-kun?" She said softly. "Please give Serenity-san a message for me?" _

_Keeva turned back to her and nodded. _

"_I am more than a miracle, more than a star." Orihime stated in a very cryptic, but at the same time strong and confident tone of voice. _

_The Réalta really had no idea what that was supposed to mean, only that it was important; in any case, there was no time to ask about it either, the Garganta was closing already and if Keeva didn't hurry she would be getting back. Karin herself had just crossed. _

_With that, the gray-eyed girl took a last look at the sunset-haired one before turning, rushing to the closing back hole and, ignoring everyone else, dived straight into it. _

Serenity's eyes opened slowly as she took in everything that she had just witnessed. 'More than a miracle, more than a star…' something told her she should know what that meant, but it escaped her in that moment.

"What just happened?" Isshin demanded right then.

Serenity turned to look at the adults in the room silently, wondering what Isshin was talking about, she hadn't done anything bad…

"We felt your reiatsu connect with Castelo-san's and somehow… well, go inside her, before going back to you." Yoruichi explained.

"Ah." Serenity somewhat understood why that would alter them. "It's part of my powers. With Keeva's approval it allowed me to see what she saw…" she sighed. "Aizen let them go, after Orihime-san healed them as best she could in a short span of time. The room they were in had, besides Aizen and Orihime-san, over half a dozen Arrancar present, at least three of them Espada, judging by the deference they got from the others. Orihime-san, as you should be obvious by now, stayed behind. It is Keeva's belief that it was the price she paid for the rest of the Nakama to be able to get back here with their lives…"

The adults had suspected as much, but having it confirmed really didn't help things any.

Karin opened his eyes in that very moment, and the first thing she did was curse.

"Karin?" Isshin asked, hurrying to his daughter's side.

"Fucking Espada!" Karin cursed yet again.

"What happened?" Isshin had heard Serenity, but still wanted confirmation, and to know more of what had happened to his children.

"We arrived to Hueco Mundo just fine." Karin began explaining. "Ichigo's Garganta left us in the desert, from where we made our way to Las Noches. Shortly before getting there we had to fight a huge hollow made of sand. Nothing we did seemed to be enough, as it just seemed to use more sand to reform itself, until Yuzu got an idea. We all helped in cornering it, and then Yuzu fired a Hadou #88 at it, there wasn't even dust left, and a good deal of sand all around turned to glass."

Everyone could hear the pride in Karin's voice as she talked about what her twin sister had achieved, even though most of the others were in shock, Isshin was equal parts shocked, proud and nervous, as well as a little afraid and worried.

"Anyway, after that we broke into Las Noches, quite literally." Karin smirked slightly. "We knew it would give us away, if our reiatsu hadn't already by that point, but we didn't care. We met two Arrancars who called themselves Gatekeepers, Tatsuki and Keeva fought then." She chuckled. "I think they were frustrated they hadn't been able to do anything against the sand-hollow…they won their fights quite easily, and we all moved on. Soon enough we reached a circular room, where the path split, so we had to do the same, we went on in pairs: Yuzu was with me, Ichigo went with Rukia, Uryuu and Keeva together, as well as Chad and Tatsuki. From the four pairs, three met those called the Privaron Espada: Uryuu, Chad and I fought, we destroyed them. The problem came afterwards, when we faced current Espada, they were too strong, nothing we did was enough, then my bankai backfired. We were defeated and taken to another room, where Ichigo and Rukia joined us eventually. Rukia looked exhausted and somewhat injured, though nothing life threatening. Ichigo looked absolutely pissed off, and a bit beaten… I have no idea what happened with them."

"What Espada attacked you?" Toushirou asked, holding back his anger and trying to think objectively, they needed to know as much as possible. "Do you know their names and numbers?"

"Szayel Aporro Granz, the Octava Espada, Nnoitra Gilga, the Quinta, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Ulquiorra Cifer…" She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "It was Ulquiorra who ripped a hole in Ichigo's chest…" she trembled slightly. "I was so afraid he was going to die…"

"Karin…" Toushirou whispered.

In that moment he couldn't hold himself back anymore, he dropped to his knees and pulled Karin to himself, tightening his hold when she cuddled against him, holding on as tightly.

"What happened with Ichigo and Rukia?" Yoruichi asked, curious.

"I don't know." Karin shook her head. "By the time they joined us in that last room… Ulquiorra got there first, said something and then pierced Ichigo with his own hand… Rukia screamed. Then suddenly Orihime was there, she stopped one of the other Espada from killing Chad and then healed us all. Aizen arrived when she was still working on that, he said something I couldn't hear and Orihime just turned away." She groaned to herself. "She made a deal with him, her for us. It's the only reason we're here, alive. Aizen wanted her enough to let the rest of us go."

That was definitely no good, though, on the positive side, they knew it was unlikely that Orihime would die anytime soon; they would get the chance to try rescuing her again. So they would train as much as possible, and then they would go back.

However, there was still one mystery to be solved, what had happened to Ichigo and Rukia in the time the group had split?

"And Ichigo and Rukia?" Isshin asked yet again.

Karin shook her head, she'd already told them she didn't know, none of them did.

"I can tell you." A voice announced.

They all turned to see Rukia, who was sitting beside Ichigo's unconscious form; he was still recovering from the wound Ulquiorra had given him, and Kisuke wasn't quite able to fully restore his reiatsu. Rukia refused to leave her beloved's side, but knew the others wanted to know what had happened with the two of them with Hueco Mundo, and they deserved to know.

"We fought an Espada…" Rukia began, then immediately revised. "I fought and defeated an Espada… the Novena, Aaroniero Arruruerie…"

That caught everyone's attention instantly.

"You… but… Ichigo…" Byakuya didn't know how ask the question without insulting his sister.

"I chose to fight him, and Ichigo chose to trust me, to believe that I could do it, that I could win, and I did." Rukia's voice went from tired to confident, strong. "I defeated an Espada all by myself…" she smiled and corrected herself. "No, Shirayuki-san and I defeated an Espada…"

Most people didn't put much consideration in her choice of words, however, Karin did, and she noticed something no one else did, or would have…

"You synced with your zanpakutou?!" She called, surprised.

"Yes." Rukia didn't try to hide it.

"But…" Renji was the first to react. "The Soutaichou said that was so dangerous! Half-insane! Why would you do it?"

"It's not that dangerous if you do it correctly, if there is a lot of preparation, and an utmost level of trust between you and your zanpakutou…" Rukia smiled as she caressed her beloved's hair. "Like Ichigo has said before, it's all about the trust… I've been talking to Shirayuki-san more and more in the last few months. A while ago we got to the point where we can mind-talk without me having to go into my Inner World, or even doing that great an effort. We have had talks about bankai, but she says I'm not ready yet, I need to increase my reiatsu levels considerably before I will get to a point where I can call it, and more importantly, maintain it." She smiled. "Still, even though bankai is out of my reach right now, we also talked about synchronization; we knew it would increase our power considerably, not quite to bankai level, but still. It was all I needed to take the Espada down; that and the one dance he didn't know existed…"

"The one dance…" Byakuya and Renji were both confused about that.

"The Arrancar, his specialty was consuming other hollows and gaining their abilities, along with any abilities they themselves might have gained from consuming other hollows or… or shinigami…" She took a deep breath before going on. "Kaien-dono was a part of it. It was the face it insisted on wearing while he fought. It even used Nejibana… if it weren't for Ichigo, for everything he's done for me since we met…" a tear fell down her cheek. "If it weren't for him this fight might have destroyed me…"

It might have, and in more ways than one. Byakuya had known by then that his sister had finally managed to move on from the tragedy that had occurred that night, so long ago, from having to kill the man she so greatly admired; however, he could have never expected, would have never wished for her to have to prove it so soon and in such a way. Still, there was one thing that nothing and no one could deny…

"I am so proud of you Rukia… so absolutely proud…" Byakuya told her, kissing her brow softly.

Rukia could only smile brightly.

"So," Yoruichi brought them all back to the main topic of conversation. "After all that, how exactly did you end up with the others?"

"A group of Arrancars accompanied by hounds appeared, Ichigo called them Cazadores, like the ones he'd told us about before, I think." Rukia shook her head to stay focused. "Along with them was the Séptima, Zommari Rureaux. Ichigo took down one Cazador in an instant, but before he could move on to the next, Zommari had his own blade against my throat. I was exhausted and a bit out of it after the fight, and especially the synchronization, there was nothing I could do to help…" she growled to herself. "They beat Ichigo for a while, ignoring my yells for them to stop, to leave him alone…" she sobbed then. "Once Ichigo began having trouble moving, they dragged both of us to the same room where the rest of the Nakama were being held. I began looking around, trying to find a way to do something, and then… Ulquiorra appeared out of nowhere, and suddenly he was standing right then and he…"

Her voice broke, as she began crying in earnest, her mind calling forward the memory of the words pronounced by the Espada once he had appeared in front of them.

"_This time it's not a test… Kurosaki Ichigo…"_

"Calm down Rukia-chan…" Isshin placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "You don't need to continue, we know what that Espada did…"

Rukia nodded thankful that she didn't have to actually say it, it was bad enough to remember it…

"So… the mission was a failure…" Ryuuken couldn't help it, he had to say it.

"It isn't over yet." Karin stated, fire back in her voice.

That called everyone's attention.

"I talked to Orihime before we left." Karin said softly. "She wants to stay."

Silence reigned for a while, a mix of surprise, confusion, and more.

"Let me see if I understood you, you said Orihime wants to stay in Hueco Mundo? In Las Noches? With Aizen?" Toushirou asked, disbelieving.

"Yes, I know how insane it all sounds…" Karin began.

"It's more than insane!" Rangiku punctuated.

"I know." Karin didn't deny that. "But I think that Orihime has a plan. I have no idea what it might be. But she honestly believes she can achieve something by staying there, something beyond saving us all from enemies too strong for us…" she sighed. "Don't ask me how I know that for sure. It's just a feeling I have. I warned her how bad it was to be someone Aizen has taken an interest in. She still wanted to do it." Her voice softened. "She wants us to trust her, to believe in her, and I do, on both accounts. I think we should give her a chance. Give her time to do whatever it is she believe she can do there. Then, when things get really bad and we have no other choice, we return to Hueco Mundo, and get her out." Her expression turned into a predatory smile. "Of course, to ever achieve that we'll have to train… train like we never have before. Take ourselves to the limit, and then break them, over and over again…" she sighed again. "It'll be good I think. We'll get the time to train, until we're strong enough to deal with the Espada, and Orihime will get the time for whatever it is she wants to do."

"I think it's a good plan." Ichigo whispered in a hoarse voice.

Everyone turned to the direction where he was. Rukia was helping him sit up, by having a good deal of him laying against her, and Isshin. The hole in his chest had closed completely, they could see that through his torn shihakusho, but a scar remained, Shiro had run out of reiatsu before he could erase that, and Ichigo didn't mind that much, the scar was a testament of how much he'd survived… in any case, he agreed with his sister.

"I don't like Orihime staying there." Ichigo commented in a slow voice. "But the truth is, even if I wanted to go back and get her right now, I cannot, we cannot. We're not ready. And also, I do trust Orihime, so whatever it is she thinks she can achieve by staying in Hueco Mundo for a while, I hope she will succeed. Meanwhile, we train and get ready for our next incursion. Next time, we will win, definitely."

**xXx**

The group was beginning to dissolve, Isshin, Toushirou and Byakuya were taking Ichigo, Rukia, Yuzu and Karin back to the Kurosaki household and staying there until the Nakama recovered; Ryuuken had already left with his son; while the others would be staying at Urahara's until they were fully recovered.

Serenity was at the Shouten's entrance, an unconscious Keeva in her arms (she was secretly using her telekinesis to keep her up), about to leave, when Byakuya approached her unexpectedly. He didn't immediately talk to her, just standing a few feet behind her.

"Are you alright?" Serenity wasn't sure what drove her to ask the same question she had during her first conversation with him, she just did.

"So it is you, the lady from the park." Byakuya ignored her question completely.

"It is I." Serenity finally turned to look at him, bowing her head as she couldn't do so with her body, busy as she was with Keeva.

"That night, when we talked, you never gave me your name." The noble commented.

"No, I did not." Serenity accepted. "However, I am sure by this point you know already who I am. Do you not, Kuchiki-dono?"

"I have an idea." Byakuya acquiesced. "Still, I would rather hear you say it."

"I am Serenity." She declared with no hesitation, then added. "And Keeva, my sister."

"You are the one who defeated that Arrancar, during the last attack to Karakura, Esdras, were you not?" The shinigami asked, very interested. "And before that, an unaccounted for Hamen?"

"Yes, and yes." The Réalta nodded again.

"I would like to know how you did it." He commented, hiding any possible interest.

"I'm sure you would, and many others as well." She spoke even more expressionlessly than him. "However, I hope you can understand that, at this time, that is quite impossible. It's been a long night, I must get Keeva home, and get some rest myself, and I know you were going with the Kurosakis and the other shinigami captain, Hitsugaya-san, as well. I am sure we can plan for an 'informative meeting' later on. Probably once the current situation has passed…"

"You talk as though you'll be pretty busy in the near future." The noble couldn't help but comment, slightly curious about it.

"Oh, I will be, though not quite as much as you, or many others." She said offhandedly. "Have a good night Kuchiki-dono. Spirits willing we'll meet again… someday."

Then, before he could say anything else, she turned around again and began walking down the block in complete silence. He just watched her go for a few seconds, before following Toushirou, Isshin had left with his children in the car, there really hadn't been enough space in it for them all. But anyway, most shinigami didn't actually like using cars, they weren't used to them and had doubts about how safe they might be.

Kuchiki Byakuya had no idea what it was, but something about the veiled woman intrigued him, fascinated him; he wanted to find out more about her. He knew she had secrets, and that was part of the reason why he was so interested in her, wondering what she might be hiding but he also knew that wasn't all…he just didn't know what else there was supposed to be…

**xXx**

Serenity had barely walked a few blocks when she couldn't help but stumble, it took all her concentration not to let Keeva fall even when she had to let go with both hands so she could hold onto a nearby wall and not drop herself. She was taking deep breaths, trying to get back her bearings and keep moving before she jostled the girl too much and she woke up, she was still too weak to be up; when, unexpectedly, two hands slipped beneath the still floating body of the sixteen-year-old, taking hold of her right as Serenity's telekinesis faltered.

Once sure Keeva was alright, Serenity dropped on one knee, coughing and heaving for a while before she was able to catch her breath and get back up with some effort.

"I would ask if you're alright, but I do not make pointless questions, and the answer to that one is already obvious enough…" Ryuuken was nothing if not dead-honest.

Serenity had just finished recovering when Ryuuken turned around and walked to a nearby car, placing Keeva in the back-seat.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Serenity asked, not expecting that.

"It should be obvious." Ryuuken stated, opening the passenger door for her. "I'm driving you and your sister home. I believe it will be safer than you trying to get yourselves there when you obviously are in no condition to do so."

"I have enough power to take care of myself, and my own sister." The Réalta was offended.

"I know you are." The Quincy replied. "I'm no fool to believe anything less of a Síoraí. However, I believed it would do you well not to strain yourself when it's not necessary."

Serenity didn't answer to that comment, simply got into the car.

Neither of the two spoke a word on their way to the apartment; not even when Ryuuken insisted on carrying the sleeping Keeva up himself.

They laid the girl to sleep and then Serenity, acting as a good hostess, offered him some hot chocolate, something she preferred over tea. Ryuuken graciously refused the offer, declaring he had an early shift the following morning and couldn't stay, the woman didn't really mind.

What neither of them was expecting was when, right as the Master Quincy was about to leave the apartment, the Réalta dropped to her knees, gasping in pain as she pressed the palms of her hands to her temples.

"Serenity-dono?" Ryuuken was so shocked by it all, for a moment he didn't know what to do.

After a minute, the Réalta straightened, though she didn't get back on her feet. Her head was still killing her and she didn't hesitate when Ryuuken offered her a couple of pills and a glass of water; she recognized the medicine as her own specially ordered one, meant for very strong migraines or headaches caused by some terminal illnesses.

"What, in the name of the Spirits, was that?" Ryuuken demanded as he helped her to a couch.

"Nothing serious." She answered dismissively. "Just an attack."

"Nothing serious? Just an attack?" Ryuuken repeated, disbelieving. "You looked like you were dying right there…"

Silence reigned, as the Quincy finally understood.

"Yes." Serenity didn't bother trying to deny it, just closed her eyes so she didn't have to see his face as she admitted it. "I'm dying already."

She had known all along it would happen eventually, in the relatively near future, however, she could have never expected it to be so soon. After all, she was barely nineteen years old! Still, there was nothing that could be done to change it, there was always a price to pay for power, and she had agreed to pay it back when she first became a Síoraí; all that was left was for her to do the most she could with the time she had left.

**xXx**

_Amekimi moved swiftly but silently through the hidden hallways of the back of her Estate, on her way to her hidden quarters, she never strayed from her guardian's shadow. The young man was three years her senior and had been her personal guard since shortly after her arrival to the Estate, after her father's death… at first his own father would help him, guide him in the duties of a personal guard, but he had died two years before, while on a mission to try and direct those still searching for the princess as far away from their sanctuary as was possible. Kyoshi had insisted on going on that mission with just two others, volunteers, none of them had returned, and no announcement had been made of their deaths either, but the princess didn't need them, she knew all three men were dead. Kyoshi's son, Utokui had taken his father's place as the personal guard the next day, not even taking time off to mourn the death of his remaining parent, claimed he couldn't, not when his princess needed to be protected. Utokui was very much like his father, the princess was always the highest priority, even over his own life. _

_Amekimi arrived to her room, where a handmaiden helped her out of her dark cloak, hood and veil, all meant to conceal her identity. She had to wear them every time she left her private, hidden quarters, even if it was just to go to another part of the Estate. It was the best way those around her knew to keep her safe. Even her handmaiden was blind for that very same reason, so she would never know who exactly she was tending to. _

_Shortly after Amekimi and Utokui entered the sitting room of her private quarters, a third individual joined them: a boy, a year or so younger than Utokui, his name was Giichi, and he was Amekimi's second guard. He had joined three years before, under circumstances the princess didn't know the full details of. Kyoshi had trained him for a year, before his death, since then Utokui had been working on continuing his training. Giichi wasn't an expert, and being a former street-rat he didn't have the finesse and grace so usual from the samurai, but he was strong, and very loyal to both Utokui and Amekimi. Kyoshi believed it to be fitting, for the young princess's guards to be his son (as he was known as the most loyal man) and a boy who had never had any relation to the Clan, or its struggles and betrayals for power. _

"_I've made my rounds, there's no danger." Giichi informed as he took a seat. _

_It was something he did every day, several times a day, though in the three years since his first arrival to the Estate, he'd never found any danger. _

"_Thank you…" Amekimi smiled softly at her guard. _

_Giichi just shrugged it off, it wasn't like he'd done anything expecting a reward, or even thanks, he was a guard, and protecting Amekimi was his duty. _

_With a sigh, Amekimi turned her back to her guards, looking out the open shoji door. It was the day before her birthday, her thirteenth birthday, it would also be the anniversary of her arrival to the Estate, seven years living there… and just like every year, storm clouds were beginning to gather already, it obviously would rain the next day, like always. _

_Shaking her head to push away such sad and nostalgic thoughts, Amekimi brought a hand to her head, taking off the kanzashi keeping it up in a twist. _

"_You know Hime-chan, if we were with all the stuck up nobles, what you just did would be cause enough to have our heads cut off." Giichi commented, half-jesting, half-sarcastic. _

_It was true, in their time, in those places, no man but the husband was supposed to see a woman with her hair down; also, single women were supposed to wear it more elegantly, and above their necks, married woman could have more simple hairdos, as long as their hair wasn't loose. It was a very strange tradition, and only noble women cared to truly follow it, though Amekimi didn't care much for it… _

"_I doubt there's anyone around here that truly cares whether I should wear my hair up or keep it down Giichi-san." Amekimi just sighed. _

"_Hidenka-sama…" Utokui began. _

"_Utokui-san…how many times must I repeat I do not wish to be addressed like that any longer?" Amekimi asked in a tired tone. "I'm not much of a princess while here, hidden, too scared for my life to even go to town, to even walk through my own estate without a cloak, hood and veil…" she sighed. "Besides, it's not like there's anyone who needs me to be a princess anyway." _

_Who was she really? It wasn't the first time she wondered that, and it probably wouldn't be the last either. She wasn't a miko, even though she had continued the training on her own, had gotten good enough that she could get quite accurate 'feelings' about what was coming once in a while; though her most important gift was her healing, she was so good some people called her an angel, or a tennyo. Once a week she would don her cloak, hood and veil, and go to one of the main rooms of the Estate, where people would arrive from the nearby town, and even some farther away, just so she could treat them. She was highly praised for her talent. _

_She was also born a princess, the youngest of all, only child of a third-wife, there wasn't much she could have expected even if her mom hadn't died when she was still an infant, her father hadn't been betrayed and murdered and she weren't being hunted by groups of assassins… _

"_You will always be a princess." Utokui insisted, his voice full of devotion. "It's what you were born to be Hidenka-sama…" _

_What she was born to be…was that supposed to be a blessing or a curse? Why couldn't she just choose what she wanted to be, whatever it might be? Why couldn't she be free? _

**xXx**

"_You are one of us now Inoue-san…You are one of us now…" _

Aizen's presumably welcoming but ultimately creepy words to her kept repeating themselves over and over again in Orihime's mind. She'd been given a change of clothes to get into, in the colors and style of everyone in Las Noches. All her original clothes, and anything else she might have had had been taken from her, except her hairpins, after all she would need them if she was to use her powers in the service of Aizen-sama…

After she had changed Ulquiorra had lead her to the Main Room of Las Noches, where another meeting had called between the three shinigami traitors and all the Espada, it was to be Orihime's second introduction, one way more significant than the first.

"Please welcome, the new member of our family: Inoue Orihime…"

"_You are one of us now…"_

Would she never get the chance to be free?


	37. The Princess and the Samurai

Anyone asked for some Ulquihime? The time has come! Granted, it won't happen immediately, some might call it a bit of a slowburn, I call it making it believable... well, as far as a world filled with shinigami, and various other powers can be believable...

Some might still be wondering why Orihime chose to stay. Well, some of it has been implied, suggested at, but it'll all become clear in due time. The clues are there! Even if most aren't too obvious just yet... Anyone would like to guess what's coming? I'd love to read what people imagine will happen... If anyone ever guesses something close enough to the truth I promise virtual cookies and a special mention when that chapter is revealed.

One more OC, the last important one. Hope you aren't bored with those yet. I promise they have a reason for existing, and they will never overtake the Bleach characters. They just help me flesh out some characters and stories.

And on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 37. The Princess and the Samurai**

Orihime's first week as an 'honored guest' in Hueco Mundo was more than a bit eventful, it began the very third day of her stay there, second since 'choosing' to be there. Her worry for her friends and stress over her situation kept her up until early hours of the morning, or what she guessed should be morning, judging by the changing lights inside Las Noches. She'd spent the following day all alone, only seeing Ulquiorra and his Fraccion when they sent her food, which she had to eat this time. She didn't sleep well that night either. And then ended up being still asleep when Ulquiorra went to get her the next morning.

As an official part of Aizen's subordinates, Orihime was expected to participate in most of the usual activities, which included daily afternoon meetings, and what concerned right then: the biweekly morning training sessions. She wasn't expected to actually take part in the spars, only to be present to witness them, and then when there were comments made about them that afternoon. It was quite different from what most would have expected when being kidnapped.

Orihime also knew she might be required to make a demonstration of her abilities at some point, and unlike at the beginning, when her priority had been to downplay her power as much as possible, with the changed situation she knew she better show off enough if she wanted to be left alone during her stay. From the very beginning several Espada had shown they didn't agree with her presence there, and it hadn't gotten any better with her second introduction, or the announcement that she would be joining those who were, in fact, the most powerful individuals in Las Noches. She wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to attack her from behind.

That morning, Orihime was still in deep sleep when Ulquiorra, who was still her 'guard' stepped into the room.

"Get up, onna." He called in an emotionless voice.

Orihime began waking up right then, not because of his order, but his reiatsu, even half-asleep she couldn't help but become aware of it.

"U…Ut…wha…" She began mumbling as she opened her eyes lazily.

"I told you to get up onna." Ulquiorra called, as cold as ever. "The morning session is about to begin, and because of you we will be late."

That finished waking up Orihime, who nodded silently before getting up and going into her private bathroom, there she did her morning routine and, once she was ready, went back out, where Ulquiorra was waiting for her by the door.

"Hurry onna." Ulquiorra ordered. "Aizen-sama does not tolerate tardiness."

"If you're so worried about what Aizen may think you should have gone ahead, I'm perfectly capable of getting to where I need to be on my own." Orihime answered easily. "Even without having been there before, I could track down any of your reiatsu."

"You should refer to our Master as Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra began, stoically.

"He is no master of mine." She interrupted him, not an ounce of fear in her. "And I have no respect for him, so no, I won't be calling him Aizen-sama."

Ulquiorra observed the girl carefully, he really didn't like it when she went against direct instructions, particularly those made by Aizen, and the way she seemed to not fear him at all… it was infuriating, though he would never express it, emotions were weaknesses… and yet, it was also somewhat intriguing.

"You talk about moving around yourself…" Ulquiorra went on. "Do you really not understand onna? Even if you're called an 'honored guest', there are many here in Las Noches who wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to rip you apart if they got the chance. Your being here, and my being here, is for your own welfare…"

"If someone, anyone here were to do that, wouldn't that technically be a stain on your 'dear Master'?" Orihime made herself look as innocent as possible. "After all, that would be going against direct orders, wouldn't it?"

Truly, and absolutely infuriating…

"Stop the bravado onna." Ulquiorra couldn't help but snap at her. "You're nothing but a weak mortal who must be looked after if it is expected to survive in a world of monsters… and gods…"

"I am not weak…" Orihime felt very affronted by that.

"You are, just like the pieces of trash from yesterday, your so-called nakama." Ulquiorra went on. "Absolutely weak. The most powerful of them all hardly even saw me coming, before I had my hand buried in his chest; and the female beside him wouldn't stop screeching like a banshee. Stupid pieces of trash each and every one…"

The sound that signaled the impact of skin on skin, particularly with great force and speed, echoed in the mostly empty room. Ulquiorra couldn't help but let his face snap to a side at the force of the hit as he stopped mid-sentence; he could have never expected such a reaction from the young female… And it was made even worse when, immediately afterwards, she turned her back on him and left the room on her own, never faltering in the slightest. Would that woman never act the way she was supposed to?!

**xXx**

Things hadn't gotten any easier once in the training session itself. Orihime had changed the spot where she sat several times, as the reiatsu, comments, and downright hostile looks and moves of the Espada close to her made her uncomfortable. She'd ended up sitting near the edge of the area that acted like bleachers, several levels bellow the only three individuals that sat on that part. She was very satisfied by the fact that no one bothered her there, though she had no idea why exactly that was. Could it be related to the three standing at the very top of the stairs?

The Espada began going down one by one, from the lowest numbers to the highest. They each went with one or more of their Fraccion to spar against; Orihime couldn't help but think it all looked like a very elaborate show.

The use of zanpakutou, Cero, bala and such were allowed, but no Resurrección; especially since the top four Espada were forbidden from using their Resurrección inside Las Noches, since they were so powerful they ran the risk of bringing the place down.

After Yammy, the brand new Novena Espada went forward: her name was Lei Zatara, she had silver white hair, perfectly straight, to her knees and burgundy eyes, which looked like dried blood; a lot of makeup on her face, and her clothes consisted of a tight white corset with black details, short enough that it showed a small part of her midriff, tight pants that hung low on her hips and looked like a second skin, they also were open on the sides, with strings keeping the front and back together, and letting the full outside of both legs to be seen. Her number was below and slightly to the side of her bellybutton, visible in the space between the pieces of cloth.

Orihime's eyes narrowed as she analyzed the reiatsu of the new Espada, she was the one who'd been bothering the human girl the most.

"Why does she hate me so much?" Orihime whispered to herself.

She had no answer, but got confirmation that Zatara definitely hated her when, just a few seconds into her battle, a 'stray' bala went straight for Orihime. If it hadn't been for her good reflexes she would have been a goner. It wasn't the only time either, the same thing repeated almost a dozen times before Orihime forgot there were others behind her and she simply lowered the upper half of her body to escape another attack, only for it to be swapped away in an almost careless motion by the green-haired girl sitting near the very top.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Orihime apologized, turning behind her.

"What the hell are you apologizing for?" The girl snapped at her, before turning to the silver-haired Espada. "And you bitch, fire another one of those in our direction and I'll sweep the floors with your pretty little hair! We'll see how much 'Moonlight' there's left in it after that!"

"Oh, shut up Gingerbuck!" Zatara snapped, still from the arena. "You're nothing more than a mere Fraccion! There's no way you could take on an actual Espada!"

"Oh… wanna bet?" The smile on the green-haired girl's face was predatory and almost sadistic, which didn't go very well with her small-girl look.

"Stop it Lilynette." The man at the very top of that area ordered in a drawl.

For a second, Orihime half-heard Zatara mocking the green-haired girl, whose name apparently was Lilynette Gingerbuck, and who seemed to be the Fraccion of whatever number of Espada the brown-haired male at the top was. Orihime wondered if the masked girl by her side was probably another Fraccion… Then the other shoe dropped.

"She's not worth your time." The man finished, before closing his eyes and letting his head fall on the shoulder of the redhead by his side.

Zatara's resulting screech echoed all around the room and Orihime couldn't help but feel almost bad for those Espada who might have heightened hearing… almost.

The training session continued, until the Sexta was called, and Orihime was shocked by what she learnt then: it wasn't Grimmjow. There was a new Sexta, a strange flamboyant-yet-boyish looking short black haired male called Luppi Antenor. Grimjow was still present, but he stood near Ulquiorra, and he was most definitely still missing an arm.

"What the hell happened?" The human wondered out-loud.

She had no idea, and she knew pretty well that those with actual answers wouldn't be very willing to share them with her, so there was little she could do.

When Ulquiorra's turn came, Grimmjow was his sparring partner, something that seemed to surprise a few, though no one commented on it. Orihime wondered why he wasn't there with his own Fraccion, the Naga-like hollow with a piece of cloth covering what wasn't covered by his mask. She'd seen him a few times, and knew him to be Ulquiorra's fraccion, she didn't believe him to be very powerful… but then again, that seemed to be the case with most Fracciones.

Time kept passing, and Orihime got a chance to see each of the Espada. The one who terrified her the most was the Segunda: Baraggan Louisenbairn, he hadn't done a thing actually, something that didn't seem to surprise anyone, but there was something in his eyes and in his reiatsu that made Orihime's skin crawl.

Then came the greatest surprise of the morning, as the Primera Espada was called for his own part of the training, and the shaggy-haired man seated at the top of the area where she was walked down, followed by the green-haired girl: Lilynette. The Rikka wielder was shocked, she'd known the male was powerful, could feel his reiatsu weighing upon her, but a simple mental command had been enough for three of her Rikka to leak just enough of their power that she no longer had any trouble being close to him.

"You're an odd one, you know that?" A very soft and muffled voice called from behind.

Orihime turned to a side to see the girl who had been sitting beside the Primera, crouching beside her. She was petite, with slightly wavy dark-red hair that was short on her left side and long on her right one, she was wearing a white high-necked ankle-length dress with short, puffy sleeves, the lower part of the dress looked like a wrap, with the cloth connecting on the front, rising just enough that she would have no trouble walking, all edges and folds of the dress were black, she was also wearing black riding boots, a thick black belt with a buckle almost impossible to make out the design of in her position and black long gloves with white details. The last, and probably more curious detail, was the elaborate white butterfly mask she wore, which covered every inch of her face except her eyes, it had a small slit for the nose, but no opening for her mouth, which made her voice sound lower and somewhat muffled.

Orihime couldn't help it, she eeped, which immediately caught the attention of several in the room. Most went back to ignoring her almost immediately, others directed scathing looks at her briefly, only to be interrupted by a strong reiatsu pulse coming from the masked female. It was strong enough that Orihime gasped slightly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." The redhead seemed quite honest about it.

"You didn't." Orihime answered honestly. "You just surprised me."

It was the truth, she still had her special protection, though she had plans on lowering it slowly, so she could grow used to all the strong reiatsu around her, until she was able to stand everything, at least on a basic level, without any aid.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Orihime couldn't help but ask. "I don't remember seeing you in the meeting last Monday, either of the meetings from that day…or since."

"Oh no, I'm never in those meetings, too stuffy for me, and Cadhóit doesn't like me being in such an enclosed space with so many individuals who would like nothing more than to kill me." She said in a very easy voice.

"Cadhóit?" Orihime was confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I meant Coyote, Coyote Starrk, he's the Primera." She qualified. "I'm sorry, I tend to call him in my own mother tongue most of the time. It's like… natural."

"I see." Orihime nodded, though truth be told, she didn't. "And doesn't it worry you that so many want you dead?"

"It is what it is." She shrugged. "Guess it's to be expected, being the companion of the Primera Espada and all that. Barragan hates me the most, yet he won't try anything, he knows things won't be pretty if he does, they weren't for his previous set of Fraccion when they tried it."

Orihime nodded solemnly. The way the girl seemed to be so at ease despite the permanent danger to her life made her nervous though, on the other hand, she could admire the bravery she had.

"You really threw us all for a loop you know?" The girl went on. "When you came to sit in our area. No one ever does that. In fact, very few people can stand to be around Ca… Coyote for long, his reiatsu is so powerful few can handle it."

"I can feel the heaviness on me, but it doesn't hurt me." Orihime commented thoughtfully.

That, at least, explained why not even Zatara had followed her that far to keep bothering her.

"You're an odd one Inoue Orihime, no doubt about it." The girl giggled slightly at that.

"You seem to know my name, but I do not know yours." The Rikka wielder commented.

"Ah, that's true." The girl offered her hand in greeting. "I am Aileen Mavelle Cré, call me Aileen, almost everyone does."

"I don't mind if you call him by whatever other name you have for him." Orihime commented.

"Ah, thanks, it's just that I've grown used to it… after so long." She shook her head. "Usually I don't have to check what I call him, I rarely ever talk to any of the other inhabitants of Las Noches, especially the Espada."

"What about Aizen?" The human couldn't help but ask.

"That one I have only talked to once, the day we came to Las Noches." Aileen huffed slightly, then added in the lowest whisper. "I don't like him. I don't know why Cadhóit brought us here, when we had been perfectly happy in the open desert for so long… but we are here now. The past cannot be changed, one can only hope for the future."

Orihime nodded, those words reminded her of herself, of what she was hoping to achieve there, Aileen was right, she could only hope for the future.

**xXx**

The rest of the day wasn't any easier. Orihime went back to her room and Ulquiorra's Fraccion wheeled in the cart with her lunch and a change of clothes a few minutes later. It was a replica of the uniform she was wearing in that moment, but she didn't care too much about that. She simply ate her lunch (as she had woken late and missed breakfast) then went into her bathroom to take a shower and get in clean clothes.

She had a few hours to herself which she used to do some yoga and tai-chi, it helped keep her in form, and also relax her. She had no idea how long she might be in Las Noches, or when she might have to fight, it might even be soon, considering the looks Katara kept giving her… in any case, the Rikka wielder wanted to be ready for whatever might come her way.

Eventually Ulquiorra arrived to escort her to the meeting. In it Aizen asked for comments on each Espada's and Fraccion's abilities and possible weaknesses, some even offered advice. Orihime's opinion was asked too after everyone else had had their say, it was obvious Aizen wanted to get her involved into the goings of Las Noches; for Yammy, she had nothing to say, but for Zatara she just couldn't bite her tongue in time.

"Anger management classes." She quipped with a half-innocent smile.

Zatara's livid screech was followed by Grimmjow's loud guffaw, Coyote didn't say a thing, but he opened one eye to look at the human girl, a smile tugging at his lips, the girl certainly had guts, to be provoking an Espada, while sitting among all who bore that title.

What should have been expected, and probably was at least by some, was the Cero that came out of Zatara's long claw-like nails and straight to Orihime. Some expected Aizen to do something about it, or Ulquiorra, after all, it was those two's fault that the human was even among them, however, they didn't, nor did they need to.

Orihime turned her face in the direction of the Cero right as it was fired. Those paying close enough attention noticed how her hairpins glowed for an instant before a triangular shield materialized in front of her, it dissolved the Cero as if it were nothing.

Zatara screeched again at the indignation of her failed attack.

"That, right there, is why I suggested anger management classes." Orihime declared calmly. "With no control over our own emotions even the greatest power would be useless." She shrugged before adding. "And if you really think an attack like that would have taken me down then you really don't know your leader, or myself, at all."

It was true, if she had been so weak as to die from a mere Cero, she would have never called Aizen's attention, and that was nowhere near the height of what she could do.

"A great demonstration of power Orihime-san, I'm sure some of us would love to see more." Aizen commented. "However, I suspect that for a worthy show of your healing powers, we would need a truly worthy subject…"

"What about Grimmjow?" She suggested, trying not to sound too curious, or interested. "He's missing an arm, would that be a sufficient demonstration of power? Restoring a lost arm?"

"Yes, I could see you do that for your Quincy friend two days ago." Aizen nodded. "However, our dear Grimmjow isn't quite worthy of that. The loss of his arm was caused by his failure to follow orders when leading that attack on Karakura Town, you probably remember quite well how that turned out, don't you my dear?"

Orihime nodded stoically.

"It's for that same reason that he lost the honor of being one of the Espada." Aizen added.

"Demoted to being a stupid Fraccion!" Luppi, Grimmjow's substitute, cackled madly.

Grimmjow growled, he was about to leap at the new Sexta when Ulquiorra, sitting beside him, placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back onto his seat. This caused Luppi to laugh even more but, surprisingly enough, Grimmjow didn't try again.

"So yes, we will have to find someone else who is worthy of assisting Orihime-san in the demonstration of her abilities, and possibly her prowess in battle." Aizen commented.

"Ha!" Nnoitra snarled. "What would the bitch know about actual battle? She's a woman! She probably stayed hidden in a closet all throughout the battle!"

Orihime couldn't help herself, she snorted.

However, the true surprise came in who actually corrected Luppi.

"She was the one to defeat Loly Airvirrne, Numero 33." Ulquiorra informed everyone blankly.

That immediately caught every single Espada's attention. Orihime felt intimidated with so much attention, yet she focused all her strength of will in not reacting at all.

"Yes, yes." Aizen nodded. "I suppose that detail, along with what has been shown already will work as a preliminary demonstration of ability. We'll work on something better at a later date."

Everyone agreed. And then the meeting went on, with less complications than the ones thus far. Orihime chose not to comment again.

**xXx**

Thursday and Friday Orihime was left mostly alone though, during the afternoon meetings, the tension between her and Zatara seemed to keep growing. The Novena hadn't attacked her again, but it was quite obvious she more than wanted to.

It wasn't until Saturday, during the training session that Orihime got the chance to see and talk to Aileen again, something the human girl had decided to take great advantage of.

"Do you ever participate in the sessions?" Orihime asked as she sat beside the redhead.

She had decided that, this time, she would be the one to go sit beside the masked female to start a conversation, and Aileen didn't seem to mind.

"No." Aileen answered honestly. "Cadhóit doesn't want me to. It's best if those who wish me harm don't know what kind of abilities I have exactly."

Orihime agreed with that completely.

"I still train, don't think I don't." Aileen went on. "But only in the privacy of our own quarters. As you may or may not know, each Espada has what's called a 'territory' assigned. It's, in essence, a set of rooms which include some that act more or less like a set of human apartments, I guess; but also a much bigger room where more personal training takes place." She lowered her voice slightly. "It's also where your nakama had to fight the Espada they faced."

Orihime nodded, that helped her understand a bit.

Both girls looked up as a heavy reiatsu lashed at the fast and hard; Aileen countered it almost automatically with a pulse of her own. They could see Zatara watching them carefully.

"What's her problem?" Orihime blurted. "I mean, it cannot just be because I'm human can it? I mean, I know at least a few Espada don't like me, but no one's acting as hostile as she…"

"She does really hate humans." The masked one nodded. "But in this case there is actually more. You see, Loly Aivirrne and Menoly Mallia were her best friends. For years I heard them say that one day one of them would be an Espada, and the other two would be her Fraccion, then they would always be together…well, you know how that turned out."

"So, she initially disliked me because I'm human, but now she actually hates me because I killed Loly?" Orihime summarized.

"That's pretty much it." The redhead nodded. "Besides, I think she might be angry with her own situation. You don't know this, but originally Grimmjow wasn't going to be completely taken off the Espada, he was offered the place as Novena because, even without an arm he's quite strong, and Aizen knows that. However, he refused it, saying it was an offense to him, to his real power; he claims he'll find a way to reclaim his spot as Sexta, with or without an arm." She sighed. "It was then that Zatara was offered the place as Novena. She knows she wasn't the first choice and that, coupled with everything else, has made her crazier than she already was…" she shook her head. "About Grimmjow… I really have no idea how Ulquiorra managed to get him to act like a Fraccion. I'm also surprised Aizen allowed it, with how upset he seemed with Grimmjow right after the attack to Karakura. He called everyone to a meeting that night, even I was summoned. I was sure he was going to vaporize Grimmjow and Yammy right where they stood. But he didn't… and even after what he did to Grimmjow, he was allowed to stay." She sighed again. "Ulquiorra's move just surprised us all further. It was shocking enough when he took his first Fraccion, that Arrancar seemed to come out of nowhere, he certainly hadn't been in Las Noches before… and the way he moves, so silent, even his reiatsu is always extremely low…it's creepy."

"No creepier than Aizen's supposed 'nice' smile." The Rikka wielder quipped.

Aileen couldn't help it, she let out a string of laughter.

"It seems you two girls are having fun." A voice commented.

Orihime turned around instantly, shocked that she had been so much into the conversation she hadn't noticed the Primera approach her from behind.

"Hello, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you." Orihime blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"You are in no way a bother, señorita." Coyote told her in a somewhat gallant tone. "I'm glad Aileen has finally made a friend in this place." His voice turned sober. "But does my presence not bother you in the slightest?"

"Not at all." Orihime answered with a smile. "To be honest, I was so distracted by my chat with Aileen-san I didn't even notice you until you spoke. I'm sorry about that."

The smile in Coyote's face was so sudden and so bright that Orihime couldn't help but feel breathless; for some reason the Espada seemed to be absolutely happy…

"Oh señorita, you have nothing to be sorry about." The Primera assured her instantly. "You have made my day in ways you cannot possibly understand."

"Aileen-san told me before your reiatsu is so strong few can handle it." Orihime admitted.

"It's more than that, I'm afraid." Coyote declared. "My reiatsu is such that it vaporizes the weak hollows if they just try to approach me. And everyone outside the Espada and some of their Fraccion feel uncomfortable at the least and sick at the worst just by being in the same room as me." He shook his head. "If you remember any of my words, remember this, señorita, power isn't everything. And having great power can also make one terribly lonely; and loneliness, that's perhaps the worst punishment in all the worlds…"

"I agree." Orihime whispered in a low voice. "Loneliness is a truly awful thing."

"You're so young, and yet something tells me you truly understand what I mean." Coyote commented, somehow happy and sad about that at the same time.

"I do, Coyote-san, more than you could possibly imagine." The Rikka wielder whispered.

Coyote knew she did, and while that made him happy in a way, that someone seemed to truly understand him, it also made him sad, that such a young woman had to know such pain.

**xXx**

Time kept passing. Orihime had taken to doing some meditation to distract herself in the morning when she didn't have to attend a training session. Then she had lunch, spent a while talking to her Rikka, hoping that a better relation with them would help improve her powers as well. Then she would do some yoga, tai-chi and martial arts katas for an hour or two before taking a shower and having dinner. The afternoon meetings had been moved to after dinner, Orihime suspected that Aizen may be doing something that required more time, and whatever that might be it couldn't be good; she could only pray her nakama were alright.

On Sunday she spent her morning following her new routine, only to break it around noon when Lilynette arrived to invite her to spend the rest of the day in the Primera's quarters. When Orihime stepped out of the room she saw Ulquiorra's Fraccion standing guard, informed him of where she would be, just so no one would think she might be trying to escape, and then followed the green-haired Fraccion to a part of Las Noches she'd never been to.

They were still walking when their way was blocked by an unexpected and unwanted newcomer: it was Zatara, and she was obviously mad (nothing new).

"Move aside Zatara." Lilynette ordered to the Espada.

"What if I don't want to?" Zatara smirked.

"Listen Zatara, we have things to do, places to be since, you know, we have a life… unlike some people I'm seeing right." She stared at the older female pointedly.

Zatara made a move to attack, but Lilynette blocked her before she could move.

"This isn't with you Gingerbuck, stay out of it." Zatara pretty much growled.

"Maybe, but I'm here now." Lilynette rolled her eyes. "And Coyote is waiting for her… I really doubt you want to make him upset."

Zatara snarled loudly, made a feint of moving aside, letting Lilynette pass, but before Orihime could do the same, Zatara moved again, she slammed the human girl against the nearest wall, holding her by the throat, making it harder for her to breathe…

Orihime moaned in pain. She had lost her breath upon being slammed against the wall, and Zatara's hand on her throat didn't allow her to breath at all.

Lilynette snarled herself before taking hold of the Espada's long mane of loose hair, pulling harshly, enough that Zatara was forced to let go off Orihime, as she stumbled sideways a bit, even then she lost a few strands of silver hair to the Fraccion.

"Stupid brat!" Zatara growled, and began preparing a cero.

"Ah, ah, ah." Lilynette shook her finger and smirked coyly, "You know 'Aizen-sama's' orders, no fighting outside our own territories or the official training. If you fire a Cero… things won't go well. Or maybe you wish to lose an arm like Grimmjow, or your hair… Bloody Moonlight?"

"You will pay for what you did to my hair!" The Novena hissed.

"Please, it's not as if it's that great a loss." The green-haired Arrancar drawled.

It looked like Zatara was going to do something, but right then they could all sense the same thing: Ichimaru Gin.

All three females froze as Ichimaru Gin passed.

"Well, well, well, vat's goin' on here?" He asked in his usual tone. "'m sure ya weren' about ta fight, were ya? It is, afta all, agains' Aizen-taichou's orders…"

"Of course, Ichimaru-san." Zatara bowed stiffly.

"I was only leading Orihime-san to the Primera's quarters, Starrk is waiting for us." Lilynette stated in an easy tone.

Orihime didn't answer, simple bowing her head slightly to confirm the green-haired's Fraccion's statement of the situation.

"Well, then get goin'." Gin motioned for them to do so. "We wouldn' want da Primera to be kept waitin for long, would we?"

"Thank you, Ichimaru-san." Lilynette nodded formally. "Let's go Orihime-san."

Orihime nodded, turning back to Gin to bow slightly again and then followed Lilynette.

"That was fortunate…" The human girl couldn't help but comment after a while.

"A bit too much." The Fraccion's commented stiffly.

"What do you mean?" Orihime inquired, confused.

"I don't think his arrival was really a coincidence." Lilynette explained.

That definitely made Orihime think. Had Gin been close for long? Or had he some other way of knowing what had been going on there? Maybe those monitors she had seen before? And in any case, how much of the confrontation had he seen, and/or heard? And what did he think about it all? Did he support Orihime, or did he, like Zatara and some others, think Orihime was nothing more than an insect who shouldn't even be there, who didn't deserve for Aizen to be interested in her? Well, it wasn't like she'd chosen for it all to happen!

"In any case, we were lucky, I think." Orihime said after a while. "Zatara… I really didn't want for things to get even worse…"

"Orihime-san, you may not like this, but things are already worse." The green-haired one told him softly. "The way Zatara is acting… she won't stop unless she gets a reason to, unless you prove to her you aren't someone to mess with."

"You don't mean…?" The human really didn't like where that seemed to be going.

"I mean you will have to fight her, fight her and defeat her." Lilynette stated, absolutely serious.

"I don't even know if I could do that!" Orihime cried out. "You Arrancar… the powers you have, your endurance, your hierro… how am I supposed to get past that?"

"To be honest, I don't know." The Fraccion admitted. "But with your powers…if you have some way to do it, you should. It's the only way Zatara will ever leave you alone."

"Or it could end up making things worse!" Orihime whined.

"It could, yes." The green-haired one nodded reluctantly. "I suppose it depends on how much of a chance you're willing to take…"

The two continued walking until they reached the farthest corner of Las Noches. Orihime could feel a difference from that area with the rest of the place, it was much more shielded.

The walls of Las Noches, like those surrounding Seireitei and those in other spots like the Central 46, the Senzaikyuu, etc., had sekkiseki stone mixed with the normal spiritual concrete, this made it more resistant to spiritual attacks, as it was capable of absorbing part of the power, at the same time it muted the presence of it. Considering how much sekkiseki there was in that area, due to the pull on her own reiatsu, Orihime couldn't help but confirm that Coyote Starrk was, indeed, incredibly powerful. Not only that, if it weren't for the very nature of her own power, she was sure so much sekkiseki would drain her in no time at all.

After a few more minutes walking down a hallway, Orihime and Lilynette finally went through an archway and into the Primera's private training room. There they found Aileen standing on the balls of one foot as she spun her body around in a back spinning kick, afterwards changing the foot she was standing on and making a diagonal upwards kick, she went to land on a crouch before following with a hand-stand, a double spinning kick while twisting her body around, she pushed herself with her hand, shooting into the air, where she twisted sharply before landing gracefully with her ankles crossed, one arm folded behind her back, the other in front, on guard.

"Wow…" Orihime couldn't help but be in awe of the technique.

"Hey!" Aileen turned to greet her with a smile.

"Starrk you idiot!" The greetings were interrupted by Lilynette's sharp yell.

It was then that Orihime noticed the Espada laying on the floor, in a corner, apparently asleep.

"Stupid Coyote!" Lilynette kicked him in the ribs. "When Aileen-chan is practicing her katas you're supposed to stay awake! To help her!"

"Ouff…" Coyote gasped at the kick but didn't get up. "She's been practicing for centuries, she's already perfect, doesn't need me to know that."

Aileen beamed at the praise, happy that Coyote thought that highly of her.

"From what martial art was that kata?" Orihime inquired, very curious. "I had never before seen something like that."

"That's because it was no specific kata, or martial arts, but a mix of them. "Aileen answered as she took a drink. "Karate, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Taekkyeon, Kick-boxing, Capoeira, you name it." Her tone softened. "What you need to understand Orihime-san, is that I've been around for a very long time, centuries even. I've studied almost every martial arts there is at one time or another, and while there are some I favor, like the ones I mentioned before, I have a lot of knowledge, and have had the time to practice enough to mix different styles quite effectively."

Orihime nodded, marveled by the idea. She'd always believed Tatsuki was amazing, the things she could do, the things she had achieved in her short life; having become the 'Most Powerful Woman of Japan' at age 15, and of the World at 17 wasn't any mean feat. It was only since the trouble with the Spiritual Worlds had begun that she'd been forced to quit and focus more on the training of her spiritual abilities. Besides, Tatsuki was afraid she might lose control someday, use her spiritual abilities while as a human, fighting a human; if those abilities were able to take down hollows, she didn't even want to imagine what they would do to a human.

Still, as much as the violet-eyed human might admire Tatsuki, when compared to what Aileen had just said, what Orihime had seen the masked female do…

Orihime had a good time that afternoon. She chatted long about everything and nothing with the others; they knew a lot, had seen so many places and times…she also got to spar with Aileen, who gave her some tips, as did Starrk, to become better. In the end the two agreed with what Lilynette had already told her, the only way to get Zatara to stop her harassment, would be to take her down in a fight, hard. Orihime still did not like the idea.

"In the end it's up to you, pequeña señorita." Coyote told her right as she was about to leave. "But keep this in mind. We're hollows, and regardless of what Aizen may think he's achieving around here, there's still only one thing we truly understand, one thing we accept and respect above all others: and that's power, and whoever has it." His gaze softened. "Only by showing power in a definite way you will be able to get the others to leave you alone."

Orihime nodded, she still didn't like it, but might not have any other choice.

"Well, thank you for everything, I'll take my leave." Orihime bowed to the three before leaving.

Lilynette went with her to escort her, to make sure there would be no trouble.

As soon as the door closed Aileen sighed and went to remove the mask covering her face.

"You surprised me, you know?" Coyote commented as he approached her. "I didn't expect you to give up our free day for her…"

"She needs help, probably more than even she realizes." Aileen commented as she dropped the mask on a nearby table. "A human surviving Hueco Mundo…it's not an easy thing to do."

"How very true." Coyote agreed. "Though she's still alive."

"That'll just make things trickier." The redhead pointed out. "Still I believe she'll make things around here all the more… interesting."

"You know what else is interesting?" Coyote asked in a slow, sensual voice, as he stood right in front of her. "How you've lived through some of the saddest, most terrible things, yet you're still as pure as the first time I met you…"

The Espada raised a hand to caress a line down her cheek with the lightest of touches, the slightly translucent alabaster, almost completely unblemished skin feeling so very warm under his right then un-gloved fingers. Aileen actually closed her eyes, silvery-gray, like stars, enjoying the intimate caress with a happy sigh.

"And it was so long ago…" She agreed with a sigh.

"You're still the most amazing woman I've ever met." Coyote whispered back as he buried his face in her firey hair. "La más maravillosa, la más bella… mía, mía, solo mía…"

She couldn't resist herself, Aileen pulled back slightly from him before taking hold of the back of his neck and pulling down, crashing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.

**xXx**

On Monday, after lunch and the talk with her Shun Shun Rikka, Orihime began putting in practice some things she'd learnt the day before. Her specialty was karate, she was black belt, Aileen had taught her some moves from Aikido, which she found specially easy since, unknown to most, she had mastered Jujitsu a long time ago, a very, very long time ago…

Orihime took off her over skirt and tight jacket, leaving her in a white strapless tight top, baggy pants, socks and sandals. She began on her knees, moving to the side before making a grab for air, twisting, jumping to her feet and then back down, several times. Then she got on her feet, on one foot and began kicking high in the air with the other. As another exercise she moved lightly on her feet, moving her arms and hands as if to grab and twist something, or someone.

When the warm up was over, she closed her eyes and, picturing an opponent, began moving, fast and swift, a jabbing motion to the shoulder, a grab for the wrist, a twist, getting on her knees, rolling, jumping back up, a couple of high kicks, a downward jab to an elbow, a twist to take her opponent down); then she gave a twisted backwards kick and was moving for another grappling motion when the sudden presence of another reiatsu in the room distracted her completely.

Orihime spun in a half circle, managing to straighten up gracefully and lowering her arms to the sides before opening her eyes to face the newcomer.

"Hello Grimmjow, what brings you here?" She asked.

"Well, well, well, the princess actually knows how to fight." The ex-Sexta commented. "Wasn't really expecting that…"

"Did you think I defeated Loly just standing in one place, doing nothing?" Orihime asked, she was offended but holding back her anger.

"No, but your powers are strange enough that you might not have needed to do much." Grimmjow declared straight-out.

"Well, regardless of what you may think of my powers, I do know how to fight hand-to-hand, and with a small blade, a dagger or a wakizashi." Orihime pointed out seriously. "That I don't usually do it doesn't mean I cannot. And for the record, I did fight Loly directly, not just with my powers… it wouldn't have been right."

"I don't really care how you took that bitch down." Grimmjow shrugged. "You did it, that's all that matters as far as I'm concerned. Still, I have to admit I never expected seeing you doing that… what was it exactly?"

"It's called Jujitsu." Orihime answered as she finally went to sit on her couch. "It's an old martial art, part of the old-school."

Grimmjow's brows narrowed, something in the human girl's choice of words called to him, but he didn't know what, or why exactly.

"What exactly are you doing here, Grimmjow?" The Rikka wielder couldn't help but asking. "You cannot tell me you just didn't have anything better to do than come see me train."

"Actually, I did have a reason for coming here." Grimmjow admitted, getting closer to her. "what the hell did you do to emo boy?"

"Excuse me?" The girl blinked, having no idea what he was talking about.

"Emo boy." The ex-Espada insisted. "Ulquiorra. What the hell did you do to him?"

"What would make you think I did anything to him?

"Ah, ah, don't go playing those games with me girl, you're evading the question. And I know you did something because the bastard has been even more emo lately than ever before. It's…" he couldn't seem to find the right word. "It's fucking annoying, that's what it is."

Orihime cocked her head, it obviously was more than annoying, even if Grimmjow wouldn't admit to it. It probably was also related to why he was following Ulquiorra's orders, acting as his Fraccion despite how proud the blue-haired male was.

"Grimmjow…" Orihime sighed as she closed her eyes briefly. "Do you know about honor?"

"Of course." Grimmjow sounded offended. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"If we consider honor in battle. How honorable would it be to attack someone from behind?" Orihime went on. "Or not necessarily from behind. Attacking him unexpectedly, when his guard is down, when he's worried about others. What honor is there in that?"

"None." Grimmjow growled. "Even if it's a weakling, that only makes it all the more pitiful. If you defeat an opponent in any of those circumstances, you are even more pitiful than the possible weakling you just took down."

"Well, that's exactly what Ulquiorra did." Orihime's voice was like stone, something no one could have expected. "Last week, he attacked Ichigo when my nakama had his guard down, distracted by the condition Rukia was in, confused by the whole situation. Ulquiorra came out of nowhere and stabbed him in the chest with his bare hand. And if that weren't enough, two days later he had the gall to insult all of my nakama, especially Ichigo, to my face! That's not only dishonorable! That's an insult!" she was very passionate about what she was saying. "So you wanna know what I did? I slapped him. And I don't regret it. If I had had the chance I would have done a lot more than just slap him! It's one thing for him to know he's stronger than Ichigo, we all knew that already! Still they came, for me, to save me! And you, especially Ulquiorra and Aizen, dared treat them as scum! They deserve more than that! Much more!"

Grimmjow couldn't help it, there was something in the human's words, and in her tone of voice, that caught him, held him, that made him believe everything she said could be nothing but the truth… there just was no other possibility.

In the darkness, Orihime cried long into the night. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that it had been a week already, her conversation with Grimmjow, or something entirely different, but something made her nostalgia so strong she couldn't help but cry. At some point the door to her private room opened, but no word was spoken, whoever was there just observed her silently for a short time before leaving again… Orihime never noticed.

**xXx**

Tuesday was, in some days, a very interesting day, in others, a quite crazy one. It all began at breakfast time. Orihime had already grown used to Ulquiorra's Fraccion being the one to deliver her meals, he'd been doing it since the slap; what she wasn't expecting was when the naga-like hollow handed her a short letter which informed her Ulquiorra, his Fraccion, and Grimmjow would be leaving for a mission in the World of the Living, it was only observation, Aizen was curious why no more attempts to rescue her had been made and was interested in knowing what the Nakama might be doing in the meantime. Knowing there was no attack coming, Orihime could relax at least a little.

What the human girl hadn't been expecting was when the Fraccion informed her that another had been selected to keep guard at her door for the duration of the day, apparently Zatara had made several attempts to get in lately, and had been stopped by Orihime's 'guards'. Also, because her new 'guard' already had a charge, both charges would have to stay in the same room, for their own safety of course. The teenager immediately nodded, claiming she had no problem with that, what she never expected was who the other charge would be.

A somewhat big hollow entered the room, while a much slimmer one stayed out, guarding the door. It took a second for Orihime to realize there was a rather small individual in a thick tattered cloak, following the big hollow. It looked like a child… and then the hood was pushed back as the child turned to look at the teenager, green hair and a broken mask…

"Nel-chan?" Orihime asked, completely surprised by the development. "Are you Nel-chan?"

"She knows us, doncha' know?" The big hollow Dondochakka commented.

"Haw do ya know Nel?" The girl asked, curious.

"Well, I have a friend who knows you, he told me, and our other friends, about you." Orihime explained as she knelt to be at the same level as Nel. "His name is Shiro…"

"Shiro?!" Nel cried out in delight. "Ya know Shiro? He alwigh?"

"Yes, Shiro's alright." Orihime nodded. "He had to return home after his last battle here."

"Home?" Nel seemed to have trouble with that concept.

"Yes, with his family." Orihime tried to explain.

"Family!" That Nel did seem to understand. "Like Nel's brotherths!"

"Yes, exactly." Orihime nodded.

"Ya fwend o' Shiro… wanna be Nel's fwend?" The girl offered with a bright smile.

"I would love to be your friend, Nel-chan." The human nodded, smiling just as brightly.

"Yay!" The little Arrancar seemed to be absolutely delighted. "Nel hath a new fwend!"

Orihime found the green-haired Arrancar to be a delightful little child, at least as far as she was concerned. The two had a great time talking about many things, laughing together. The Rikka wielder couldn't help but see herself in Nel, the way she had been years ago, before all the spiritual trouble, before her powers, before her brother's death and turning into a hollow…

Things seemed to go just fine for most of the day. Orihime had forgone her meditation and talk with her Rikka to instead talk to Nel. Pesche had gotten them their meals, he'd been much more at ease with the young human after learning of her connection to Shiro, and seeing how good she was to Nel. The small Arrancar had also cheered her on when the teenager had done her usual warm up exercises and katas, praising her many times. Bath time had been its own adventure, as Orihime offered to help bathe Nel, only the girl didn't seem to like water. In the end the two females had a lot of fun.

The meeting of that evening was canceled, as Ulquiorra and the others had yet to return from Karakura, and there was nothing else to report. Orihime took that time to have some more fun with Nel, what she couldn't have expected was the trouble it would be to get the girl to sleep when the time for that came.

"Nel no sleepy!" The child kept claiming.

Orihime was slowly running out of options. She had tried humming, singing was not her forte, and she had no instruments available; she had also tried carrying the child, whispering to her, even poetry; and then she thought of one last idea:

"Would you like a bedtime story?" Orihime offered.

"A stowy?" Nel was confused by that.

"Yes." Orihime nodded. "A bedtime story is a story told to children who are going to bed. But if you want it, you'll have to sleep afterwards."

"Okay!" Nel nodded repeatedly. "Nel will sleep after sleepin-story!"

Orihime smiled at the child once again. The two females got settled on the couch, and then Orihime began her tale:

"This story is called 'The Princess and the Samurai'." She said in a soft tone. "It's the story of a girl known as the 'Rain Princess' and her One True Love: the strongest and most loyal of her samurai. It goes like this:"

_Amekimi was the youngest daughter of a once Great Feudal Lord in Ancient Japan called Arashikensei, and a former Miko called Ayame, who had been, in fact, the Lord's third wife. The youngest child, the one who could expect the least, and yet she was the most loved. Maybe that was the problem. The first two wives, and their children, didn't like it when they learned the Lord actually loved his third wife: she wasn't a trophy, like the first one, or part of a deal, like the second; Arashikensei had actually chosen Ayame. _

_For her first six years, the Rain Princess was possibly the happiest, most loved child in all of Japan. Even when losing her mother at the tender age of five, her father was always there for her, and that was enough for the sweet child. Then everything had gone south, the other wives' jealousy had reached dangerous levels, Amekimi's life was threatened, and so Arashikensei was forced to send his beloved little princess away. _

_The princess was then sent to her father's secret estate, deep in the woods, with no one but her personal guard: 9 nine-year old Utokui, son of Kyoshi, the Master Samurai, Head of the Army and personal guard of Arashikensei. The boy, even at his very young age, was one of the best samurai, which is why he'd been chosen to be the girl's personal guard. _

_In the end, he wasn't the only one there, for the very same day the Rain Princess turned six and arrived at the Estate, she learned her father had lost his life, assassinated by his 'supposed family'. Kyoshi had miraculously survived the betrayal, and after a talk to the young princess, agreed on staying there, to further his son's training, make sure he would become the best of the best… it was important, after all, Amekimi's life might as well depend on it. _

_Five years later, Kyoshi and Utokui conducted a series of tests in the nearby town to choose new guards for the Estate. In the end they also ended up choosing a partner for Utokui, someone to help guard the princess: he was an orphan, and his name was Giichi. Days later, Kyoshi and the remaining trusted samurai, who had made their way to the Estate after learning of the betrayal to their old lord, died in an attempt to keep the 'disloyal' ones as far away from the hidden estate as possible. All for the princess. So much they did in an attempt to keep her safe, never knowing that their deaths just placed an ever heavier weight upon the girl… _

_Time passed, and no one but Utokui and Giichi even knew about Amekimi, she never left her personal quarters without a heavy hood, cloak and veil, and her handmaiden was blind so she wouldn't actually know who she was attending. _

_Princess Amekimi was, in some ways, the most guarded treasure of Ancient Japan… but she was also one of the loneliest people in the world. Utokui and Giichi being her only friends, her only actual connection to the world, and even for them, she was just their princess, always Hidenka-sama, or Hime… never just Amekimi. It was a lonely existence indeed. _

_It didn't seem like things could get any better, but they did, eventually. Amekimi was soon to be fifteen, she was getting dressed by herself, as her handmaiden had left to marry recently and her guards hadn't yet chosen someone they considered appropriate to take the place. The princess didn't mind much doing it herself, but she knew Utokui and Giichi wouldn't approve, especially Utokui, as focused as he seemed to be on traditions and protocols. _

_And then, one day, the unexpected happened: Amekimi was getting her hair in some intricate plaits, if only to keep herself entertained, when abruptly the shoji door was almost broken down to let Giichi through, he was holding in his arms a girl probably a year or so younger, dressed in rags, and bleeding badly from several deep gashes. _

"_Hime-chan, please, save her!" Giichi called, half-panicked. _

_The princess didn't even stop to ask who the older girl was, simply dropped to her knees beside her, on the opposite side from Giichi and immediately placed her hands on the first gashes she could see, then began murmuring an ancient prayer under her breath. _

_It took a while, but finally a soft golden light appeared on Amekimi's hands, and as it connected with the injured one's body, the wounds began healing, slowly but surely. _

_It took a while, but eventually she was done, Amekimi smiled brightly as the long lashes of the older girl fluttered open, dark gray eyes fixing on Giichi first. _

"_Giichi… what happened?" She asked softly. _

"_You're alright now." Giichi told her in turn. "I got you help, like I told you I would." _

_Amekimi couldn't help but giggle, it was quite obvious Giichi knew the older girl, had known her probably for a while; the princess just wondered how 'close' the two were. _

"_Who are you?" The gray-eyed one asked, curious, looking at Amekimi. _

_However, before any answer could be given, another door open abruptly and Utokui entered, he looked absolutely livid…at Giichi. _

"_Giichi!" He practically growled. "You great idiot! You know it's forbidden for anyone but the three of us to step into these quarters! You know it's forbidden for any outsider to so much as lay eyes upon her! And you brought that girl here?! If Arashikensei were alive, if Otou-sama were alive, they would have your head!" _

"_I had to save her!" Giichi replied. "She was attacked, she was badly hurt, she could have died. I couldn't let that happen!" _

"_So you broke all the rules, put our princess in danger, for her?!" Utokui was still furious. _

"_She doesn't need to be an outsider." Amekimi's sudden comment was quite unexpected. _

_That definitely caught everyone off-guard. _

"_Hidenka-sama?" Utokui inquired, confused. "Whatever do you mean?" _

"_I mean that if the problem is that she's an outsider, make it so she isn't one anymore." Amekimi said simply. "Make her my new handmaiden." _

"_Hi… Hidenka-sama, you don't know this woman, there's no way we can trust her…" Utokui began, in absolute consternation about the way things were happening. _

"_Giichi trusts her and he obviously cares for her, otherwise he wouldn't have brought her here." The young princess rationalized. "We both trust Giichi, is it that hard to do this, for him?" _

_Utokui really didn't know what else to say. _

"_I have faith." Amekimi insisted. "I believe this will turn out alright." She turned to the older girl. "What is your name?" _

"_Shaolin, Hidenka-sama, my name is Shaolin." The woman bowed as much as she could in her still tired and slightly weakened state. "And it would be an honor to be your handmaiden…" _

_And, just like that, with the introduction of a new person to the dynamic, things began changing. It was just a little at first, but bit by bit, a moment came, when everything had changed. _

Orihime interrupted her story when she became aware of loud sounds coming from right outside the door, bad sounds…

"Somethin's happenin, doncha know?" The big hollow sitting on the floor said.

"And something bad." Orihime added in a grim tone. "Ulquiorra's Fraccion said no one was to know about Nel-chan, right?"

"He did say that, doncha know?" Dondochakka agreed.

The Rikka wielder turned to the green-haired girl who had fallen asleep beside her on the couch, and then she made her decision.

"Take Nel, make sure not to wake her, then get in the bathroom." She instructed.

Not sure what the human might be planning, but knowing that Nel was his top priority, the former Fraccion did as he was bid, scooped the sleeping Nel into his arms and then stepped into the bathroom.

"This won't hurt you, I'm just making sure you won't be detected, in case anyone comes in." Orihime informed him, then used his Souten Kisshun to envelope them.

After considering things for a moment, Orihime made sure to close the bathroom done, then ordered the rest of her Rikka to manifest and disperse around the room; even if no one but she could actually see the flowers/fairies, whoever was causing trouble would be able to sense parts of Orihime's reiatsu all around the room; hopefully that would keep them from suspecting the aura coming from the bathroom.

Right in that very moment, the door was opened with a loud bang, the teenager prayed it wouldn't wake Nel and complicate things even more.

Violet eyes widened drastically when she noticed Pesche laying on the stone-ground, badly hurt. So focused she was on him, the girl didn't notice the person actually invading her room until she was slammed against a nearby wall and held by the throat, for the second time in a handful of days. It was worse because, this time, Orihime had no one to help her.

"I'm growing tired of you, insect." Zatara snarled. "You have all of Aizen-sama's attention without deserving it. Have powers you shouldn't possess, and connections you shouldn't possess. I mean, Aizen-sama actually has one of his best, the damned Ulquiorra, as your personal guard. And for what? You are worth nothing!"

"Right now, she is worth more than you." A voice called from behind.

"U…Ulquiorra…" Zatara was absolutely shocked at the other's presence. "You're back."

"An obvious and unnecessary observation." Ulquiorra stated. "I was on my way to report to Aizen-sama, as I should, yet it appears the hallways have somehow moved, as I ended up passing close to here instead. As soon as I sensed you I knew you were causing trouble, again."

"I'm just doing what needs to be done." Zatara complained. "Why can no one else see it?"

"It is not what Aizen-sama wishes." Ulquiorra stated emotionlessly. "Now let the onna go."

Zatara did as told, still angry.

"Now leave." Ulquiorra ordered. "And remember, I do not destroy you, because the loss of even one as useless as you would not help Aizen-sama any. However, if you interfere with Aizen-sama's wishes again, I will not be as merciful."

Even Zatara herself seemed surprised that Ulquiorra was letting her go just like that, but she didn't say a thing, just directed a last, scathing look at the fallen, coughing and gasping Orihime, then stomped out of the room, furious.

"Onna, are you… alright?" Ulquiorra inquired.

It seemed like something in that question cost him, Orihime chose to push that aside and just nodded, not trusting that she would be able to talk right then.

"Nelliel?" Ulquiorra asked next.

Orihime just signaled to the bathroom door, coughing and panting some more as she tried to recover. She focused on dispelling the Souten Kisshun surrounding Dondochakka and the, surprisingly, still sleeping Nel, then sent the technique to Pesche, too help him recover.

"Shouldn't you be seeing to yourself first, onna?" Ulquiorra asked.

He stepped out of the bathroom followed by the other two and couldn't help but notice how she worried more about helping others than herself.

"I… be a…alright." Orihime said brokenly. "Pesche… ne…need it m-more."

Ulquiorra shook his head but didn't say anything more. He didn't think it would make much of a difference in the end anyway.

"Heal yourself and then get some sleep onna, it's late, and tomorrow you have to get up to go to another training session." Ulquiorra ordered.

Orihime nodded, deciding it was better not to try to speak again, not until she'd healed herself, it would only hurt more. She remembered Lilynette's words, about the only way of stopping Zatara, by proving to the Novena she (Orihime) wasn't someone to be messed with; she also remembered Coyote's explanation about what hollows truly respected: power…it looked like she just might have to take a chance, Zatara needed to be stopped, now.

"I really, really don't like to fight… but I just might have to…" She whispered, sadly, to herself.


	38. The Rain that Binds

You know what I never understood? How someone can believe a girl who identifies with the rain, who says she's the rain (that's canon!) can be the perfect love of a boy/man who hates the rain with his whole heart (also canon!). I don't hate Orihime, never have, never will, I just don't like IchiOri, hope people will like what I do with each of them and their respective pairings here.

From the first time I read a certain monologue of Orihime, about the rain, I wanted to do something with that, because I couldn't help but feel that she was expressing herself, the core of herself, so beautifully, it said so much about her, and about the way she knew herself... I needed to do something with that. Hope I won't disappoint.

A bit of a 'warning' here (don't want to call it that, but don't know how else to put it. If you, any of you, are fans of canon, and more specifically, canon Orihime, you'll find her extremely OOC here... then again, if you prefer that I'd have to ask how you've managed to get to this point considering we threw canon by the wayside, especially where Orihime's involved a long time ago... Still, I hope you'll enjoy it. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

It's almost funny, because the first half of this chapter, is the last I wrote when I first began this fic, around a decade or so ago; while the latter half, is the first I wrote when I finally decided to sit down and finish this once and for all. I like how it came out, even if it means that a lot more happens in a single chapter than I initially expected.

There was a comment made about Coyote calling Orihime 'señorita' (miss) and how that never happens in canon. No, it doesn't, then again, Aileen doesn't exist in canon either, Orihime spends a very short time in Las Noches and never gets to meet most of those there, and she definitely doesn't have the interactions with the Espada she does here.

I've been asked before what some of the main characters sound like. I've no idea, the best I've been able to do is to tell your their nationalities, hoping that might help. This time, it's different. There's a song in this chapter. You can find it here: watch?v=iF9uvk0x4_w I'd suggest you keep it close and play it once it's being sung, it'll help get you in the mood for what happens then, and in the rest of the chapter.

More info on the song in the end notes, don't want to spoiler anything.

On with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 38. The Rain that Binds **

_Amekimi woke up gasping, her hands grasping air as if trying to hold onto something. A second later, as her breathing began returning to normal, she began sobbing softly. _

"_Hidenka-sama?" A voice asked in a low tone. _

_It was Utokui, they had gotten a slip, that some spies from the current 'Lord' were dangerously close to the area, still searching for the missing princess. She'd been declared dead by her step-mothers and half-siblings many years prior; yet they were still looking for her, though she didn't have the slightest idea as to why. Still, Utokui and Giichi had been keeping guard on her quarters around the clock, even Shaolin was helping; Giichi was helping her learn how to fight, though she had the basics in a Chinese style that looked quite dangerous, if a lot less refined than what the young princess was used to seeing. _

_In that moment Utokui had been doing his rounds, he was going around the porch that surrounded three sides of the hidden quarters when, as he was passing by a window, he couldn't help but hear his princess's sobs. _

"_Are you alright, Hidenka-sama?" Utokui asked, standing by the window. _

"_No." Amekimi admitted quietly. _

_Slowly, she got off the futon, dragging the blanket with her, then went to sit beside the window, right where she could sense Utokui beyond the wooden wall, there she sat and, enveloped by the blanket began talking again. _

"_Hina-chan was assassinated, wasn't she?" The princess asked with no hesitance. _

"_What makes you say that Hidenka-sama?" Utokui was surprised by the question. _

"_A dream I just had." Amekimi answered honestly. "Of that day, a few months before I turned six. I noticed some things I didn't back then… like how nervous she seemed to be, how afraid, though never for herself, only for me. Then when she fell… everyone told me she had fainted, that it was because she was sick… that she took such great care of me she forgot to look after herself. And yet… Chichihue was furious, and Kyoshi-san too, everyone was running around, and I wasn't let out of Haha's old room, and even then there was a full escort in the room. Everyone was so afraid something would happen to me, like it had happened to Hina-chan… my nana… She was killed wasn't she?" _

"_Yes, Hinagiku-san was killed that day." Utokui admitted. _

"_And she knew, she knew it was coming." The girl gasped even as she said it. "It was why she stayed so close to me, never letting me get even a few feet away from her. She knew they would try to kill me, she was protecting me… Even when she knew she could very well die, she still did it. And in the end she died, for me." _

"_Yes." Utokui didn't see any reason, or way, for him to deny that. _

"_How did she know that?" Amekimi wanted to know, and yet, her heart ached, as a part of her already knew the answer. "Haha…?" _

"_It was never confirmed." Utokui said quietly. "But some people suspected, that Ayame-dono might have been murdered, poisoned." _

"_How many?" The princess asked in a broken voice. "How many have died, will die for me?" _

_There was no answer, she had known there wouldn't be. It was obvious others had died for her as well, but somehow, her mom and nana hurt the most… maybe because it was those 2 women, besides her father, from whom the young princess had known true love. It really wasn't fair…_

"_I need to learn how to fight." She announced unexpectedly. _

_The comment came out of nowhere, and seemed quite insane: a princess learning how to fight… and yet, she had already made up her mind, and no one would be able to make her change it. _

**xXx**

As Orihime walked a couple of steps behind Ulquiorra to the morning training session she kept taking long, deep breaths. She knew that what she was going to do would seem crazy to most, it seemed crazy to her! But still, it was the only way, Lilynette's and Coyote's words had finally gotten through to her, and after spending an hour before breakfast talking to her Rikka she believed she could actually pull it off.

When Ulquiorra had gone to deliver her breakfast, though she had no idea what exactly had changed to make it so the Espada himself was the one delivering her meals again. Still, Orihime had asked him to deliver a short message to Aizen, refusing to give any details. In the end, Ulquiorra had sent Grimmjow, who looked at the human girl as if he had an idea of what she might be planning and couldn't quite believe it. Though considering she was the one doing it, and couldn't quite believe it herself…

The training session began as always, with Yammy beating some unfortunate Adjuchas to an inch, or even half an inch, of its life. The one from that particular day survived when Yammy, along with everyone else in the room stopped in surprise at Aizen's and Gin's unexpected arrival, neither of the former shinigami ever bothered attending the training sessions.

"Aizen-sama…" Harribel was the first to speak. "What brings you here at this time?"

"I was asked to be here as a favor." Aizen replied with a smile.

Murmurs rose all around, as the Arrancar wondered what exactly that meant.

Orihime rolled her eyes, she hadn't exactly worded it like that, but she supposed at least Aizen was there, and it seemed like he approved of her choice, either that or he thought she was crazy and didn't care. The human sighed, and right then her eyes caught Aileen's, who nodded once strongly at her; she too realized what was coming, and she supported Orihime. Behind her, Coyote and Lilynette too nodded at Orihime.

"But please, continue with your activities." Aizen made a motion to it.

Everyone nodded. Yammy grumbled when he noticed the Adjuchas had taken the chance to run away before it was killed. That meant his training was over for the time being. With that, Zatara got on her feet, however, before she could talk to one of Harribel's Fraccion, who usually helped her for those sessions, someone else interrupted:

"I, Inoue Orihime, Nakama and wielder of the Shun Shun Rikka, with Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin and the rest of the Espada and Fracciones present as witnesses, challenge Novena Espada, Lei Zatara to a one on one fight." The teenager spoke in the strongest and most formal voice she could. "Right here, right now."

The silence that followed that declaration was deafening.

Almost everyone was looking at the human teenager as if she were crazy, except for four particular individuals, who all looked at her very seriously, knowing that she wasn't quite as fragile as she appeared at first sight.

Silently Orihime took off her tight jacket and her over-skirt, leaving her in her top and pants. Aileen called her attention briefly, throwing her a white ribbon, which the human used to tie her hair after twisting it several times to keep it up. Once she was ready Orihime walked down the steps where those not sparring at the time sat and went to stand in the middle of the arena.

"Please!" Zatara called in a mocking tone. "You must be joking."

"I'm being very serious Zatara." Orihime's eyes narrowed as she tried her best to stare Zatara down. "Or what? You can only face me when my guard is down and there are no witness stronger than you? Are you that much of a coward you can attack someone from behind and not from the front? I expected better from a pseudo-Espada."

All her words were intended to rile the silver-haired Espada, and they worked.

Aizen just kept smiling his creepy smile as he took a seat in a big, ornate chair several Arrancar carried into the room. Gin was content with sitting cross-legged on the floor beside him, eyes actually open as he observed everything attentively. The young human teenager in that moment brought him strong memories of his former best friend… or was Karasu, Karin, still his best friend? In any case, it all made him quite melancholic.

"Very well, I will fight you." Zatara practically snarled as she went to stand in the arena. "Just don't go crying to Aizen-sama when I sweep the floor with you."

Orihime just rolled her eyes, before falling into a very basic karate guarding stance.

"I won't go easy on you just because Aizen-sama favors you, pet-sama…" Zatara smirked. "That's a good name for you. I'll show you why I'm an Espada…"

Orihime rolled her eyes again, would the Novena never stop her posturing? It really served no purpose, except inflating her own ego…

The battle commenced, in a way that most had expected, yet some knew couldn't be completely right. Orihime was fighting, she was evading most of the hits, but wasn't managing to get many in herself either. She was using her Rikka, the Santen Kesshun in the Nibankyuu level, modified to create a film right over her skin, it was meant to act sort of like an Arrancar's Hierro, giving more strength to her attacks, and in general, more endurance to herself. However, it obviously wasn't enough. Something in the way she moved, hesitantly, jerkily, something was off.

"This is wrong…" Aileen moaned as she pulled at her own hair.

"Why the hell isn't she fighting right?!" Lilynette demanded. "I know… we know that's not all she can do? What the hell is she playing at?"

"The style she's using right now, it's not the one she's most comfortable in." Coyote pointed out, surprisingly enough he wasn't trying to sleep, not even yawning. "That's why she stumbles so much, she's not as familiar with those moves as she is with the ones she used last Sunday."

"And why the fuck isn't she using the right style?!" Lilynette snarled.

No one had the slightest idea.

Orihime finally managed to connect a punch to Zatara's head, but she over-extended her arm, leaving her open for a kick to the ribs, which threw her to the ground, painfully.

"Ha!" Zatara snorted at her. "I knew you were nothing more than a stupid little girl, pet-sama…"

Orihime gasped slightly as she fought to get her breath back; she had known it was crazy to fight Zatara, especially in hand to hand; until then she had only fought hollows and Arrancars using her Shun Shun Rikka; while hand to hand combat wasn't something completely new to her, she had only ever gone against humans, and that was in simple training… still, she couldn't give up, not yet, not if she wanted to get her point across: she wasn't a weak human, she wasn't an insect, or a piece of trash… and she certainly wasn't a pet!

"Oy, little princess!" Grimmjow called loudly, unexpectedly. "Stop playing around! You wanted to fight didn't you? Now be serious about it!"

Orihime couldn't help it, her mind was briefly taken over by a short but powerful scene:

_The tatami mats beneath her felt strangely comfortable, it must be because of how tired and sore she was already; she never thought learning to fight would be that hard… _

"_Oy, Hime-chan!" A snarky voice called her. "Break time's over, no more playing around. It was your choice to learn how to fight. Now take it seriously!" _

With that, the human teenager took one more deep breath, before pushing herself to sit seiza. There she placed her hands on her lap, closed her eyes, and focused.

"What the hell is she trying now?" Several voices began questioning behind.

"The fight will truly begin now." Coyote stated, satisfied.

Aileen and Lilynette smirked, things were about to get good.

"Time for a good old-fashioned ass-kicking." Grimmjow muttered under his breath with a smirk. "Get the bitch, little princess…"

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed, his eyes straight on Orihime, like they'd been since she'd first made the shocking and unexpected declaration. Something was going on, he had no idea what yet, but his instincts were screaming at him that it was so very important…

"Idiot!" Zatara snarled at Orihime. "I don't care about your theatrics. I'll kill you!"

Some expected Aizen, or Ulquiorra, or at least Gin to react somehow to Zatara's declaration and follow-up rushed attack, but neither of them did anything, they just continued watching in silence; so the rest did the same:

Zatara made a move to deliver a crushing kick at Orihime's head, only to have the teenager move both arms in the last moment, blocking her. Zatara, unsure and mostly uncaring of how the girl had managed that made a second attempt for a kick with the opposite leg. Orihime moved again, this time actually catching Zatara's foot.

"Wha…?" The Novena began.

However, the silver haired didn't get to finish her complaint, as right then the human jumped onto her feet, pulling Zatara's foot along, causing the surprised Espada to lose her balance completely and crash against the floor on her back.

Aileen and Lilynette snickered, while Coyote nodded approvingly; Grimmjow's loud guffaw echoing all around, while the rest of the Arrancar just watched, mostly in shock.

"What the hell was that brat?!" Zatara demanded as she jumped back onto her feet.

Orihime didn't answer, simply adopting a rather neutral stance, this time while standing, as she waited for Zatara's next attack.

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed even more.

One after another, Zatara kept attempting a series of kicks and punches, all of them either missed, or were blocked by Orihime, it was as if suddenly nothing could touch the human teenager.

"Stop playing!" Zatara practically screeched as she got livid. "Fight me!"

For all answer, when Zatara's next kick came, Orihime evaded by getting closer to her instead of farther; then the teen took hold of the Espada's wrist when the follow-up punch came, giving a step back and pulling harshly. The Novena went sprawling to the ground with a twisted wrist.

"Stupid brat!" Zatara wailed.

Livid, the Espada jumped onto her feet and moved to attack again.

The fight continued like that for several minutes: Zatara would attack with kicks and punches, Orihime would evade some, block others, and eventually get into the Novena's guard, grab a hold of her wrist, upper arm, or even leg, twist and send her sprawling. The more times it happened, the more the Espada's fury grew, and the more those watching couldn't help but see the human 'guest' in a different light.

Eventually, something changed. Out of patience, Zatara used sonido to get behind Orihime and made an attempt to grab the girl by her neck.

Aileen jumped up, about to scream a warning, but Coyote was faster than her and pulled her back down, slipping his hand beneath her mask, to cover her mouth, before a single sound could pass her lips. Aileen didn't like that.

"Easy, bonita…" Coyote whispered into her ear. "The señorita will be alright. She's strong, and smart. This is nothing."

He was right, a fraction of a second before Zatara could touch her Orihime leaned to one side, the Espada only managing to touch a few loose strands of auburn hair. In the next second Orihime raised her opposite leg high, folding it slightly before twisting her whole body around. The result was a kick that hit Zatara's temple, throwing her back and down harsher than any other move.

The Novena jumped back up immediately, but before she could do much, Orihime's open palm hit her right in the middle of her chest. It shouldn't have been much, an open palm hit from one who was younger, smaller, who was supposed to be weaker, human, yet Zatara couldn't help but cough blood as she was pushed back harshly against the nearest wall. There she continued coughing, blood splattering on the white floors, it was obvious Orihime's last kick and strike had truly injured her, somehow.

"Enough!" Gin ordered getting on his feet.

Orihime turned to bow slightly at her opponent, bowing then in Aizen's direction, as was expected in a formal duel. Then she turned her back on both and began walking back to where she'd left her things.

What followed happen all in a matter of seconds, or less: Zatara jumped back onto her feet and, with a loud, screeching battle cry threw herself at Orihime. Ulquiorra used a burst of sonido to appear in between the two females, an order had been given, and he would make sure it was followed. Zatara didn't seem to care he had gotten in between, she was too far gone in her fury, she roared, and fired a powerful Cero. However, before the attack and the Cuarta could connect, a soft, yet steeled voice, broke the silence.

"Shiten Koushun!" Orihime called, her back still turned to what was going on.

For an instant it looked as if some kind of orange-tinted dust separated from Orihime's body, making her skin look more creamy than before. Then that same dust took form again, right in front of Ulquiorra, a triangular orange shield, which was then joined by another spark that came off the human teenager's hairpins.

The Cero connected with the shield, and for a moment there was no sound; no one moved, no one spoke, some didn't seem to even be breathing. Then, in a rush, the Cero disappeared, the spark in the middle of the shield glowed brightly, and a concentrated beam of light came from there, hitting Zatara straight in the chest and throwing her back with enough force she crashed against the wall again, this time ending up half inside it.

"I didn't need your help, onna." Ulquiorra murmured in a low but hard tone.

"I didn't do it for you." Orihime replied simply.

With a wave of her hand, the shield dispelled and her hairpins became complete. Then she continued walking back to where she'd been sitting before; every single Arrancar in the room moving away from her as she passed. She had gotten what she wanted: everyone in Las Noches would know now she was no weak little human…

**xXx**

That evening the meeting of the highest ranking members of Las Noches was particularly tense, but no one dare move or so much as speak against Orihime and what she'd done earlier. They were seeing her in a whole new light. Of course, none of them knew Orihime had chosen to forsake all training for the rest of the day and had spent the whole afternoon sleeping almost non-stop, having used almost all her reiatsu in the fight, besides, there was also the fact that she had ended more than a bit sore, and with no reiatsu she couldn't heal herself.

Orihime spent most of the meeting in a half meditative state, fighting to keep herself in complete control so she wouldn't show any weakness to those present. It took a great deal of effort, but by some miracle she managed it. It wasn't until she was halfway back to her quarters, with no one but Ulquiorra accompanying her, that she began to sway slightly and half closed her eyes as she yawned, her exhaustion beginning to take her over.

In the end Ulquiorra had to help the teenager get into the room and to the sofa.

"You should never have done what you did onna." Ulquiorra stated in a strangely chiding tone as he laid her on the couch.

Orihime opened one eye slowly, with some effort, wondering if Ulquiorra was really worried about her. Then he spoke again and ruined it all.

"You won't be useful to Aizen-sama if you get yourself in this state." He added.

"Oh please, please stop saying that." Orihime moaned, too tired to even sit up. "I'm just so tired about hearing the same all the time…"

"Aizen-sama…" The Espada began.

"Shut up already about that Aizen-sama!" She somehow found the strength to scream that. "I cannot stand it."

It looked like Ulquiorra was about to say something else, probably another useless platitude, at least as far as Orihime was concerned; but she didn't allow it. Even though the human teenager couldn't get up, she could barely even stay awake and fully focused, she still pushed on. Even laying down, and looking as exhausted and weak as she did in that moment, the girl managed to exude a sense of power and authority Ulquiorra couldn't help but pick up on.

"Why do you even follow Aizen, Ulquiorra?" She asked tiredly. "Do you really not see the kind of monster he is? He does not deserve your loyalty."

"I exist only to serve." Ulquiorra replied simply.

"Even if that were true, have you ever considered the fact that you may be meant to serve someone else?" Orihime asked, voice soft again and eyes half-closed.

"You have no idea what you're talking about onna." Ulquiorra stated as he spun around and turned to leave the room.

"Oh but I do Ulquiorra…" Orihime whispered, beginning to fall asleep already. "Better than you could ever imagine…"

Just outside the door Ulquiorra stood, a hand clenched tightly into a fist, an expression of emotion he would have never allowed himself just a week before, one he didn't even notice at first, and he couldn't really understand. He had managed to hear Orihime's whispered words as he left the room and that, along with everything she'd said before had hit him, hard, in ways he didn't understand, and that didn't sit well with him.

"The little princess driving you crazy already?" A voice asked from the side.

Ulquiorra turned unsurprised eyes to see Grimmjow laying against a well, not too far from him, he'd obviously just turned the near corner. The Cuarta was about to say something when he noticed Grimmjow's exact wording…

"Why do you call her that?" He couldn't help but ask.

"I guess it seems like that's what Aizen wants her to be, a little princess." Grimmjow shrugged nonchalantly. "And anyway, it somehow feels… I don't know… natural…"

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed, everything about the human teenager seemed so strange; and not just her, but also in the ways everything and everyone related to her. Even him, she made him react in ways he knew he shouldn't…she was just going to drive him crazy one day!

"You don't what you're talking about Grimmjow…" Ulquiorra muttered.

"Yeah well, neither do you, but I'm not thrusting accusations at you for it, am I?" Grimmjow replied petulantly.

"You are so idiotic… I really don't know how I stand you." Ulquiorra began walking away.

"Neither do I, or 90% of the inhabitants of Las Noches." Grimmjow quipped with a smirk. "They were shocked enough when you offered me a place as your Fraccion, and even more so when I accepted… particularly after rejecting the place of Novena…"

"There are questions not even I have the answer to." The Cuarta commented.

It was one thing he really didn't understand, yet he would never actually ask the question either, whatever had made Grimmjow take him up on his already shocking offer…

"Don't ask me, not even I know." Grimmjow shrugged. "Much as I may hate it, following you doesn't annoy me nearly as much as following that bastard Aizen does."

"You do know I still follow Aizen-sama…" Ulquiorra spoke at the former Sexta as if he were half-insane, or maybe just an idiot.

"Of course I know, still, it doesn't change my perspective of the whole situation." Grimmjow insisted. "And in the end, I know if I do something idiotic, it's unlikely I'll end up killing you, can't say the same about others…"

Grimmjow shook his head before moving ahead from Ulquiorra and away, the Cuarta Espada just watching him go. The blue haired former Espada was beginning to act erratically, even for him, as if things weren't strange enough already…Ulquiorra was a feeling something was going on, something he couldn't fully grasp. It had begun with the arrival of Inoue Orihime to Las Noches, yet it went far beyond her…if he could just understand what it was…

**xXx**

The next morning Orihime knew her half-thought words had caused trouble when, once again, it was Ulquiorra's naga-like Fraccion who delivered her breakfast to her. She just sighed as she made the effort to sit up and pull the tray of food to her lap so she could eat. She was still somewhat sleepy, even if not as bad as the day before, but she also needed food if she was to recover her reiatsu as soon as possible.

The teenager ate her breakfast quietly and slowly, paying little attention to the half-masked half-veiled hollow standing a few feet from her, he'd never spoken to her, had never so much as said a single word in her presence. Which is why she was so surprised when he did…

"Are you alright miss?" He asked in a low, throaty voice.

"I am fine." She answered calmly as she drank some tea.

"Excuse me miss, but you do not look fine." The hollow commented.

"I am just still tired." Orihime admitted after a while. "I'm recovering, and will be completely perfect soon enough."

"Shouldn't you have recovered more by now?" The hollow inquired, confused. "Hueco Mundo is a spiritual world, that should help."

"It should, yet a good deal of Las Noches is made of sekkiseki, which doesn't help matters any." Orihime retorted blankly. "It's hard for my reiatsu to be restored, and it cannot be aided by just anyone. My powers are too… unique for that."

The hollow nodded, apparently understanding that.

"What is your name?" She asked out of nowhere. "I mean, I've seen you a few times, even if I had never spoken to you before, but I've never heard your name."

"Acidwire miss, you may call me Acidwire." He replied in a low voice.

Then, before she could ask any more questions, he was gone.

Hours passed, and when Acidwire returned with lunch and the change of clothes he could see the human teenager looked better, though she was obviously still not back to a hundred percent, that would take a bit longer.

Orihime ate her lunch quickly, having to replenish her reiatsu made her very hungry, and while the meals prepared for her were much more… tame, than what she was used to, they were still pretty good. The fact they were made from reishi also helped.

When the girl was finished she placed the tray aside and went to stand below the window, it helped her a bit. Then, to her silent companion's surprise she began humming; a low, haunting tune that seemed to somehow carry a meaning that went beyond words.

"That's some melody." Acidwire commented quietly when she was done.

Orihime didn't answer, just sighing, after recalling something so very sad…

"You like music." The hollow said, it didn't really sound like a question.

"I love music." Orihime answered with a melancholic smile. "I'm no good singing, but playing… I've liked it my whole life, my brother used to say it was like I was born from the music, like it was a part of me. Sadly, my flute was in my yukata when my old clothes were taken from me. So I cannot play, and humming just isn't the same."

Acidwire nodded silently, as if he somehow understood what she was talking about, or maybe he just didn't want to encourage any more talk on her part. In any case, seeing she was finished, he placed the change of clothes beside her on the sofa, then wheeled the cart with the empty tray out, closing the door behind him.

Hours kept passing. As Orihime did some meditation and the most basic of her training, just to make sure she would begin strengthening again. Then she took a long shower and prepared to attend the evening meeting.

Once again, there seemed to be nothing new, which for some reason seemed to make things more complicated than if there had actually been something to report. Aizen apparently didn't like how calm everything was, kept claiming it just wasn't logical for the Nakama not to have attempted another rescue already, Orihime just hoped it meant they trusted her, that they were giving her the time she needed to do what she wished; she also hoped their faith wasn't in vain. Too much depended on it…

Then, after the very long and extremely boring meeting was over, Orihime was escorted to her room by Ulquiorra, as usual, though he didn't say a word all through it.

Silently Orihime entered her room, she was already halfway through it when she became aware of the object laying right in the middle of her couch. At first look it seemed like a simple bamboo stick, long and polished; there was not enough light to see it clearly. And yet… Orihime knew exactly what it was: her flute.

She looked over her shoulder, right as the door was being closed already, one sole word leaving her lips full of heartfelt feeling:

"Thank you…"

That night, the same haunting melody from before echoed down the hallway, this time not a hum, but actual music, from a beautiful flute, and a nostalgic heart…

**xXx**

_It had been stupid, and Amekimi knew it, even as Shaolin convinced her it was the festival, that it had just been her birthday recently and the young princess deserved to treat herself and have some fun. The princess knew it was a bad idea to escape the estate and go into town, particularly without even leaving a note to Utokui and Giichi of where they were going. _

_Of course no one could have ever expected what would happen. Who could have known that among the travelers of the festival there would be a group of slavers? They had noticed Shaolin and Amekimi, even when the girls had worn old yukatas and traditional masks to cover their faces. They had taken them off-guard and forced them into an old, rundown, hidden hut. Shaolin had fought with everything she had, getting increasingly desperate, until she was on the ground, all her visible skin black and purple, her clothes torn and dirty. _

_Then Amekimi's mask had been ripped from her face. The criminals didn't know who she was, of course not, very few people knew she even existed, but still, the princess was a very beautiful young woman. At sixteen-years of age she had skin like cream and peaches, soft and smooth, without the slightest blemish, her black hair was long, straight and shiny, and her violet eyes gave her an exotic air that made her seem as almost otherworldly. _

"_Now that's an exotic one…" One of the mercenaries commented. "She will get us good money on the black market…" _

"_No…" Shaolin moaned. "Not a slave… not her…" _

_She fought to move, but it was just impossible, she was too badly hurt. _

"_You will not get away with this." Amekimi informed her captors in a strangely calm way. "My protectors will come for me." _

"_Please," The leader didn't believe him at all. "No one even knows we're here. No one even knows we exist! That's what our job is about. Accept it girl, you're lost. Soon we'll sell you and you'll spend the rest of your life as a slave… however long or short it might be will depend on you. I suggest you make yourself to the idea, it will make things easier." _

"_You will not get away with it." Amekimi informed him, still quite calm. _

_One of the criminals seemed to finally lose his patience, he backhanded the violet eyed teenager with enough force to throw her down. With her hands bound together Amekimi couldn't stop herself from falling, though she still managed to get in seiza position after some effort. _

"_Bitch!" The criminal who had hit her snarled, moving to hit her again. _

"_Stop it idiot, we won't get as good a price for her if we damage her beforehand." The leader reminded him in a forceful tone. _

_The furious criminal spat to the side, only the prospect of money stopping him. _

"_Now you have really dug your own grave." Amekimi whispered, as calm as ever. _

_Then, before any of the mercenaries could snap at her again, the doors to the small hut were broken down, as two figures stepped through, katanas already in hand. _

_The duel didn't last long, the mercenaries had no idea who they were dealing with, and not in vain Utokui and Giichi had trained to be the two strongest samurai to live. _

_The moment the criminals were dead Utokui went to break Amekimi's bonds, while Giichi rushed to the fallen half-unconscious Shaolin. He would never admit it, but the other two knew he loved Amekimi's handmaiden, had for a while, even before he'd taken her to the estate for the first time, badly injured, imploring his princess to save her. _

"_Are you alright Hidenka-sama?" Utokui inquired as he helped her up. _

"_Just fine Utokui-kun, you have nothing to worry about." Amekimi assured her with a smile. _

"_This should have never happened." Utokui reprehended himself. _

_He couldn't help it, his eyes strayed to the forming bruise on the princess's cheek. For all answer she rolled her eyes before brushing her hand over her own cheek, a golden glow forming on her fingers briefly before the bruise vanished. Then she did the same with the marks on her wrists, caused by the ropes. _

"_Thank you for coming to our aid." Amekimi said to her protector, still smiling. _

"_I should have been here sooner." Utokui stated, still angry at himself. "What's more, I should have never let you out of my sight." _

_The whole thing had been Amekimi's fault, and maybe Shaolin's, and they knew it. However, Utokui would never blame his princess, not when he saw her safety as his number one priority. He couldn't help but feel he had failed her. _

"_What happened wasn't your fault Utokui-kun, even if it had been worse, it could never be." The princess tried to convince him, even knowing it was useless. _

"_I have failed you, Hidenka-sama, but I won't do so again." He swore formally. _

_The girl sighed and nodded, knowing there was no way to convince him of the opposite. The best she could do in that moment was accept his unneeded apology and move on. Maybe one day she would be able to help him change…though it wasn't likely, his father, Kyoshi, had been exactly the same when it came to her father… _

"_I know, I believe in you, my protector…" Amekimi tried to transmit all her faith in him in her posture and smile. _

"_I am loyal only to you, Hidenka-sama, now and forever." He swore strongly. _

_Loyalty, it was the only thing that seemed to bring true passion to Utokui, his duty to her; if only he could see she wanted him as more than just a protector. _

"_Hime-chan!" Giichi's voice broke her thoughts abruptly. "Shaolin needs your help, please!" _

_It was almost funny, how proud Giichi could be, and yet when it came to Shaolin there was nothing he wasn't willing to do or say to make sure she would be alright… and he thought he could hide how much he cared for her. _

_With a sigh, Amekimi dropped to her knees besides her badly hurt handmaiden and began working on healing her right away. Then as she half-noticed the looks the two lovers directed at each other, she couldn't help at certain someone looked at her that way, even though she knew it was next to impossible that such a thing would ever come to be. _

**xXx**

A week passed. Orihime wasn't really expecting anything to happen during that Wednesday's training session; seeing as nothing had happened on Saturday (she'd made sure to stay well out of it, just sitting by Aileen and chatting in low voices while the rest did their thing, not even rising to Zatara's jibes and barbs). She'd fought to make a point, that was all. She probably should have known that Aizen wouldn't allow it to end there, that he would take any possible opportunity to bind her as tightly as he could to him, and to the Arrancars. Coyote and Lilynette had just finished their spar when Gin arrived unexpectedly.

"Hello, hello!" He exclaimed in what Orihime was sure had to be the creepiest tone of voice she'd ever heard. "Ready, little lady?"

There was no way for anyone to misunderstand who he was addressing exactly, as he was staring straight at Orihime.

"Wha…?" The auburn haired girl was sure no voice actually left her throat, she was too shocked.

"Aizen-taichou said that since ya decided ta join our 'family' you might need a training partner, and I, being the kind man that ah am, offered ma'self!" Gin announced, too big smile so full of teeth it didn't look fully natural.

Orihime cocked her head to a side, because while every word and move from Gin seemed to have been carefully planned to show him as threatening as possible, the light in his half-closed eyes told a different story entirely. Orihime would probably never understand what pushed her into nodding and standing without a single complaint, but then again, she was used to following her instincts, so that's exactly what she did.

"Hand to hand, or something more?" Gin inquired.

For all answer Orihime raised a hand to one side of her head, mentally calling to Tsubaki, on the Nibankyuu level. There was a flash of orange light and a thrilled cackle of laughter Orihime was sure only she could hear before a small blade, size and shape similar to a kodachi or a tanto, took shape in her hand.

"Oh!" Gin sounded incredibly excited. "Very well, little miss, I suppose I shall use my own blade as well then."

Orihime decided in a split second that the time to hide was past. If she wanted not just to survive, but to have even the slightest hope to achieve her objective, then she would have to show them not just that she could fight, but that she was strong. So with that in mind, Orihime gave several steps back, before dropping into a stance, left leg with her knee bent in front of her, the right one extended behind her and pointing behind her, ready to either raise it in a kick or pivot on it as necessary; left arm curled in front of her in a defensive position, the right one extended to the side, kodachi held tightly and pointing outwards. It wasn't a most common stance, but then again, it wasn't like anyone would know… or so she thought.

For several seconds no one moved. Aside from some barbed comments from a couple of adjuchas who hadn't been around the day she defeated Zatara no one spoke, even the 9th Espada said nothing at all. Mostly she would guess there was a sense of curiosity. The Espada knew she could fight hand to hand, and they knew about her powers, they probably wondered if she had any skill with a blade as well.

In the end, things didn't go quite as Orihime had been expecting. While she hadn't practiced her kendo skills as much as her hand to hand, and she was expecting not to do well against someone like Ichimaru… it went better than she could have ever expected. He was holding back of course, and made no secret of it; and yet she couldn't help but wonder why he was holding back exactly. From the moment Gin had made his announcement Orihime had been bracing herself for a hell of a fight, for wounds that would be not just physical, but mental and psychological. Rukia, and all their friends in the Gotei 13 had shared as much as they could about all three traitor captains when it became evident that the Nakama would be facing them sooner or later. Wanting the humans to be prepared when the time came.

Orihime remembered all the warnings they had been given. About Aizen's charm, the way he could appear perfectly genial, almost like a gentleman of times gone by; but it was all just a facade. He didn't see people as people, just as pieces in a board-game, pieces he would use and discard at will. He cared for nothing except power, and for no one at all, one just had to see Lt. Hinamori to realize that. Tousen was extremely stubborn and self-righteous, the kind of man who believed that things must be 'his way or the highway' as an old friend of hers would say. He refused to believe he was wrong… and while no one was sure if he really couldn't see how insane Aizen was, or he just refused to back down from his own choices, it didn't change the fact that he'd thrown his lot in with Aizen, and that was that.

Ichimaru on the other hand… everyone had agreed he was more than a little creepy, extremely so in fact. One of the biggest geniuses to have gone through the Shino Academy in the last millennia (the other two being Shiba Kaien and Hitsugaya Toushirou). According to Shinji, who'd been both their captain about a century earlier or so, Gin had always followed Aizen around, almost like a puppy ('Or more like an attack dog… a rabid dog...' Hiyori had corrected darkly). In fact, no one but Matsumoto Rangiku had a single kind word to say about the man. She… it was obvious she loved Ichimaru, Orihime was sure no one could possibly miss that but… there was also something odd, in the way she spoke about him. Like she still had hope… for what exactly Orihime hadn't the slightest idea. Did she really think that Ichimaru would return to her one day? That he would leave Aizen's side and return to theirs and everything would be just fine? Wasn't it insane to believe something like that was possible? Then again, if that was the case, Rangiku wouldn't be the first to believe in impossible things, would she? It was the whole reason Orihime had made the choices she had thus far…

In any case, Ichimaru was holding back while sparring with her. While he'd fought, had even managed to cut her twice and bruise her a bit, there had been no barbs, no insults, not even half-veiled threats. He'd barely spoken at all! Aside from mentioning that he was, in fact, holding back, how strange her stances were, and how delighted 'Aizen-sama' would be that such a talented fighter had chosen to join them (always emphasizing that it was her choice… yet at the same time with a hint of something Orihime couldn't name, like the word didn't mean the same to him like it did to almost anyone else). As for the cuts themselves, the one in her arm had been long and it had bled considerably, though nothing she couldn't heal in seconds with little more than a thought. The one on her side though… he'd made a huge production of stabbing her, had even made Aileen half yell from her spot in the bleachers, and while Orihime had hurried to heal it fast as well, truth was that the blade had barely even touched her, mostly slipping between her tight top and the jacket she hadn't actually taken off this time. It had been fortunate and almost… convenient. It made the teen-aged human wonder…

"You're a bright star Inoue-chan!" Gin announced in the end. "A bright star indeed…"

Orihime's eyes narrowed, wondering if there might be anything behind Ichimaru's choice of words. He couldn't know about her past lives, she was quite confident about that, and yet he didn't seem like the kind of man not to choose his every word with care, so what might make him choose to call her a star of all things?

**xXx**

"_Ame-kimi… Rain Empress… that is my name, that is who I am. I am the rain… I always thought it to be a beautiful thing, the rain was so beautiful, crystal-clear and almost magical, drops flying across the air, acting as a bridge between the Sky and the Earth… doing the impossible, and binding the two together. I wanted to be like the rain and be able to bind forces, bind hearts together. But if I am, indeed, the rain, going through the world, through life, binding other hearts, who is there for me?" _

_It had all finally come to a head, like they always knew it would. While all the spies they might once have had at court had long since died they still heard the news. Also, the recent wars weren't exactly a secret. While King Arashikensei had been a strong, capable man whom his enemies feared and his allies honored and respected; his sons had proven to be far from capable of either. Too hot-headed and with very little of a strategic mind; they spent many years waging war, thirsty for glory and conquest, all they had brought upon themselves and their people was death, famish, sickness… And then they died. The Court wouldn't accept the second wife's only son in power as it was an open secret that the boy wasn't Arashikensei's blood. _

_That last part was what caused the most recent chaos. With Arashikensei's blooded sons dead, and the remaining 'prince' wanting so much the throne yet not having any support for it, things had gotten even worse than before. There was no ruler to guide the armies, no banner for any of them to rally behind. Amekimi was almost sure she'd been forgotten entirely, been rendered little more than a fairy-tale. Even her father's old wives weren't looking for her anymore, probably deciding it was pointless. _

_And the war had finally reached them. The little palace on the mountains, where Amekimi had spent most of her life… she had been there so long some days she could hardly remember ever being anywhere else. She had managed to convince Utokui and Giichi to open the Estate to the townspeople so they might take refuge behind their stonewalls. They'd agreed, as long as the princess's rooms remained sealed. She and Shaolin only leaving them through secret passages and under disguises when Amekimi was needed to heal someone. But they wouldn't remain safe forever, not with the enemies marching upon their gates… _

"_Let them come!" Giichi snarled, recklessness in his voice. "We will kill them all!" _

"_We should run." Shaolin deadpanned. "What's the point of fighting a battle we already know we will lose? And don't be stupid Giichi, you know deep down this isn't a battle we can win. Not with just the four of us. We might have the better position, but we have no army. The people out there, they're no soldiers, they're civilians, frightened, hungry civilians who will be cannon fodder at best and liabilities at worst if we end up having to fight." _

_Amekimi cringed, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she heard that. No one could be as blunt as Shaolin, but they knew she was right. Giichi grind his teeth. He hated the thought of running away… but he loved Shaolin, no one doubted that, or that he would do anything for her. _

"_You should run." Utokui stated, voice as even and emotionless as ever. "Hidenka-sama, you and Shaolin-san should take off an hour before dawn, when it's darkest. We can expect the attack to come at first light, Giichi and I will ensure that you're not followed." _

"_What…? No!" Amekimi shook her head repeatedly. "Nonononono… I won't leave you!" _

"_I was given a duty, when Otou-sama left for the last time." Utokui stated, a hint of… something, in his words. "I was told to protect Hidenka-sama, from all that may wish her harm. To guard her to my last breath. That is what I will do." _

"_And what do you think will happen when you die, genius?!" Shaolin snapped. "Who do you think will protect her then?!" _

_She was all for running, but for all of them running. Not just Amekimi and her. Shaolin wasn't stupid, she knew that the princess loved Utokui. Though in that same note, the Chinese woman wasn't sure if the Samurai was indifferent to the young princess, or he was just afraid… she would bet on it being the second, except for how the man was just so good at apparently not feeling, anything, ever. It made her feel much better that she was in love with Giichi. As insane as the other man might be, Shaolin had never doubted his love for her. _

"_So… what are we going to do then?" Giichi broke the long silence eventually. _

**xXx**

"High in the halls of the kings who are gone

Jenny would dance with her ghosts

The ones she had lost and the ones she had found

And the ones who had loved her the most"

"The ones who'd been gone for so very long

She couldn't remember their names

They spun her around on the old damp stone

Spun away all her sorrow and pain"

"She never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave

Never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave"

Orihime spent the Sunday with Coyote, Lilynette and Aileen again… or at least what she assumed to be Sunday. It was hard to keep track of the time when there were no stars and no sun in Hueco Mundo, just a moon in the otherwise empty sky. Also, time didn't seem to have much meaning for most of the hollows, though Aizen and the other two traitorous shinigami seemed to be making an effort on keeping sense of the passing of time at least.

That day seemed to be special though. Lilynette had shown an interest at crossing blades with Orihime, wanting something different than the training she always got with Coyote. The big surprise came when Aileen unexpectedly began singing halfway through the spar. Orihime was taken so much by surprise she missed a parry, ending with a small gash on her shoulder. She healed it immediately, even as Lilynette went into a rant for not protecting herself better, the green-haired Espada couldn't have known how rattled the auburn-haired human was by the words Aileen was singing in a low, haunting voice. The images the lyrics of her song conjured for her…

"They danced through the day

And into the night through the snow that swept through the hall

From winter to summer to winter again

'Til the walls did crumble and fall"

"She never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave

She never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave

She never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave

Never wanted to leave, never wanted to leave"

In the end Orihime left a bit earlier than usual, giving feeble excuses before taking off. Lilynette grumbled under her breath. She had been having fun! Why did Orihime have to leave when she was having fun? And yet, while she had no doubt that Aileen's song was somehow connected to it, she wouldn't begrudge the redhead for it, not when she hadn't really sung in such a long time, decades really. Coyote so loved to hear her sing, and of course, that meant that so did Lilynette…

"High in the halls of the kings who are gone

Jenny would dance with her ghosts

The ones she had lost and the ones she had found

And the ones who had loved her… the most"

The song came to an end, Aileen whispering the last words so quietly the Arrancar could barely hear her, even with their enhanced senses and yet… somehow that seemed to give a greater intensity to them, and to the song as a whole. There was so much feeling to it all…

"That was some song, bonita…" Coyote murmured quietly, eyes only half-open as he stared at her without moving from his position, carelessly laying on the floor in a corner of the room.

"You could say I was… inspired…" Aileen murmured.

Through it all she'd never moved from her position, sitting on the other side of the room from Coyote, right underneath the room's only window. That made Coyote react, at least enough for him to open both his eyes.

"Orihime… her soul is old, so very old, and the burdens it carries are so heavy…" Aileen murmured, infinite sadness in her every word.

"What do you see?" Lilynette asked in a whisper, as if a part of her believed that speaking any louder would break some sort of spell that ought not be broken.

"Rain… Fire… Tears… Blood… a Heart Lost…"

"Sounds like the little señorita's story didn't have a happy ending…" Coyote murmured quietly, almost sadly, as he laid his head back down.

He knew all too well, all about stories without happy endings.

"That's just the thing..." Aileen's response seemed to take all of them, herself included, totally by surprise: "The story's not over yet…"

**xXx**

That afternoon Nel was more restless than usual, which prompted Orihime to get on with the story earlier than usual too. They were fast approaching the end, she knew, and what an end!

"The attack came earlier than they were expecting, and in ways none of them could have conceived of…" Orihime said softly, running a hand down Nel's green hair even as she told the story. "The outlaws attacking… they had no interest in conquest, all they wanted was to destroy. So they started a fire with everyone inside. And just like that, what was supposed to be a refuge, what had been a home for over a decade… became a blazing inferno, a tomb…"

"They died…?" Nel sniffed.

"No…" Orihime murmured quietly. "It was a close thing though. They had to split when a piece of burning timber blocked their way out before they could all get through. They agreed to meet by the sakura tree on the one hill that overlooked the castle. So Amekimi headed there. She was so afraid, for her people, but especially for her friends. And then eventually Giichi and Shaolin arrived, he'd gone to find his lover first, fought many of the outlaws to get to her, and to get the both of them out. The three spent the early hours before dawn by that tree, even when it began raining they wouldn't move, as they kept waiting for Utokui, refusing to leave without him. Giichi was even all for going back to get him, but Shaolin would not let him, too terrified of losing him if he returned to the horrible inferno that had become their once home. Amekimi, she only stood there, in the rain, praying." She closed her eyes, focused on something only she could see. "The sun was rising, its light being noticed even through the clouds and the rain, when he finally emerged. His clothes were dark with soot and a bit singed, and his once long hair was quite short, showing that things must have been quite dangerous, but he was there. They were all there. Amekimi threw herself at him the moment he was close enough and Utokui just held her. It was over, it was done, they were free…"

Nel giggled quietly, already more asleep than awake. Orihime just watched her, the smile on her face warring with the infinite sadness in her shadowed violet-gray eyes.

"Hey little princess." A voice called abruptly.

Orihime spun around, her hands instinctively going for her pins. Grimmjow didn't miss the way the protective shield materialized behind her instead of in front, while the blade she used to spar against Ichimaru was in her hand almost at the same time. It seemed like the little princess was becoming more and more a warrior every day… Grimmjow wasn't sure if he liked that or not… he wasn't even sure why he should have an opinion about it at all!

"Come on, time to go." Grimmjow ordered, even as he turned to leave the room.

"Go…?" Orihime asked, confused, even as she dismissed her Shun Shun Rikka and began following the blue-haired Arrancar. "Go where?"

"Outside." Grimmjow answered. "You've been authorized to spend an hour outside Las Noches every evening from today on."

"Oh…" Orihime had no idea what to say to that. "Why?"

"Is that not what you wanted?" He half-demanded as he turned to look at her over his shoulder.

"Well yes, but I don't understand…" She began, trailing off when she failed to find the right words to finish what she had in mind.

"Ulquiorra talked to Aizen about it." Grimmjow answered the unasked question.

Orihime actually stopped walking completely at that. Just a couple of steps away from the little door-of-sorts Grimmjow seemed to have opened, though she had no idea how, or how he even knew it was there, as to her the wall had looked perfectly plain. Still, her shock was great enough she wasn't even paying that much attention to that detail.

"Let me guess, you fought with the emo-bastard again." The blue-haired arrancar wasn't even surprised by that.

"He just… he drives me crazy!" Orihime blurted out.

"Doesn't he everyone?" Grimmjow deadpanned. "Come on, time's a'wasting princess!"

Orihime nodded as she stepped outside of the huge fortress. She could feel the difference the moment she set foot on the white sands, could feel the reishi-rich environment. While in the days since her fight with Zatara she'd recovered well enough that no one would be able to tell any different, Orihime knew she was at her 100%… or she hadn't been. Just a few minutes outside of the fortress and she could feel her reiatsu levels rising faster than before. Not full, not yet, but if what Grimmjow had said about her being allowed to take a stroll out every evening was true… She said nothing for a while, just walking around, enjoying her small degree of freedom. She knew better than to try anything of course, and it wasn't the right time yet… As she turned to look upwards she could see the dark sky, empty but for the moon high above. She couldn't help but think she must be lonely…

"What was the fight about this time?" The arrancar asked her after about half an hour or so. "The fight with emospada, what was it about?"

Orihime just couldn't help the tiny giggle at Grimmjow's newest nickname for Ulquiorra, but then she took a deep breath and focused on finding the best way to answer him:

"I just… no matter how hard I try I just cannot understand why he would follow Aizen." She finally admitted in a low, heartfelt voice. "All that loyalty and devotion to someone who really doesn't deserve it…"

"Did you ask him?" He asked her. "What did he say?"

"That he was meant to serve. But even then! There are other options…"

"Like what?" Grimmjow shook his head, not actually giving her a time to respond before going on with his speech. "The thing you do not seem to realize, little princess. Is that we, all of us, owe everything we are, to Aizen."

"What…?"

"It's not easy, being a hollow. It's a constant battle for your own existence. It's kill or be killed. All day, every day. Not many can do it for long, and when their strength and conviction fails them, they're devoured. Being a Menos isn't much better. See, the higher you get in the chain, the worse the hunger gets. Adjuchas is the hardest rank of all, because you're always on the edge of reverting, of losing what little control and rationale you've gained. The hunger seemingly never abating."

"What does Aizen have to do with any of that?"

"It was Aizen who made us what we are now. With that jewel of his. He gave us this power, made us Arrancar. In this form we have better rationale, our minds control our instincts, and our hunger isn't quite so unending. We are not fighting all the time not to lose ourselves. We can do more than just fight and eat. I may not like Aizen, may not like following him, but I will, for now, because I owe him this existence. It's the same for all of us."

Orihime was so very quiet, like never before. What Grimmjow had just said… she'd never think of things like that. That there might be a reason, beyond power or Aizen's 'charm'. She'd thought it to be simple but it wasn't, not at all. It made her despair, she wanted so much to change things, but just had no idea how…

"So, how does the story really end?" Grimmjow's question took the girl completely by surprise.

"Huh?" Orihime blinked, not quite following.

"The story you were telling Nel." Grimmjow clarified. "I know you were lying when you told her that ending. So tell me, how does it really end?"

"Who says I was lying?"

"I know." There was a guarded look in his eyes, like he didn't want to explain his motives for some unknown reason.

For the longest time none of them said a thing, just stood there, on the white sands, with the dark sky and the lonely moon above them. Until it was eventually Orihime who broke the silence:

"They all died." Orihime answered after what seemed like forever. "The passage they tried to take to get out was on fire, and a piece of timber fell, forcing them to split. The girls managed to follow that passage to the end, but once outside… there were too many outlaws. So Shaolin told Amekimi to hide while she distracted them and then go to their meeting point. She was supposed to join her… but she never did. When Giichi got there Amekimi told him what had happened and he went to find his lover. Neither of them made it back. Time passed and there was no sign of Utokui, so Amekimi eventually broke, she returned to the palace. She knew it was insane, knew she was going to die, but she was probably going to die anyway! She made it back inside the palace, everything was on fire, the smoke so thick it was almost impossible to breathe… there were people screaming all around, crying, dying… and then she heard him calling to her…"

"_Hime!" _

_There was fire, so much fire and smoke making her eyes water and her throat and lungs hurt. Amekimi knew, from the moment she stepped into the ruins of her once home that she wouldn't be making it back out alive but she just didn't care. What was she supposed to live for anyway? She was alone! All alone! Even when she'd lost her Father, and the life she'd known, even when she'd lost Kyoshi, she'd always had Utokui, and later on Giichi and Shaolin. But the latter two were gone, dead, she knew it with the same certainty that she knew her own death was inevitable. But she just couldn't go, not without Utokui, he was all she had left… _

"_HIME!" _

_She kept following his voice, but it was hard, the fire and smoke made it even impossible for her to see, and the debris and chaos made it so she wasn't sure where she was even going most of the time. Halls and rooms were mostly destroyed, dead bodies all around, and no matter where the young princess turned, she couldn't keep from seeing them. Her people, dead everywhere… Were they even her people? She hadn't been much of a princess, even a princess in exile, for a long while? Should she even consider herself a princess at all anymore? _

_When she stopped hearing his voice call for her, the tears finally brimmed over and began falling like rain down her face. She kept crying as she stumbled through ruined halls, still searching for him, when she found his bloodied form, one of many bodies abandoned in the blazing remains. She never stopped crying, not even when death finally claimed her… _

"He died, and so did she." Orihime finished simply, doing her best to hold back the rears already clogging her throat and gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"And then?" Grimmjow prodded. "What?"

"What do you mean then what?" Orihime demanded, voice wobbly.

"Come on princess, you and I both know death isn't the end."

"Sometimes it is."

"It is not. Tell me what happened!"

"Why do you want to know so badly?!"

"Because I want to understand! I need to understand! To know why I keep seeing these things!"

"Things…" Orihime's eyes went wide in shock.

"Emospada, except he's not quite as apathetic as he's now. In robes and with a sword… and he's ordering me around! And I follow! There's this gorgeous girl with long midnight hair in a yellow kimono, and the way she'd look at me…" His eyes went distant for a moment, before he focused completely on Orihime again. "And you! I remember you hime-chan, in an elaborate pale pink kimono, your hair long and dark like the night, and your eyes, so much like yours now…"

"Giichi…" Orihime blurted out in a mix of excitement and horror.

"So tell me! Tell me what happened!"

"You left me!" Orihime shrieked, her voice sharp like a blade, breaking the stillness of the night. "You went and fought a losing battle and then you died and you never came to find me! I waited there, for years, I hid and waited, but you never came! You left me all alone!"

The reincarnated princess's voice finally broke as she burst into tears, dropping to her knees in the sand, her body folding upon itself, the grief taking her over.

Grimmjow just stared at her for what seemed like forever, unsure whether he should approach her or just let her cry. And then they were interrupted, by none other than Ulquiorra, who looked at each of them in turn, a mask of apathy on his face.

"Onna…" He said finally. "Come. Aizen-sama wishes to see you."

Orihime raised her head silently to look at him, infinite sadness in her starlight eyes. Grimmjow looked at her, wondering if he should do or say something, which she noticed. But in the end all she did was shake her head slightly at him, then she rose to her feet, blinked away her tears like she had so many times before, dried her cheeks with the back of her sleeves and quietly followed Ulquiorra back into the white fortress.

Grimmjow just stood there, in the sands, face to the empty sky, wondering what the hell he was going to do now. One thing was for sure though, he knew who he owed his loyalty to, and it wasn't Aizen…

* * *

So... crazy much? I'm always asking that... I totally loved this chapter, hope you did too. Did any of you see this twist coming? Can you imagine what else is coming? I would really like to hear from you on this.

The song! The song is Karliene's cover of "Jenny of Oldstones", originally sung by Florence + the Machine. I totally love that song, have since I heard the a'capella version sung in the tv show. And it fits so well with some of the backstories taking place right now... You've seen some of it now, and will see more later. And that's what I imagine Aileen's voice sounding like.

And that's that for now. See ya next week!


	39. Bonds of Blood, Spirit and Choice

Hello! Welcome back! It's time to take a bit of a step back, leave Orihime in her forced vacation in Hueco Mundo and have a look at what's going on with the rest of the Nakama in the meantime. Also, a fair bit of world-building in this chapter.

This was the first full-chapter I wrote after returning to this fic, having made the decision to continue and finish it. I'm mentioning that (again) because it explains a bit why I chose to reveal so much in this particular chapter. See, when I first began writing Nakama, we were barely at the Hueco Mundo Arc in canon, and I had ideas, lots and lots of ideas. As canon moved forward I did my best to add the new things into it, not all, but most, especially the actual canon (the manga) and the filler-ups that I either really liked, or that I found fit best with what I was already doing. This held true even when the Thousand Year War Arc began. I had plans for that, so many plans. A whole sub-plotline involving Uryuu, and Keeva, and to a lesser degree several of the other OCs. A lot about the Réalta and their relevance in this 'verse would have been explained there. Then we got to a certain part in canon (or rather two) where the idea became untenable. I'd to either divorce myself from canon, or rewrite the entire story, considering just how much I'd already written, the last one really wasn't an option. In any case, that was pretty much why I ended putting the fic on hold for so long. Couldn't make up my mind what to do, and then the manga began getting so strange, my muse refused to cooperate. The finale really didn't help on that front either...

Then, I got into Bleach again, went through all my favorite fics, and decided it was time to dust this up and finish it. I decided that TYW Arc just had to go. I never read it fully (only the start, really, and a few chapters here and there), and a lot of it I found very confusing. So I decided that whatever canon came up there, doesn't exist as far as Nakama is concerned. Hence all the notes I wrote at the very beginning, about Masaki not being Quincy, about Ichigo not being part Quincy, Zangetsu-Ossan being a zanpakutou, Shiro an Inner hollow (with all the details and implications that have been revealed since), etc. In some things I do regret it, because I liked the story I'd planned for Uryuu, and for Keeva, but it just wasn't possible.

If anyone would like to know more abut the stories that didn't make the cut, let me know and I'll share (if anyone would like to use them you'll get my blessings, with the proviso that you tell me so I can go read them).

A certain filler is mentioned here, I won't go into it for reasons I explain in the End Notes, hope you don't mind it much. Also, a certain group of individuals finally make their debut in this chapter, at least one person had asked after them, here you go my friend! It's probably not what you were expecting, but I hope you'll enjoy anyway!

And on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 39. Bonds of Blood, Spirit and Choice. **

In the training area underneath Kisuke's candy store, constant bangs and clashes could be heard as the Nakama continued their intensive training. Every day that passed was one more day that Orihime spent in Hueco Mundo, and they all hated being unable to do anything. One of their teachers, Ms. Sakurada, had reported her missing after a week and while some questions had been asked, informally, the authorities weren't really doing much. Orihime was after all eighteen, had been living on her own since the death of her older brother. The authorities had chalked it as a runaway-case and were doing nothing about it, and while Sakurada refused to believe it was something like that, the fact that no one was saying otherwise, meant her hands were tied.

The Nakama hated having to pretend not to know what was going on, pretend like Orihime really was capable of running away without saying a thing to any of them, giving up on everything she had and everyone she knew. But they knew it was how it had to be. There was no way to explain to the humans what was really going on, so they pretended, and continued training.

The only one who was having any real trouble with training was Yuzu. While she had a mastery of kidou few were capable of (many in Seireitei had taken to comparing her to some legendary Kidou Mistress known only as the Ave Blanca), that was as far as she went in the shinigami arts. No matter how hard she tried, how much she meditated, Yuzu had no zanpakutou.

"What about your kaa-san?" Uryuu asked unexpectedly.

As was routine, once evening came and the training ended, the Nakama came together to drink tea and talk about how it had gone for them during the day. Giving each other recommendations to improve and motivations to keep getting better.

"What about her?" Ichigo asked, eyes wide.

It was so rare for anyone to bring Masaki up at any point other than during their yearly visit to the cemetery. Much like they rarely mentioned any of their dead relatives. Knowing Uryuu as Ichigo did, he knew there had to be a reason to bring him up.

"She had some spiritual power." Uryuu half-stated, half-asked.

"We suppose so." Karin shrugged. "I remember she was never surprised or disbelieving about Ichigo's ability to see spirits."

"I think she could see them too…" Ichigo murmured quietly. "She never said it, not directly, but there was something about the way she acted sometimes… and that night she knew…"

"She could see them, Masaki knew all about the spiritual plane." A voice announced.

"Oyaji!" Ichigo and Karin yelled at the same time, anger underlying their surprise.

"For so many years I've been waiting… hoping and dreading when this day might come." Isshin stated, the solemn expression looking foreign on his face. "When you might ask about Masaki's past… about how she connected with me. With all of us." He exhaled. "You know already that my name used to be Nagaken Isshin, I took Masaki's name when she married. She was born Kurosaki Masaki, her father was a doctor, in the Kurosaki Clinic, the very same we live in now. Her mother, I never met her, but I know she was a Wakana."

"A Wakana?" Rukia asked, not understanding what that was supposed to mean.

"It means she belonged to a miko lineage." Uryuu whispered quietly.

"Kaa-san was a miko?!" The twins cried out in shock.

"No, she wasn't."

"Shishou!" All eyes turned to Ryuuken as he entered, no one was expecting him.

"Isshin informed me that you would be talking about Masaki, and I thought I should be here." Ryuuken explained. "Our stories are very intricately connected after all."

"Your stories?" Ichigo's eyes narrowed.

"Isshin's, Masaki's, Kanae's, and my own." Ryuuken clarified.

"Okaa-san…" Uryuu exhaled, recognizing her mother's name.

"Maybe you should be the one to speak first." Isshin offered. "You knew Masaki much longer than I did, after all."

"What…?" His children really weren't expecting that.

Through it all Homura and Shizuku had remained quiet, saying not a single word. They knew that the conversation was incredibly serious, even if they didn't fully understand what was going on. They knew that Kurosaki Masaki was essentially their grandmother, though she'd died when their dad was still a child. It made them feel bad about Ichigo, especially Homura, much as she might still have her doubts about Ichigo, she knew all too well the pain of losing your family; she had seen the pictures of the Kurosaki family back when there had been four of them and she had trouble connecting that smiling, joyful orange-haired child with the serious, strong young man who'd essentially become her adopted father.

"Masaki was the last descendant of the ancient miko clan." Ryuuken explained. "The very same that once guarded Japan from evil spirits. Her mother was Wakana Shizuka and she died giving birth to Masaki. It's not easy, for spiritually powerful individuals to beget children. It's what made arranged marriages so common. As a way to ensure that the two matched would be compatible and capable of producing children together. My father, Souken, had an arranged marriage, as did his father, and all other Ishidas… except for myself." He shook his head, clearly not wanting to focus on that. "Shizuka had no active power, so no marriage was arranged for her. She married a man of her choice. The true surprise came when Masaki was born… her reiatsu was so pure, like that of the mikos of old. The problem? There was no one to train her on how to be a miko exactly. Even then, from the moment of her birth, all spiritually aware individuals knew of her. My father got ahead, talked to her father. He had no knowledge of the spiritual world, but even then, Souken knew how to get things done. He gave Dr. Kurosaki the money he needed to get his dream-clinic started and the betrothal was arranged."

Ichigo's mouth dropped open in horror. His grandfather had taken money from Ishida Souken… had essentially sold his own daughter for the money to start the clinic?!

"It wasn't as horrible as you probably are imagining." Ryuuken tried to reassure them all. "It was all we knew. Our way of life."

"But you didn't marry her." Yuzu murmured, as if she were trying very hard to understand.

"No, I didn't." Ryuuken shook his head. "Truth is, Masaki and I were never in love with each other. We were going to marry because it's what was expected of us. I was… in love with someone else, though only Masaki knew. The daughter of father's secretary: Katagiri-san, her name was Kanae. She was so incredibly beautiful… with long hair of a black so dark it looked almost blue under a certain light… just like yours Uryuu…"

Uryuu opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly not knowing what to say. His father never spoke of his mother, never. Not since her death, back when he was still a child. It was an unvoiced rule of the Ishida home that the name of Kanae was never spoken; some days it was almost like she'd never existed… even when the relationship between the two men had improved greatly, thanks to Ichigo's intervention, they still never spoke of Kanae. Mainly because Uryuu was too afraid of doing or saying something that might ruin their relationship. And yet…

"Kanae wasn't a good match for me, because she had very little spiritual power." Ryuuken explained. "I knew I couldn't pursue her. So I held onto my betrothal to Masaki… at least until a certain shinigami came to Karakura and made a mess of all our lives."

There was a hint of something that none of the teenagers could quite name, though it seemed to take the bite out of Ryuuken's words. Ishinn smiled hugely as he finally came into the story:

"I came to be in the human world 35, almost 36 years ago now." Isshin explained. "Back then, as you know, I was Nagaken Isshin, 10th Squad Taichou and Head of the Nagaken Clan. The 12th Division had detected a particularly strong hollow, whom we suspected might be a Hamen, or at the very least a very powerful Menos, around Karakura. Several shinigami had been sent and all but one of them died. So they decided someone more powerful was required. I… well, I was bored, to tell you the truth, so I volunteered for the mission. I thought it would be a lot more interesting than the mountain of paperwork waiting for me in my office."

There were several snickers at that, but no one really interrupted. Isshin smiled gaily and continued with his tale:

"I was so sure of my own power, and why shouldn't I be? I was a Noble, the head of the most powerful Clan in Seireitei, a Shinigami Captain for almost a century, had even fought Menos before. What had I to fear? I was too cocky, got careless, and the hollow almost killed me. Oh I defeated him, of course, but it left me so badly hurt that I could have died if she hadn't arrived when she did…"

"She…? Mom…" The siblings realized in awe.

"She was about your age at the time." He signaled at the twins. "As gentle as Yuzu, as headstrong as Karin, and as brave as Ichigo… all three of you are certainly the very best of Masaki… she found me and healed me just enough to ensure I'd survive the trip to the Kurosaki clinic."

"She healed you…?" They couldn't believe it.

"It was mostly human first-aid." Isshin shrugged carelessly. "But her will was such that she put a bit of her own reiatsu into everything she did, promoting healing. Then she helped me get into an emergency gigai before half-carrying, half-dragging me to the clinic. She convinced her dad to treat me even though neither of them had the slightest idea of who I was. Your grandfather was such a kind man… I wish you'd gotten the chance to know him. But he had a terrible cold some years later, which turned into pneumonia, Masaki did her very best to help him but in the end there was nothing that could be done." He shook his head. "I didn't realize how bad things really were until a few days later. When I left the clinic, intending to return to Soul Society right away, only to feel a terrible, almost crippling pain the moment I tried to leave the gigai." He exhaled. "Turned out that the hollow had managed to poison me, my spirit was… fractured, for lack of a better word. The gigai was, you could say, all that was keeping me together in that moment. So I went looking for Kisuke. I knew about him of course, all of us who were captains at the time that mess took place knew about Urahara Kisuke. He confirmed what I suspected already about the state of my spirit, and the fact that I was essentially powerless and would be until my spirit fully healed… if it ever did. Then he whipped up a better gigai for me, one for long-term use and got me papers so I could begin a life as a human."

"Over the course of the next decade I went to college, became a paramedic and began working as one." Isshin continued. "I met Masaki again during my last year in college, her first. We became friends. She told me all about the Ishidas. About the old man who'd arranged for her to marry his son, and in exchange had invested money in her dad's clinic, and was paying for her education. How she cared deeply for Ryuuken but didn't want to marry him because she thought he should be with the person he loved and who loved him…"

"Masaki was always such a romantic." Ryuuken snorted quietly.

No one dared mention the dampness on the edge of his eyes. Truth was that none of the Nakama had ever seen their shishou like that, and the last thing they wanted was to make him feel bad about it. Also, they wanted to know more…

"Kurosaki-san was old already, he couldn't keep the clinic all by himself, so I offered to enter into a partnership with him." Isshin continued. "And while it began as a partnership, truth was that I handled most things. Not a hard thing to do, considering it was just a small clinic, meant for emergencies and minor things. By that point there were many people who preferred to go to actual hospitals for most things. But still, we managed."

Isshin made a pause, turning to look at Ryuuken, as if not quite sure which of them should handle the next part. In the end Ryuuken took over.

"My father got the shock of his life when Masaki approached him one day and handed him a check." Ryuuken was almost smirking even as he said it. "It had all the money he'd invested both in her and in the clinic, and a decent interest. Every single yen. My father was struck speechless. Especially when she informed him quite calmly that she was breaking off the betrothal. Then she approached me. I had rushed out of my room when hearing my father's exclamation, he'd never sounded like that… I'll never forget what she told me that day:"

"_I know it's hard to be brave. That it's scary to go after one's True Heart's Desire… but I'm doing it. I'm being brave. And I know you can do it too. You love her and she loves you, and you both deserve to be happy Ryuu…" _

Ryuuken inhaled sharply, as if fighting against the tears the memory brought him.

"Masaki told me years later that she'd gotten some money when she turned eighteen, inheritance from her mother's side of the family." Ryuuken continued. "It wasn't much, but she was a smart woman. She learned about stock trading, and she made the money grow. In ten years she had more than a hundred times the money she started with. Also, she'd been working part-time throughout high-school and college. She kept delaying the wedding, telling my father she wasn't ready yet. That she needed to finish this thing or that, in order to do right by us. He thought it was a matter of pride for her, that she needed to feel she was contributing, that she was giving something to our family, for the honor… he never understood Masaki." He looked at Uryuu. "I know you loved your grandfather Uryuu, but truth is he was too entrenched in the old ways. He never forgave Masaki for breaking the engagement. And he never forgave me for marrying your mother either."

"I… what…?" Uryuu couldn't believe what he was hearing, it sounded nothing like the Souken he knew: the kind, protective man who taught him to be strong…

"Oh he wasn't a bad man." Ryuuken reassured his son. "I think he had a very heavy burden to bear. Being the only Ishida son, his marriage was arranged, and yet she only bore one son. I think he was hoping that if I married someone with the kind of untapped power Masaki possessed, that she might be able to give me more than one child. That there might be more of us Ishidas, more Quincys, and then we wouldn't have to continue existing on the edge of extinction."

"At least your line continues to exist!" Keeva snorted, unable to help herself.

Ryuuken just nodded his head respectfully. Everyone knew her true story by then. Somehow she'd managed to convince her older sister and Serenity had attended one of the Nakama's meetings, a week after the failed rescue mission. She'd revealed everything, or at least, almost everything. The Nakama and the shinigami knew all about the Réalta, about their heritage, and the fact that their race would probably be dying with the sisters, because Serenity was dying. Her power as a Síoraí so great it was slowly killing her, she was unlikely to see her her twenty-first birthday. As for Keeva herself… Réalta Iarann were strong, incredibly so, but because of that it was very hard for them to become pregnant. Something in their genetics made it near impossible for them to conceive; because pregnancy made them vulnerable, and being vulnerable was dangerous. The only way for Keeva to have children would be for her to bind herself to someone she could trust wholly and completely, someone strong enough to guard her, and their children…

The real surprise was perhaps the fact that the revelation made the Nakama hold on tighter to each other. It had started with Shizuku, though Homura half-begrudgingly followed his lead, as they took to calling all the Nakama aunt, or uncle. It didn't matter if Keeva wasn't really related by blood to any of them, if she might never have children of her own, everyone else's would be her nieces and nephews. She liked it. For so long Serenity had been her only family, and while the older Réalta would always be her sister, she was no longer her only family. And who knew? Maybe one day she just might find the right man… It was something that Serenity had admitted, at the end of their meeting, gave her great peace:

"_If there's one thing that I've feared since my condition worsened, it's what will become of Keeva when I'm gone." She had admitted. "My sister… she hasn't had the easiest life. And I know… I haven't been the best sister, when I fully understood the consequences of the choice I made, becoming a Síoraí I… drew away from her. I hurt her, and I'm sorry. But now… knowing that even when I'm gone, she'll have all of you… it gives me peace. Because I know you all will be there for her. Will look after her, be her family… that she'll never have to be alone again."_

They were still trying to find a solution, especially Kisuke and Unohana Retsu, hoping to find a way to stop her body from essentially self-destroying. Serenity had tried to tell them it was pointless but it wouldn't make them stop trying.

"Why do you never talk about okaa-san?" Uryuu asked his dad after what seemed like forever.

"Because I've always been afraid." Ryuuken admitted after what seemed like forever. "That one day you would look at me and blame me for losing her."

"Blame you? But..." Uryuu didn't understand.

"It was my fault we lost her Uryuu." Ryuuken admitted, so very quietly. "Kanae… she wanted more children, she wanted a daughter. And to be honest, so did I. Only I knew that it was impossible. We were lucky enough to have you, the pregnancy was hard on Kanae. If it hadn't been for Masaki, and even Isshin, she might not have made it. But Kanae… she refused to give up. And then she became pregnant… It shouldn't have even been possible!" He ruined his carefully combed hair as he ran a hand through it, an obvious sign of stress, which was rare enough in him. "With every week she grew weaker, and she refused to have an abortion, even with the obvious threat to her health. And then she died… there was nothing I could do. No matter how hard I tried. She died, the unborn baby girl with her."

"I didn't know kaa-san had been pregnant…" Uryuu said, very quietly.

"We chose not to tell you." Ryuuken admitted. "Kanae because she didn't want to get your hopes up if it didn't work and I…"

"And you hoped she'd eventually allow you to do the abortion." Uryuu finished for him.

Ryuuken nodded, just once, sharply. Then he said nothing else, just sat there, waiting, like a man about to be executed.

"I don't think it's your fault tou-san…" Uryuu said in a very soft voice. "Of course I wish it hadn't happened. But more than that, I wish you'd told me. That you hadn't had to carry this burden alone."

Ryuuken's eyes went wide. From all the responses he might have expected from his son, that wasn't one of them. There were no embraces, no great show of emotion, but just Uryuu's words, and the way he laid his hand on his father's arm, allowing their reiatsu to connect, it was more than enough for the both of them.

**xXx**

It was until the next day that everyone remembered what had prompted the discussion about their parents in the first place.

"You think Yuzu has miko powers." Ichigo stated, looking straight at Isshin.

"I'm quite sure you all do." Isshin countered. "What you can do, conjuring your blade while in your human body… it's not like what Kisuke and the Visored do, and they're in gigai anyway, not actual human bodies. I think you can do it because of the power you got from Masaki, much like the miko of old powered their own arrows and blades. Karin's power is greatly influenced by her past life, as we all know. And Yuzu… the powers of a miko would explain her prodigious and instinctual skill at healing. And regarding the lack of a zanpakutou… there's always the chance that she simply doesn't have enough power, enough shinigami power, to have one."

Ichigo blinked, not understanding at all what that was supposed to mean.

"You probably don't realize this, because the shinigami you spend the most time around are Taichou, Fukutaichou and other high-ranking officers… Rukia-san's an exception of course, but we all know that's due to Byakuya, and no lack of power on her part." Isshin did his best to explain. "Truth is that there are a lot of shinigami who do not have zanpakutou like you do. All the unseated officers, they wield nameless asauchi."

Ichigo just blinked again, still not understanding.

"You're so good at the things you do, Ichigo-kun, sometimes I forget you haven't been raised to know all this." Kisuke commented from the side. "To put it simply. When shinigami hopefuls enter the Shin'ou academy, they're given asauchis. They're plain, nameless katana with no reiatsu whatsoever. Throughout their years studying to become shinigami, the students must keep the blade on them every waking moment, slowly pouring their reiatsu, their belief into that blade. Until the day comes and the asauchi dissolves, leaving in its place a zanpakutou. For that to happen though, the shinigami must have poured a lot of them, not just energy, but their hopes and dreams, their own hearts."

"I never had an asauchi…" Ichigo muttered, his hand straying to Zangetsu's sealed form.

"No, you didn't." Kisuke nodded sagely. "Like with all rules, there are always exceptions, of course. There are those like Zaraki Kenpachi, who picked up the blade of a dead shinigami. He has a lot of reiatsu, but not the control needed to shape a zanpakutou…"

"Not that he needs one anyway." Karin snorted under her breath, to several chuckles.

"Correct." Kisuke went on. "Tousen Kaname didn't have the energy levels necessary to create a zanpakutou of his own either. Instead he picked the one of his dead friend, he convinced the spirit already in existence to accept him, and that's how he came to have a zanpakutou. But such deals are rather rare."

"Kusaka…" Karin murmured, so softly Ichigo was the only one to hear her.

Ichigo still didn't know everything that had happened on that front, but he would never stop trusting his sister. Karin for her part, she wondered if things could have gone any differently with Kusaka, if only they'd known more…

"I thought it wasn't allowed, for one shinigami to wield another's zanpakutou." Rukia's eyes narrowed. "It's supposed to be a crime."

"It is, for the most part." Kisuke nodded. "Because under normal circumstances doing so would mean that you stole the zanpakutou. It would mean that you essentially ripped a piece of another individual's soul and are trying to claim it for yourself. Tousen's situation was different in that his friend was dead already and Suzumushi agreed to be partnered with him." He pushed that matter aside. "And then we have the third kind of exception. You, Ichigo-kun. See, the purpose of the asauchi is to serve as a… vessel of sorts, where the shinigami pours their power and their essence, so the zanpakutou might form. This is needed because it takes time, for most zanpakutou to take shape. Even Arisawa-san, from what we've talked about, regarding her past life, she didn't have an asauchi either, so instead her zanpakutou took form using a different basis, but still, with time. You… you didn't have an asauchi Ichigo-kun, because you didn't need one. Because your reiryoku was so great it shaped the zanpakutou in an instant, the moment you needed it it, it was there for you."

"When he was nine years old?!" Rukia was the first to connect all the dots, and react to it. "You mean to tell me he had that kind of power, as a child?!"

"I think it was more than that." Ichigo said quietly. "That was also when Shiro came into being… I think it was the energy created by the splitting of our soul that created Zangetsu-ossan. Even if it still took us a very long time to be able to wield him, he was born in that moment, from our need for the power, and the energy created by the splitting of our soul…"

Rukia blinked, taking all that in. She'd grown so used to Shiro, and then with the addition of Kaijin into her Inner World, the petite shinigami sometimes forgot that Ichigo and Shiro had been a single entity, until the traumatic loss of their mother at age nine.

"In any case, Yuzu-chan is no less strong than the rest of you." Kisuke continued, finally getting to the point of it all. "She just doesn't have the kind of power needed to kick-start the creation of a zanpakutou, or at least not the way you and Karin-chan do. Perhaps an asauchi might help?"

"I'll see about getting her one." Rukia nodded immediately.

"Even if she cannot have a zanpakutou, that doesn't make her any less powerful." Karin stated, the steel in her voice making the words sound half like a reassurance, half like a threat towards all who might so much as think of suggesting otherwise.

"Of course not!" Kisuke snapped his paper fan open and used it to cover half his face dramatically. "No one would ever doubt the power each of the Kurosaki-Nagaken posses!"

Yuzu said nothing, she just smiled. It wasn't that she actually thought she needed to have a blade to be one of them. She just hadn't understood why she didn't have one. With that part cleared up and a definite course of action she felt much better.

**xXx**

The last thing the Kurosaki-Nagaken quartet expected when they arrived to the Nagaken estate that weekend, was for a servant to approach them, carrying very important letters addressed to the Lady Regent Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin-dono…

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked, unsure, he really hated not knowing what was going on.

"Well…" Karin read the first one two, three times, processing it, before finally speaking. "This one is from Kasumiouji Rurichiyo-dono, expressing her thanks to the Nagaken Clan for the information we provided, which allowed them to stop a Conspiracy against the new leader of the Kasumiouji Clan, and apprehend the man behind it all."

"We did that?" Ichigo was completely puzzled. "When?"

"This one is even more interesting." Karin pointed out as she finished going through the second missive. "It comes from Yamamoto-soutaicho, also to thank us for information provided to him, this time one that has allowed him to prevent a misunderstanding from harming the Gotei 13. It also includes a shorter note from Amagai-taichou, who apparently is the new captain of the 5th Squad, thanking us for clearing a misunderstanding that, if not corrected, would have pushed him into dishonoring himself and the memory of his father."

"Just what the hell is going on?!" Ichigo demanded sharply.

He really, really hated not knowing what was going on.

"I'm afraid I'm responsible for what's going on, Ichigo-kun." A soft, almost timid voice acknowledged from behind them.

"Nee-sama!" All four of them chorused instantly.

"What…?" Rukia added, as she processed what Yailed had just said.

"Have you never wondered, any of you, how it is that I know the things I do?" Yailen asked, a mix of mystery and mischief in her eyes. "How I knew that morning that the Kuchiki Elders intended to force Rukia-chan into an arranged marriage with a man who'd never love her or respect her, her power? How I knew that Grand Fisher would be attacking again, this time going after Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan? That you needed to be motivated by protection rather than vengeance?" She didn't wait for an answer… or perhaps it was that she knew it wouldn't be forthcoming. "I am an Oracle. In every generation there is an Oracle, she can be born to any of the races of spiritually powerful humans that exist. Though that's become harder as powers diminish and races become lost. I myself was born a Réalta, the last of my line."

"A Réalta…?" Karin blurted out. "Like Keeva-kun?"

"Keeva…?" Yailen cocked her head to a side, her eyes lighting up a second later as she made the connection: Caoimhe!"

It sounded just slightly different than how they pronounced it, yet there was something in the way Yailen said the name…

"Wait, does that mean you've met Seren?" Yailen asked, looking so eager, like they'd never seen her before.

"Seren…?" The three siblings asked, confused.

"Do you mean Serenity-dono?" Rukia inquired at the same time.

"Seren…ity…?" Yailen's eyes widened.

"Yes, she's Keeva-kun's sister, or adopted sister." Rukia nodded. "Ishida-shishou said her proper title is Síoraí Serenity…"

"No…" Yailen dropped to her knees abruptly.

"Nee-sama!" The teenagers (and one teen-aged looking spirit) rushed to her, surprised and worried about what might make her react like that.

"Not beag ceann… not her…" Yailen mumbled, not paying any attention to the four around her, lost in her own thoughts and worries. "Not my little sister… I told her not to do that!"

Her voice went through two octaves in the last phrase before she burst into tears.

"Oh…" Rukia exhaled, being the first to understand.

"She's… she's your… your imouto?!" Karin was in shock at the prospect.

"But… but you said you had no family!" Yuzu looked so lost, pained, she didn't understand why someone they saw as a sister would lie to them.

"Oh Yuzu-chan…" It was that which finally pulled Yailen out of her funk, as she focused on the youngest twin. "I know I lied to you. And I'm sorry about that. I cannot even tell you I didn't mean to do it, because that would mean compounding the lie, and I don't want to do that. I don't want to lie to you ever again."

"Why did you do it before?" Ichigo was trying very hard not to sound cold, defensive, but it was hard, he hated being lied to, it had happened all too often, and it was never good.

"The best excuse I can give you is that it had nothing to do with you." Yailen admitted softly, head down. "It was never a matter of trust, or lack-thereof. Truth is… I'm not a very good person." She could see the twins hurry to deny that and stopped them with a hand raised. "No, it's the truth. I know it. Like I told you before, I'm an Oracle. That means more than just knowing the future. It means I have access to everything; the past, the present, the future. And see, while that old saying about the future not being written in stone is quite true, neither is it written in sand. The future is always up for grabs, but the more you 'see' it, the more likely it becomes. There are things, certain events, that are fixed points, that will happen no matter what. They're fate. They are the things that are meant to be, that shape the history of the world, of the universe. Nothing we do or stop doing will stop them. However, we can always choose how we react to them."

The foursome blinked, having trouble grasping what she was saying.

"Take this as an example: the Hougyoku was always meant to exist." Yailen tried to explain. "Power and curiosity being what they are, that jewel was always going to be created. If not Urahara Kisuke, or Aizen Sousuke, someone else would have done it. Which in turn means that the Visored and the Arrancars would have always come to be. That's Fate, that's unchangeable. What isn't, is everything that followed. What Urahara, Aizen, and each of the people that have been involved have done. They each made their choices. Aizen chose to experiment on innocents, Urahara chose to try and save them. Tousen chose to join forces with Aizen, you chose to fight against him…"

"Many years ago, long before I died, before I even moved to Karakura, I saw the war." Yailen revealed, very quietly.

"The war… Aizen's war?!" Karin was in shock.

"I wanted to help, and I knew that the best way to do so would be by going to Japan." Yailen continued her explanation. "So I said my goodbyes to Seren. She's my cousin you see, though, after my biological father turned me away, Aunt Marie took me in. Seren became more like my sister than a cousin, beag ceann, is what I call her, it means 'little one' in Irish, the language of our mothers' ancestors. It was I who started her down the path of the Réalta, who taught her about us, what it meant to be one of us… but I never wanted her to be a Síoraí!"

"You mean her sickness…" Rukia breathed out slowly in understanding. "It really is connected to her power. I mean, she did say that, but it made no sense… Even with Tatsuki, the power hurt her, but then all she needed to do was step out of her body, Keeva-kun says that it's different with the Réalta…"

"How much do you know about Réalta?" Yailen inquired, curious about how much her once-sister might have revealed.

"There are two kinds of Réalta." Karin explained. "Iarann, which means Iron and are the ones whose power enhances their bodies: strength, speed, endurance. Like Keeva-kun. And criostal, whom have psychic powers. They can have as many as six different powers, though most only ever develop one or two. As the more powers they have, the harder they are to control, and the faster their bodies deteriorate. Serenity-dono is called a Síoraí, because she has all the powers a Réalta Criostal may have; which means she's extremely powerful, and that's also why her physical body is always sick, and she'll die young."

"It's about more than just dying." Yailen explained quietly. "A criostal… there are some who've said that there are certain powers humans were never meant to have. They're only meant for the gods, and when humans try and meddle in the realms of the gods… it never ends well. No one really remembers how the Réalta truly came to be, but there's an old story mamma used to tell me. That we were created by a goddess, the mother of the stars, and so she named us after her very creations. That's why we are Réalta, we are the closest human beings can get to being stars…" She shook her head. "It's dangerous to be a star, because, you see, they shine so bright… and sooner or later, they burn out."

"Like a sun going supernova…" Karin murmured grimly.

Yuzu inhaled sharply, covering her mouth with her hands in empathetic horror.

"Exactly." Yailen nodded with a sad exhale. "The more power a Réalta has, the brighter she shines… the hotter she burns, and the faster… and no Réalta will ever be brighter than a Síoraí, whose light is so great, it will echo across the sky long after she's gone…"

"But… but Urahara-san and Unohana-taichou… they're working on something to help her, to save her…" Yuzu mumbled, not wanting to give up, not yet.

"They might not get it done in time, Yuzu-chan." Rukia murmured gently. "But even if she passes. She'll still have us on this side… won't she?"

"It's not that simple." Yailen shook her head. "I told you, some powers we humans just aren't meant to have. Our bodies just cannot contain them. And sooner or later, we lose control. A Síoraí, who has the power to control the very spirit particles, when she loses control, the kind of destruction she could cause… but fighting against it will only help for so long. It's why her body weakens, as she loses the battle against her own power. And once she's reached the breaking point… then the harder she fights the worse it'll be." She shook her head, paying no heed to the tears falling down her face. "As rare as a living Síoraí might be… there's never been one that made it to Soul Society. Their spirits are consumed as they keep trying to fight for control." She sobbed. "It's why I never wanted her to be one! I would have never wished this for her! Never! Not in a thousand years!"

"Why did you never tell us about her?" Karin asked, trying very hard not to make it sound like an accusation, it wasn't easy, she still felt hurt by it.

"Because it had to be her choice." Yailen answered with a sigh. "I knew… I knew about Aizen I knew about the war, and that it would slowly but surely pull all those who might have spiritual power. This war… it's not just about Soul Society. Because what Aizen intends to do, if he achieves his objective, the effects will reverberate across all worlds. It cannot be allowed to happen. I knew that from the start, it's why I chose to travel to Japan." She exhaled. "I knew she would probably do the same, sooner or later. But it still had to be her choice. So I didn't tell you about her, so you wouldn't meet before the time came for that choice to be made."

"She chose to come to Karakura." Karin stated solemnly.

Yailen nodded.

"Just like she chose to be a Síoraí." Karin added, still in the same tone.

Yailen let out a breath yet again, then closed her eyes and nodded. She understood what Karin was doing, what she was trying to make her understand. It didn't make it any easier, not really. But what Karin was saying was true, in the end, it had been her choice…

"So… I suppose your powers explain the odd letters I got today." Karin decided to change the topic of conversation.

Yailen smiled gratefully at her, even as she proceeded to explain the basics of what she'd seen, and how she decided to send letters to specific people, though letting them believe they came from Karin, or someone else in the Nagaken household.

"If they knew who you are, what you are… you wouldn't need to hide, you would be respected, appreciated." Ichigo stated seriously. "You know we've always wanted you to be more than just a servant nee-sama."

"I know Ichigo-kun, and you also know that's not what I want." Yailen told him gently. "I have no interest in other people's respect or recognition. As long as I have you, my family, that's enough. Also… it's dangerous, for an Oracle to reveal herself. Being able to see the future, does not mean I can share what I see."

"But everything you just told us…" Rukia didn't understand.

"Are things you knew already." Yailen reminded them. "You know about Aizen, what his intentions are, that there's a war coming. I didn't reveal anything you did not already know. It's dangerous, to reveal the future outright. It's not something done lightly, and the consequences can be dire."

"The information you shared in those letters…" Ichigo couldn't help but worry about her, with all the things that kept coming up, he needed to feel that something was under control still.

"It was nothing direct, not really, certainly nothing dangerous to me, or to you." Yailen shrugged a bit. "The Kasumiouji already knew there was someone conspiring against their heiress, I just mentioned some things in a certain manner and a very specific order, and they turned their eyes in the right direction. He was already one of the top suspects of most of them, really. As for the situation with the Amagai-taichou and Yamamoto-soutaichou… well, the revelation of the Kasumiouji Conspiracy two days ago pretty much did half the job for me. After that it was fairly easy just to mention something that happened years ago and how it might be connected to the latest happenings. Yamamoto-soutaichou himself decided to bring the matter up in the next meeting with all the Captains and Lieutenants, that was enough to set things right."

"Anything we need to know?" Ichigo asked next. "In case someone does more than write a letter of thanks?"

"That's highly unlikely." Karin snorted, then waved the letters. "This is what they do in order to satisfy their honor. You need to keep something in mind, Ichigo, if there's one things nobles hate, it's to owe anything to others, especially other nobles. By handling things the way she did, nee-sama reassured them of our discretion on the matter, they send the note of thanks to keep honor satisfied. And that's it. They've solved the problem, as far as they're concerned, it's over."

"And Yamamoto?" Ichigo arched a brow.

"Well, I cannot know what happened exactly, of course." Karin waved a hand dismissively. "But Yamamoto has always been a very private man. It's likely that as long as we don't bring the matter up, neither will he."

"Alright, then we'll never mention it then." Ichigo nodded.

"Thank you nee-sama!" Yuzu exclaimed brightly, looking at Yailen.

"What for Yuzu-chan?" Yailen blinked, not quite understanding.

"For helping." Yuzu answered simply.

And it was the truth. Even if they had no idea what she'd done and said to anyone exactly, or what might have happened if she hadn't. There was no doubt that Yailen had, indeed, helped people. That was always good.

**xXx**

Karin was right, while they did come across Yamamoto once, as the man wanted Amagai-taichou to meet them and be aware of the situation in Karakura, no mention was made of any messages or misunderstandings. Karin and Yamamoto both seemed quite satisfied with that, while Ichigo decided that as long as it didn't affect him, or his nakama, he just didn't care.

The following weekend, just before they were to leave for Seireitei, Ichigo got a text-message:

"Kuugo wants to meet." Ichigo announced to his sisters.

"Kuugo…?" It wasn't the first time Rukia had heard him mentioned, though she hadn't met the man yet.

"They've heard about Orihime going missing, haven't they?" Karin guessed in a grim tone.

"That's my best guess." Ichigo nodded.

"You know they won't let it go, Ichigo." Karin stated seriously. "Kuugo won't come alone, and when Shuu hears what's going on… he'll demand a very good explanation as to why Orihime is still in Hueco Mundo. Why we haven't gone back for her."

"Orihime said…" Ichigo began.

"I know what Orihime said!" Karin cut him off. "But that's something you're going to have to explain to them. And you know Shuukurou, he won't accept the simple answer. And if they aren't satisfied…"

"They could make a mess of things…" Ichigo hit the empty table before him with his forehead. "Why did this have to happen now?"

"Well, at least they're asking for a meeting, rather than going into some kind of half-cocked mission all on their own." Yuzu deadpanned.

It was so rare for Yuzu to joke like that, Rukia could only gape at the usually oh-so-sweet youngest Kurosaki, Karin just snorted, while Ichigo groaned, knowing his sister was very right.

"Do you wish to come or would you rather go to Soul Society with the twins and visit with your brother as planned?" Ichigo inquired.

It took Rukia a moment to realize that he was speaking to her. And then a few moments more to actually stop and think about it. In the end her curiosity about these friends of Ichigo and the others whom she'd never met before, won, and she decided to go with him. She could always visit with her brother any other time.

The twins for their part were still going to Seireitei. Karin would be meeting Toushirou for some sparring, while Yuzu had begun attending the weekend zanjutsu classes in the Shin'ou Academy in hopes that it might help her gain her own zanpakutou.

"There are some things you need to understand about Kuugo and the others, before we arrive." Ichigo told Rukia as they were on the bus to Naruki City.

"They have powers, don't they?" Rukia was able to guess that much.

"They do." Ichigo nodded easily enough. "They call themselves Fullbringers. Most of them have powers with similar origins. One of their parents was attacked by a hollow and while they lived, the hollows left a trace in them, which was passed onto their children. Chad's power has the same origins actually. It's one of the things that brought us to their attention several years ago."

"And the other?" Rukia knew that had to be important.

"Kuugo is kind of like me?" Ichigo scratched the back of his head as he tried to find the best way to explain. "Or how I was, before Zangetsu-ossan woke up properly."

"He's a Daiko…?" Rukia hadn't even known there had been a Shinigami Daiko before Ichigo!

"He was, some thirty years ago or so." Ichigo shrugged. "I don't really know all the details. But things went really badly between him and Soul Society."

"How badly?" Rukia had a bad feeling.

"Lets just say Aizen was probably involved and you get an idea." Ichigo answered grimly.

"Ichigo… does… does Soutaichou or anyone at the Gotei know you're in contact with this person?" Rukia knew the answer, of course, but she needed to hear it anyway.

"Of course not!" Ichigo snorted, it really was an obvious answer. "I've been thinking about bringing them up. At least with Ukitake-san, or your brother. But I need to talk about it with them first. Kuugo really, really doesn't like the Gotei. I don't know all the details, but I do know they betrayed him. They essentially killed him."

"Killed… him…?"

"His body. He was a human. Okay see, I obviously don't know the whole story, and as you might expect, Kuugo's version is more than a bit biased. But this is what I know: Ginjou Kuugo, that's his name, he was in his late teens when he gained shinigami powers somehow. While in their case the matter was solved quickly and a report made to the Gotei 13, it turned out that Kuugo had some distant shinigami ancestor, and receiving the other shinigami's powers kick-started his own, despite him still being alive. So they trained him, just in the basics, and he began acting as backup for the resident shinigami when necessary. Then things got complicated. Shinigami began disappearing, starting with the very one who'd given Kuugo his powers originally. The Gotei brought him in, supposedly for questioning, but instead they accused him of treason. Said he'd killed all those shinigami. Then they tried to kill Kuugo… his soul endured, but his body… he doesn't know who it was exactly, only that he wore a Captain's haori. They tracked him using the Daiko badge. It's how he discovered that it served to track and monitor him."

"Wait… you have badges! All of you!"

"They do the same, yeah, we know. We've always known." He smirked at Rukia. "We've always known where we stand with the Gotei, Rukia. It's one of the many reasons why we refuse to follow their protocols. Regardless of any titles and agreements, they don't see us as equals. So we will treat them the same way they do us, as begrudging allies. That might change, if we manage to clear the slate where Kuugo is concerned, but it's been so long… who knows? I at least would like to try. Kuugo and the Fullbringers would be a huge help against Aizen, if he were ever to come to Karakura. And I know that some of them at least would probably like to settle down, after years traveling around." He shrugged. "Also, I've a feeling Kuugo would love the chance to make Aizen pay… wouldn't you Jii?"

Rukia's eyes widened abruptly. They'd stepped off the bus and begun walking down the street several minutes earlier, but she'd been so focused on their conversation she never noticed when they arrived to a completely empty area, nothing but abandoned warehouses all around. She also hadn't felt any reiatsu until just a fraction of a second before a man landed on Ichigo's left, sword already in hand and swinging in Ichigo's direction. The orange-haired shinigami didn't even seem surprised, just raised his hand, a pure-reishi version of Zangetsu's sealed form materializing just in time to parry Kuugo's own huge zanpakutou. Rukia's reaction was the one that probably surprised everyone, as a Byakurai was shot from two fingers on her right hand, shooting before Ichigo and aimed straight for Kuugo's sword hand before a single word could be said.

The kidou hit its mark without delay, causing Kuugo to drop his blade, cursing a storm as he looked at his slightly burnt hand. Rukia hadn't put so much power as to really hurt him, it was just meant to be a warning shot after all. The rest of the Fullbringers rushed out of the warehouses around them, calling for their leader and cursing Rukia and Ichigo in turns. Especially a black-eyed and black-haired very tall young man Ichigo would later on introduce as Tsukishima Shuukurou, the second in command of the Fullbringers, and Orihime's ex. Ichigo himself was just laughing like a madman.

"What are you laughing about idiot?!" Riruka snapped at him.

Shuukurou was more focused on Kuugo, though after determining that the wound wasn't more than a burn in the back of his hand, really, they all turned their attention to the two shinigami.

"And who's the bit…?" Riruka demanded next, only to find the tip of Ichigo's blade beneath her chin before she could even finish the question.

"This is Kuchiki Rukia, soon to be Kurosaki Rukia, and you will show her respect." Ichigo ordered in a very no-nonsense tone. "Kuugo was foolish, trying my reflexes without ever stopping to consider her. You can feel us both, so you must have known she would not stand by quietly. Really? How have you survived this long with such faulty instincts?"

"Why have you brought a shinigami to our meeting Ichigo?" Kuugo demanded in turn. "You know how much I hate the Gotei."

"I am a shinigami nowadays jii." Ichigo revealed with a shrug. "As I'm sure you must be able to sense clearly."

"Don't call me Jii, I'm not that old!" Kuugo half-snapped. "And you're not Gotei."

"No, I'm not." Ichigo nodded affably. "Though nowadays we're allied with them. We being the Nakama. And as should be obvious by now, she's with me. We're engaged to be married."

"Married?!" Several of the fullbringers exclaimed in shock.

"Congratulations." Jackie was the only one to show any real kind of emotion to those news.

"This Summer." Ichigo nodded. "Would have sent an invite if I'd just known where to." He remembered something an added. "We got your Christmas gifts. Everyone says thanks."

"You're a shinigami, engaged to another, and allied with the freaking Gotei 13, just what the hell have you been up to Ichigo?" Kuugo demanded.

"That's a really long story Kuugo." Ichigo admitted grimly.

"Why don't we go inside?" Jackie suggested. "We can have some tea and talk."

Everyone agreed. They entered a warehouse to their right which, as Rukia discovered once they were in, only looked like a dilapidated building. On the inside it was well restored. Looking like a sort of boarding-house. They were lead straight to the sitting room.

"Tell us then Ichigo, what the hell is going on." Kuugo ordered.

So Ichigo did. He told them the whole story, from the moment Rukia had entered his room while tracking down a hollow, his turning into a Daiko… all the way to the current situation, with their alliance with Seireitei, the Visored, and the coming war with Aizen and his Arrancar army.

"Several battles have been fought already, two here in the human world, and one in Hueco Mundo." Ichigo finished seriously.

"Well, as interesting as that story was, you have yet to answer the question that brought all of us here today." Shuukurou stated evenly. "Where is Orihime Ichigo?"

"In Hueco Mundo." He revealed with a grimace.

For several seconds there was absolute pandemonium as Riruka, Yukio, Moe and Jackie all cursed Ichigo, his nakama, Soul Society, the hollows, demanded explanations and eventually even began making declarations about how they'd be rescuing Orihime themselves. Ichigo let out a suffering sigh, he'd known that was going to happen. Rukia for her part just blinked. She'd expected a reaction, of course, but nothing quite so intense.

"Why haven't you rescued her Ichigo?" Kuugo's question cut straight to the point, it also served to quiet everyone almost instantly.

"Because she's where she wants to be." Ichigo declared.

That brought yet another round of curses and yells, which didn't stop under Ichigo flared his reiatsu enough to make all but Rukia wince.

"I know it sounds insane." Ichigo nodded with a sigh. "And believe me, in any other circumstances we'd have been knocking down on Aizen's door the moment we were all back on our feet. But this is what Orihime wants. She told Karin so herself, before we were sent back after the failed rescue attempt."

"What did she say, exactly?" Shuukurou asked, eyes narrowed.

"I don't remember the exact wording, but it was something about making a deal with the devil." Ichigo admitted.

"She asked Karin-chan if she would make a deal with the devil to save Hitsu… someone Karin-chan holds dear." Rukia explained.

"So she's found him…" Shuukurou murmured, a strange understanding in his tone.

"Huh?" Ichigo wasn't expecting that.

"When Orihime and I broke up, when we left… she told me we weren't meant for each other." Shuukurou explained. "She said she couldn't be with me, because it wouldn't be fair. That she'd given her heart away a long time ago and never got it back… I always thought it to be ridiculous. If any of us has a heart that's her!"

"I don't think she meant it like that…" Rukia began, a bit hesitant.

"I know that now." Shuukurou shrugged. "But I didn't understand it back then. I just thought that she'd finally tired of dealing with my sociopathic tendencies. She promised I'd find my heart one day but I thought it was just… well, Hime being Hime."

Ichigo snorted, though he was sure they all knew exactly what he meant.

"So what will you do then?" Kuugo wanted to know.

"Wait." Ichigo admitted. "Give Orihime as much time as we possibly can. And all the while train. The next time we fight Aizen's army they won't find it so easy to defeat us."

Rukia nodded her agreement. As satisfied as she might have been with her victory against Aaroniero, she'd never be able to forget what had happened afterwards, the beating her beloved had taken right in front her… being unable to do anything for him. She didn't want to feel so weak, so useless ever again! So she'd train, they all would. She and Shirayuki talked every day, even when nothing special was happening, Rukia made a point to talk to her zanpakutou, get to know her. She believed they might be getting close to bankai. And of course there was Kaijin as well. She was harder to deal with, but their relationship was improving.

"What do you want from us Ichigo?" Shuukurou inquired, as emotionless as ever.

"Well, war is still coming, we could use your help." Ichigo admitted. "Aizen is insane, but he's also a genius. We know he wants to become the Spirit King, and the only way to get there is through the Spirit Key. Since Yamamoto obviously isn't going to let him have his, he'd need to build another one. And that can only be achieved through the sacrifice of thousands of living souls on a reishi-rich land… that means Karakura. If he ever comes, and he probably will, sooner or later, we Nakama are to be the front-line. The Shinigami will come too, but not until it's absolutely necessary." He exhaled. "You are all great fighters, you'd be a great help to us."

"And what about the Gotei?" Shuukurou asked. "They're still after Kuugo."

"I know." Ichigo nodded. "And I do believe that if you were to allow me to speak in your name we could settle this situation, once and for all."

"Speak for us?" Jackie arched a brow.

"I've done it before, for the Visored." Ichigo explained. "While Yamamoto couldn't promise them anything long term in the Gotei. They're no longer persecuted, and it's been decreed that if the next Chamber of 46 were to choose not to rescind the execution orders against them, the Gotei still won't pursue them. They'll be free to walk away once the war is over."

"And you think they really would agree to this?" Kuugo inquired, curious.

"They tried to kill him!" Shuukurou hissed. "Many times!"

The way Kuugo extended a hand to entwine it with one of Shuukurou's own… Ichigo's eyes widened in understanding.

"If I may?" Rukia offered a course of action. "Obviously I haven't known you for long. But I know Ichigo, if he says you didn't kill those shinigami, then I believe you didn't. Someone did though. We know that Aizen has killed many, humans, souls and even hollows, throughout the years with his experiments. We know of at least two shinigami he went after while they were in Karakura decades ago. So who's to say it wasn't Aizen behind all those deaths and he just found it convenient to frame you? It wouldn't have been that hard, not with his zanpakutou and the persona he projected to the Gotei back then. No one would have doubted it. But now? Now everyone knows he's a traitor. If we can connect those deaths to him… I believe we can convince Yamamoto-soutaichou to at least reopen the cases."

"And if that fails?" Riruka challenged.

"Then you're long gone and I've no idea where to." Ichigo deadpanned.

For several seconds no one said a word. Rukia couldn't have missed the fact that all the younger fullbringers were looking straight at Kuugo, their leader, awaiting his choice. The once Daiko, for his part, was looking straight as Ichigo, as if trying to read something in the orange-haired shinigami's eyes…

"Very well." Kuugo declared after what seemed like forever. "We'll do it your way Ichigo."

**xXx**

"Feel the fire, be the fire, open your wings and fly. To the heavens that await you. Come now, your name is… Tenreikou!"

Karin, immobilized by a force that surpassed her own, screamed as the pale hand buried into her chest. Suddenly there was fire, so much fire, inside her, around her, everywhere… Karin was screaming, so far gone she didn't even realize she was doing it. Eventually it just became too much and she blacked out, the last thing she was conscious of, being a loud bird's cry…

* * *

So... thoughts?

Regarding the Kasumi-ouji arc. Originally I was going to write it, yeah. I had plans, so many plans. Especially, that was going to be when Ichigo's and Rukia's Inner Hollows would be revealed, because that'd be the only reason the two of them would be able to continue fighting. Also, I had this memorable moment, when Yamamoto would look like he was about to blow a gasket, only for him to realize that his own people were inching closer to the two instead of away! The thought that his own people were liable to mutiny if he turned against the two would have changed things a lot. And much as I would have loved to write that scene, when I was planning another part of the fic I got some ideas that were only possible if no one knew about Shiro yet, and it was found out in very specific circumstances. I loved that idea even more, so... also, I realized that most of the arc could be done away so very easily... so I did exactly that.

Did you like what I've done with the fullbringers? The idea is that they went to Karakura when the Nakama first became the Nakama. Since they weren't involved with Soul Society yet back then, that meeting went very differently from canon. I hope it's all believable. In my mind they've become sort-of like the Visored. A group of misunderstood 'Others' that want a home but haven't been able to find it. Also, the pairing... no idea where the hell that came from. It just dropped into my lap and I kinda ran with it. And as for how Kuugo and his situation are portayed... I never fully understood if he was supposed to be a misunderstood hero, a cocky antihero or a fucked-up villain. Like, the pieces of his story just never fully fit in my head, so I added a few things, liked how they worked together and that's become my head-canon now.

Finally, yes, we're jumping straight into another filler, and that's one I've been dying to get into! I really, really hope you'll enjoy. Also, anyone would like to guess what's coming? If anyone guesses correctly, or close enough, I promise virtual cookies and a special mention (and perhaps a tidbit of the next chapter early? as in, in the RR?).

Oh, and I almost forgot. The whole thing with Orihime missing and the lack of reaction from the authorities, that's entirely real, according to my research. If the person is over eighteen, and there's no proof that they were coerced, or a suicide note, the authorities don't get involved. Depending on a lot of things that can be good or bad, but it's how things are handled in Japan (I read several anecdotes). In the end, it's how I needed things to be, for this fic to remain real... as real as a story with shinigamis, super-powered individuals and a world after death can be.

That's that for now and see ya next week!


	40. Heart and Blade

So... the whole of the Zanpakutou Rebellion arc in a single chapter, what could possibly go wrong?! Hopefully nothing, aside from the length of the chapter, maybe, but I did warn you about the chapters getting lomger, didn't I?

This is one of the things I planned since I started Nakama... or at the very least, since I watched this arc in the anime. I hope you like what I've done with it.

And on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 40. Heart and Blade**

On Saturday morning Rukia couldn't help but be reminded of the first meeting with the Visored. While the fullbringers were nothing like the once shinigami, there was a sense of camaraderie, of chosen-family, that existed in each group, as much as it did with the Nakama. It was something Rukia had come to identify and appreciate since becoming a Nakama herself. After their talk and tea Kuugo had insisted on sparring with Ichigo, wanting to see how much he'd improved in the last few years. So Yukio had created a pocket dimension just for them, both to ensure their reiatsu wouldn't affect the human world, and to prevent Soul Society from detecting them. Eventually Shuukurou got involved in that.

Meanwhile Rukia took the chance to try and get to know the rest of the fullbringers. It was clear they didn't fully trust her, due to her tie to the Gotei, and their own (indirect) bad experiences with the formal shinigami. But at the same time, they trusted Ichigo, and her being so tightly bound to him meant they were willing to give her a chance.

"We owe a lot to Ichigo." Riruka eventually told her. "He made us what we are."

Rukia blinked, not quite sure how she should take that.

"How much do you know about us?" Yukio inquired.

"I know you're humans with powers, caused by one of your parents surviving a hollow attack and being marked by it." Rukia summarized. "Chad's powers apparently come from the same origin as yours. Oh… Ginjou-san is a shinigami daiko who was apparently betrayed by the Gotei, I do believe Aizen might have been involved. It sounds like him…"

"He really left out a lot." Moe commented.

"How long have you known we existed?" Giriko asked, curious.

"Eh… on the way here?" Rukia half-stated, half-questioned.

That really caused all fullbringers to sputter in disbelief.

"And you're going to marry him?!" Riruka snapped.

"Of course I'm going to marry him!" Rukia snarled. "Ichigo is a good man. A loyal man. He was planning on introducing us soon. Hoped you might attend our wedding. Your message to him just meant the meeting happened sooner. He told me about you when he had to and not before not because he doesn't trust me, but because he felt you were entitled to your secrets. Even when we were on our way he only told me what was absolutely necessary. He would never betray you. It's just not who he is."

So they told her their stories. How they'd each been young, alone, with power neither of them could fully understand. The mistakes they'd made, the crimes they'd committed, and how finding Kuugo had changed them. He gave them what they always needed: people they could trust. And yet, it was Ichigo who turned them from friends into a family.

"It's no secret that I am pretty much a sociopath."

With the end of the sparring session Ichigo, Kuugo and Shuukurou had joined Rukia and the rest of the fullbringers once again. It was Shuukurou who took over the narrative:

"I didn't want to go to Karakura, not knowing what we all did about Kuugo's past." Shuukurou stated evenly. "But we had been able to sense there were others like us. And we made a promise, when Kuugo pulled us all together: to always be there for each other, to share our power and never let one of us be alone… so we went. The last thing we expected was for Sado-san to already be well on his way to training his power, and then Ichigo… we never expected Ichigo."

"No one ever does." Rukia snorted, causing the others to chuckle.

"No, no one does." Kuugo agreed. "But truth is that before meeting Ichigo all I cared about was becoming more and more powerful. Not just to keep the fullbringers safe, so that one day I might be strong enough to get my revenge on the Gotei. Make them pay for turning against me, for destroying my life all those years ago… My life… I was going to be a teacher, you know? Mold young, impressionable minds… it was only a quirk of fate that I even came across the shinigami that afternoon, and that I ended with his powers. I never asked to be a shinigami, or to remain one after that day. I never asked for the training, or for the experiments that left me with my own hollow powers. And after I managed to survive all that… they turned their backs on me! They accused me of betraying them, but truth is they were the ones who betrayed me first!"

"Why give it up then?" Rukia inquired curious. "Your plan of revenge, I mean."

"Ichigo made me see that they'd already taken one life of mine, my human life." Kuugo explained with a shrug. "And by my own actions I was giving them my afterlife too. He also made me see that I owed the fullbringers better. I pulled them together, I was leading them. It was up to me whether they'd do something good or not with their powers. And also… if I continued down the same path… I was essentially leading them to their own deaths. That was the wrong thing to do when they trusted me so much."

"We would have followed you, to whatever end." Shuukurou assured him.

The rest of the fullbringers just nodded, not the slightest hesitation in any of them. It just served as confirmation of what Ichigo had told Kuugo once, regarding how important it was he lead the fullbringers right, how much they needed him…

Ichigo and Rukia spent Saturday morning still there. Having fun with the fullbringers as they made plans on how to bring the matter before the Gotei, and trying to decide whether to talk to Ukitake or Byakuya first, or go directly to Yamamoto. After thinking it over for a while Kuugo handed his old badge to Ichigo, so he might use it as proof that it was all true.

"I promise, I will do it right." Ichigo promised just before he and Rukia left.

"I know you will." Kuugo nodded. "I trust you."

"Whether this works or not, when Orihime calls…" Shuukurou began.

"I'll let you know." Ichigo finished for him.

Kuugo had given him the number for a burner phone he'd picked up recently. He'd be able to find them if necessary; and he knew they wouldn't be staying in that warehouse. Not with the kind of money they had access to, thanks to Yukio's company. The warehouse may have once been their home, but nowadays it was only a front.

**xXx**

Rukia and Ichigo had just stepped off the bus in Karakura and were planning on going straight to see Uryuu, to get his opinion on how they should handle the matter of the Fullbringers and the Gotei, when suddenly they both felt the same thing: reiatsu spiking… not a single word needed to be said, as immediately they began running, fast, the closest they could get to shunpo while in their physical bodies. Then, as soon as they made it to the forested area of Karakura, and out of view of passersby they used their badges to get out of their bodies and truly began using shunpo to get to the origin of the reiatsu spike.

They arrived to the edge of a lake, not very big, with an island right in the middle, in time to see a short figure in black throw herself at an odd-looking tall, thin brunette male dressed in a white furred robe, katana in hand. They'd have thought it was Karin, except the hair wasn't black, but a very light auburn, almost dark blonde shade…

"Yuzu-chan?!" Rukia sounded beyond shocked.

Ichigo could have laughed, just for a moment. It always seemed funny to him how people would look at Yuzu, see her so small, sweet, gentle, almost delicate-looking, and believe her to be fragile, weak… nothing could be farther from the truth. And it wasn't even just her kidou but… most people forgot (or just didn't realize) that Yuzu, at six years of age (almost seven), and right after loosing her mother, had dried her tears, steeled herself, and taken her mother's place in the family. She would cook, clean, look after her father and siblings as best she could; but it wasn't even just the physical things, she became the emotional support of everyone else in the family. Became the heart of it. Ichigo honestly believed that if it weren't for Yuzu the family wouldn't have survived the loss of Masaki. She was so strong… always had been.

Of course, Yuzu was still very new at spiritual fighting, as was proven the moment the male parried her strike, only to strike back at her, breaking her asauchi with a single motion and then tossing Yuzu aside.

"Yuzu-chan!" Rukia and Ichigo cried out automatically.

"What did you do to Karin-chan?!" Yuzu demanded as she sat up, broken asaushi still in hand.

"You dare come at me with an empty blade?!" The male roared, ignoring her question entirely. "Who do you take me for child?! I am Muramasa! I am the greatest zanpakutou to ever exist!"

"You're alone…" Ichigo was probably the only one who heard Yuzu whisper those words as he knelt beside her to check on her.

"Yuzu…" Ichigo murmured. "Are you alright?"

"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu threw her arms around her brother's shoulders immediately, and though the corners of her eyes were wet, she did not cry. "I'm alright. Some bumps and bruises, that's all."

"What happened to Karin?" He really hadn't missed Yuzu yelling about his twin, and it was the only explanation as to why Yuzu was there without her.

"We don't know!" Yuzu cried out, obviously distressed. "Soul Society's a mess, everyone's zanpakutou are running around. Even Yamamoto-san's! Toushirou-kun's gotten Hyourinmaru back, and they're fighting to get things back under control. But it's insane."

"What do you mean the zanpakutou are running around?" Ichigo felt completely out of his depth, just what the hell had happened over the last day?!"

"He did it!" Yuzu pointed her finger straight at Muramasa. "He… he did something! The zanpakutou spirits were suddenly out, and they were fighting the shinigami." her tone turned very quiet as she added: "He used me… I thought he'd trapped the Soutaichou behind that shield, we all did. So I found a way to take it down… but it turned out that's exactly what he wanted. He used me to get what he wanted!"

"And what does he want?" Ichigo asked next.

He hated Muramasa, hated that he was causing such distress to his sister, but he really needed to know everything that was going on before intervening. Especially because she could sense Rukia was beginning to have some trouble, and their nakama were around too, though busy with a bunch of hollows.

"He wants to rescue his master." Yuzu explained. "Yamamoto-san said he was a really bad man, insane. We have to stop it… you have to stop this Ichi-nii…"

"I'll do my best Yuzu." He knew better than to make promises he might not be able to keep.

His attention was called away from his sister and towards his beloved as he heard Rukia gasp, he turned in time to see Muramasa pulling his hand out of her chest…

"Rukia!" He screamed, horrified.

Only there was no blood, no echo of pain. Which actually confused Ichigo, as he registered those two details, even as he jumped away from Yuzu and towards his wife.

"Come! Your name is Sode no Shirayuki!" Muramasa declared right then.

Ichigo froze in mid-air, blinking as he watched Shirayuki manifest beside Rukia. Muramasa was staring at them, a sense of eagerness in him, he was clearly waiting for something. Though that eagerness soon turned to confusion as shinigami and zanpakutou spirit turned to look at each other, shared respectful nods, before turning back to Muramasa. It was clear, by the way his eyes darkened and his fists clenched that that was not what he'd been expecting, what he intended when he pulled Shirayuki into the material world. It explained better what Yuzu had said about the zanpakutou spirits fighting the shinigami.

"That's impossible!" Muramasa yelled. "Why aren't you fighting her? I order you to fight!"

"Why would I fight my lady?" Shirayuki asked, voice cold and full of contempt.

"Why would I fight my partner?" Rukia questioned at the same time, honestly confused.

"Because that's how he's managed to create chaos in Soul Society, by turning zanpakutou against shinigami." Ichigo stated calmly.

Muramasa turned to look at him, but before he could try anything at all, Ichigo acted. Just a slight prodding was enough, a beat later Zangetsu was standing beside him. And because Ichigo just couldn't help himself, even at the best of times, he directed a toothy grin at Muramasa. Inside his head, Shiro was cackling like mad, wishing he could have made an appearance too, if only to make the cocky spirit go nuts trying to understand them.

"You could never make us turn against one another." Ichigo informed Muramasa for good measure. "We actually understand what being a partner means. Though you apparently don't."

"You know nothing!" Muramasa roared. "Senbonzakura! Byakuya!"

What followed was the last thing Ichigo could have ever expected, as both Rukia's brother, and the spirit of his zanpakutou (whom Ichigo had never seen before) rushed him and Rukia right then, blades out. Ichigo and Rukia, with the help of Zangetsu and Shirayuki could have defeated them in no time, but they were confused. Just what the hell was going on?!

"This is a Kuchiki matter, do not get involved." Byakuya ordered stoically.

"Don't you spew that bullshit at me Byakuya!" Ichigo snarled, unable to help himself, he'd about had it with the whole not knowing what was going on. "My wife is a Kuchiki! You're family! So this concerns me!"

Byakuya staggered in mid-air, and Ichigo wasn't sure if it was his rather crass language, or the fact that he'd acknowledged that due to Rukia they were very much related. In any case, Ichigo liked to think he knew Byakuya fairly well after the last few months, and while the man might act cold and emotionless most of the time, he was anything but. He cared, very much. And while things like duty and honor might be very important to him, family would always trump them, which meant that something was going on, something big…

They went through the motions of a duel. And only the Nakama would know that that was all they were doing. Even as their blades kept clashing, there was no real intent behind any of the blows. Rukia and Senbonzakura were essentially doing the same, with Shirayuki and Zangetsu mostly watching, making sure nothing unexpected happened.

"Muramasa's master's name is Kuchiki Kouga." Byakuya answered simply.

Ichigo winced, as he could hear not only what Byakuya was saying, but also what he wasn't. First his father, now his… uncle? Was it any wonder that Byakuya was so obsessed with upholding the family honor, when the men of his family kept trampling it? And he had no doubt the kind of reaction a man like Ginrei must have had. Which, again, explained so much about Byakuya… perhaps, in that light, it was a wonder that the man knew how to have fun at all!

Before Ichigo could find some way to ask Byakuya how they could help, without actually saying it, as he wasn't sure how Muramasa would react to that, but it probably wouldn't be pretty, Yuzu interrupted them:

"Ichi-nii!" She screamed. "The seal's breaking!"

That pulled everyone's attention to the small island in the middle of the river instantly. To the halberds that Muramasa had managed to pull off the seal at some point; right in time to see the coffin like structure dissolve, leaving a man they could only guess must be Kuchiki Koga, floating there. He looked awful, more like a skin-covered-skeleton than anything close to human. He was topless but for the long red scarf wound around his body and there was a darkness, a sense of wrongness to him that while Ichigo couldn't really explain what made him feel like that, he'd no doubt that the feeling was true. The man before him might be a Kuchiki, but he was nothing like Byakuya, or Ginrei. Something that was confirmed when the very first thing the man did, was stab Muramasa through the stomach.

"Wha…?" All shinigami were beyond shocked by what they were witnessing.

Yuzu for her part pressed her free hand against her open mouth to keep a horrified scream from escaping. In the other hand she was still holding her broken asauchi loosely. She had no idea what to do, how to help, all she knew was that Karin was in the 4th, unresponsive, and Yuzu had to do something!

"To me you're just a sword… Nothing more than a tool!"

Ichigo, Rukia and their zanpakutou let out wordless shrieks of denial at those words. They were a blasphemy! Went against everything they believed in! All the rules and codes they lived their lives by. What their bonds meant to them…

And then Kouga raised his blade, intending to strike down the already wounded and bleeding zanpakutou spirit… Byakuya was faster though, before Kouga's blade could connect with the injured Muramasa, he was there, parrying the strike.

"You call your own zanpakutou a tool and slay it," There was a special coldness in Byakuya's voice as he spoke, the last time Ichigo'd heard it was when he'd told the story of his father and his betrayals at Rukia's and Ichigo's wedding. "You have no right to call yourself a shinigami!"

Ichigo and Rukia knew how important Kuchiki Clan matters were for Byakuya, so they didn't interfere with the fight,

"A zanpakutou is merely a tool! There are any number of replacements!"

Those words really made Rukia and Ichigo bristle. They, who made an effort every day to communicate with their zanpakutou spirits, to treat them the same as any other nakama. Specially Ichigo, who had known Zangetsu and been so close to both him and Shiro since he was a child… the two spirits had been his rock, his cornerstone for so long… to hear someone saying all such spirits were nothing more than tools… mere things that could be replaced… if Ichigo didn't respect Byakuya as he did, he'd have rushed in to show Kouga exactly how wrong he was… then again, even Ichigo and his companions would admit that Byakuya and Senbonzakura were doing a remarkable job of that.

At least when Muramasa lost control completely, the hollows he'd once consumed in order to be able to sustain his physical form escaping him and looking to prey on unsuspecting souls, proved an effective distraction.

"Nakama!" Ichigo called, both with his voice and his reiatsu.

Uryuu, Chad, Tatsuki and Keeva, who'd been waiting several yards away, responded in turn and rushed against the oncoming hollows, joining Rukia, Ichigo and their materialized zanpakutou spirits in the fight. Yuzu for her part just stayed on the edge of the lake, watching over everything nervously, her hand never letting go of the broken asauchi.

Things were pretty intense for the next half hour or so, as the hollows just kept coming. At first it was just those Muramasa had consumed, but then the presence of those hollows began attracting others, and then when the garganta opened… Tatsuki was about to be skewered by a hollow that rushed her from her blind spot as she was busy dealing with another, only to have it be destroyed in the nick of time by Zabimaru.

"Renji!" Tatsuki cried out in delighted relief.

"Everything alright in Seireitei now then?" Uryuu inquired as he shot another volley of arrows.

It was probably a very good thing that he'd figured out how to make purifying arrows, with how many hollows he was having to dispatch…

"Mostly." Renji nodded. "A few are still busy ensuring the zanpakutou will follow them again. And Hitsugaya-taichou… he pretty much vanished the moment the situation with Yamamoto-soutaichou's zanpakutou was solved. Said he and Hyourinmaru had to find someone. Something about helping Karin-san."

"How's Karin?" Rukia demanded, at his side in an instant.

Renji blinked briefly as he saw the beautiful and elegant woman in the white kimono shooting ice and snow at any hollows that dared get close to Rukia.

"Is that your zanpakutou?" Renji asked, curious.

"Yes, this is Sode no Shirayuki-san." Rukia nodded.

"You haven't been able to conquer her, then?" Renji wasn't sure what was going on.

"Conquer her?" Rukia tilted her head to a side, this time she was the one confused.

"Get her away from Muramasa's control." Renji clarified.

"Shirayuki-san was never under Muramasa's control." Rukia scoff at the mere idea. "He might have been able to force her out of my Inner World, but that was all. After that… well, she was already here, we decided to make good use of her materialization and fight together. Zangetsu is helping Ichigo as well."

Renji blinked as he realized that the aged man that was back to back with Ichigo wasn't a shinigami or one of the other Nakama, but Zangetsu. He knew that Ichigo's relationship with his zanpakutou was… odd, by shinigami's standards, and Rukia had been trying to emulate him recently. But he could have never imagined that it would make such a difference. Muramasa… he'd heard what the Captain Commander had said, about the kind of power that zanpakutou had, the power his wielder had had, there was a reason he was feared, and to think that Ichigo and Rukia were effectively immune to him…

"Watch out!" Uryuu called abruptly.

Rukia saw from the corner of her eye several hollows coming her way, she cut one straight down the middle before evading the second. Only afterwards noticing the fact that the hollow hadn't been rushing to attack her, no, instead it looked as if some kind of force were pulling it straight to a strange black-red sphere of energy… a sphere that was much too close to where Ichigo and Zangetsu were fighting together…

"Ichi…" Rukia began, but by then it was already too late, as the sphere shifted and expanded, swallowing many of the hollows, as well as Ichigo and Zangetsu. "Ichigo!"

Things escalated from there. As the strange mushroom-like object began pulsing with dark reiatsu, which called even more hollows to the scene. Thankfully Byakuya managed to defeat his own opponent right about then and joined the Nakama in battling the hollows. Renji couldn't help the double-take as he realized Senbonzakura was materialized too, and fighting alongside the shinigami captain, though the samurai-like zanpakutou spirit vanished into his bankai form a moment later, the rush of pink petals vanquishing every hollow in their path.

"Tsugi no mai: Hakuren!" Rukia and Shirayuki attacked in unison.

The burst of ice was such that it destroyed easily over a dozen hollows.

"What are we going to do now?" Renji asked as he went into bankai and sent Hihio Zabimaru to destroy more hollows.

"What else can we do but fight the hollows and wait for Ichigo to get out of that thing?" Rukia asked in return as she went into her first dance with a spin.

"So sure are you he's going to make it out…" Renji did his best not to be too close to Rukia, or her zanpakutou when they used their powers, that ice bit!

"Of course he is!" Rukia snapped, purposefully letting the cold air pass by his side, close enough to give him just a bit of frostbite on one arm. "It's Ichigo!"

Renji hissed at the frostbite but didn't say anything else, by the way his girlfriend was laughing even as she pummeled another hollow into spirit particles it was obvious that she knew what had just happened, and of course she was going to be on Rukia's side. It wasn't that he didn't want the half-human to be alright, Ichigo was his friend too! He just… sometimes, many times, he just found it so odd. The way Ichigo kept sometimes being dragged, sometimes outright diving into things that would kill practically anyone else, just to make it out alive… And more than that, he kept fearing that one day Rukia would follow (because she did tend to follow whenever she could) and then it would be her who wouldn't make it out… Even though Shu-Yung… Tatsuki had proven once and for all that he wasn't as much in love with Rukia as he once believed himself to be, the petite raven-haired shinigami was still his best friend, his sister in every way that mattered, and Renji couldn't stand the thought of losing her.

"We need to do something about that thing." Byakuya stated authoritatively. "If it keeps going like this, we risk it affecting Karakura adversely."

"Couldn't we just place a kekkai around it or something?" Renji suggested, he rolled his eyes at the disbelieving looks directed at him and added. "Not me, obviously! Everyone knows I suck at kidou. But there's taichou! And Rukia! And Yuzu-san!"

"Yuzu!" Rukia cried out, remembering the girl, only, she couldn't see her.

"Hey!" Uryuu asked as he too looked around, expanding his spiritual senses for good measure and still getting nothing. "Where's Yuzu?"

**xXx**

Ichigo didn't know for how long he fell. He wasn't entirely conscious for most of it. Shiro just managed to fully wake him a fraction of a second before he hit the water. Then, as he reached for the surface and then focused on standing on air, he realized that Zangetsu was back in his Inner World as well.

*Against one enemy, we'll work better like this.* Zangetsu explained.

*Is he really our enemy?* Ichigo asked, even as he looked around, the whole place looked like an endless ocean littered with broken columns.

*What the hell is that supposed to mean aibou?* Shiro demanded.

*Doesn't he remind you of anyone?* Ichigo asked in turn.

There was no time for an answer, as Ichigo felt a new reiatsu at the same time he heard a new sound, like water being disturbed…

"Is that you, Kurosaki Ichigo?" It was Muramasa, seemingly standing over the ocean. "Imagine meeting you here. How did you get here?"

"How should I know?" Ichigo asked in return. "What is this place?"

"Can't you tell?" Muramasa arched a brow. "Just as your zanpakutou has a home inside your mind, I too, had a home…"

"Then this place is…" Ichigo looked around as it dawned on him.

Except, it made no sense at all. Ichigo was fairly sure that Kouga was dead. It was his death that had apparently made Muramasa fully snap. And yet Muramasa still existed, he'd survived the death of his wielder, and the strange place around them…

Because Muramasa was more than a little nuts, the conversation soon turned into a battle, but even as Zangetsu lent his power to Ichigo, both he and Shiro couldn't help but think about what the shinigami had said: _Doesn't he remind you of anyone?_ Yes, yes he did. It almost seemed providential, that they'd just met with that very person the day before. As different as Kuugo and Muramasa might be, in the end they were both individuals who were lead astray by another's ambitions; whom Soul Society feared and turned against for crimes that might or might not be their fault. With Kuugo… even with no confirmation, Ichigo had the gut feeling that Aizen was to be blamed, an instinct that the two spirits inside him shared; and with Muramasa… what had he done but follow his shinigami's will?

*Aibou!* Shiro cried out as he felt the reiatsu reaching for them.

But it was too late, they'd all thought they knew how Muramasa attacked, but they never saw that one coming. Suddenly Ichigo was suspended, horizontally, hands extended at his sides, unable to move, to attack, defend, anything at all. Even then Ichigo refused to despair. He watched his reflection on the ocean's surface, the bindings holding him in place, slowly strangling him. He knew instinctively he couldn't materialize Zangetsu, he'd have ended in the same situation as him, judging by the way Muramasa had made sure to bind not just his hands but also his blade. Shiro on the other hand…

"Ichi-nii!" The female voice calling completely derailed Ichigo's train of thought.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo cried out in horror-tinged shock, his voice holding the slightest bit of Shiro's echoing tones.

"Ichi-nii, is it?" Muramasa mocked with a smirk, as he turned his attention to Yuzu. "You're his sister, aren't you?" His attention focused on her broken blade. "Ah… you're the one who came at me with an empty blade… How foolish of you."

What surprised Muramasa the most was that the girl didn't seem the slightest bit afraid of him. Nor did she reply to his taunts. Instead she turned to look at her brother, then at Muramasa, and then she raised her hand.

Ichigo was about to throw caution to the wind and pull Shiro out when Yuzu surprised him by attacking with kidou, mainly because she wasn't aiming at Muramasa at all, but at the ocean…

"Byakurai!" Yuzu cried out.

Ichigo understood it the moment the bindings around him disappeared. It had occurred to him, how curious it was that his reflection showed him being trapped, but Yuzu's sudden presence kept him from fully understanding what it meant. His sister had though, a single look and she'd understood what Muramasa was doing, and what the best way to release Ichigo was.

Muramasa roared in fury, re-materialized his katana, ready to rush either Kurosaki sibling when, unexpectedly, one of the nearby columns shattered, seemingly without a reason at all.

"What the…?" Ichigo was shocked.

*Kouga is dead Ichigo, this place is falling apart.* Zangetsu pointed out. *If we stay here much longer… we may not be able to get out.*

"Kuso!" Ichigo cursed out loud. "Yuzu, stay where you are! I'll finish this and we'll get out!"

"You speak as if you've already defeated me Kurosaki Ichigo." Muramasa snarled at him. "I'm far from done!"

And because Ichigo's life just was that insane, Muramasa turned out to really have a few aces under his sleeve yet. His illusions were good; almost as good as Aizen's were said to be, and that was a scary thought… and yet it was also the one that gave him the solution: following the three traitor's escape from Seireitei, the Nakama had spent days brainstorming, trying to find a way to ensure that Aizen would never be able to use his zanpakutou against them. They had heard enough about what he was capable of with it. After the situation with the Shinenju, and later on with Rukia's children they'd come to the conclusion that Orihime would be immune, thanks to the Shun Shun Rikka, Keeva was confident that Serenity would be immune as well since illusions were one of her areas of power, but there were still the others. It was Shiro who gave him a solution: him and Zangetsu. While Kyoka Suigetsu (and apparently Muramasa) might be able to ensnare the senses, they couldn't reach the spirits when they were in the Inner Worlds. Which meant that the spirits would still be able to perceive reality through the illusions. Of course, for that to be useful the wielder had to be able to trust their zanpakutou absolutely. That wasn't easily done. And yet, it had already yielded rewards, as was proven when Muramasa was unable to control Zangetsu and Shirayuki.

*I trust you Ossan…* Ichigo whispered into his mind.

On a lightning pole in a huge skyscraper in Ichigo's Inner World, Zangetsu smiled. Yes, his wielder trusted him, that was something he'd never had reason to doubt. They were going to teach Muramasa what it really meant when shinigami and zanpakutou worked together!

Muramasa was baffled. He truly didn't understand why he kept failing. How could the orange-haired shinigami keep avoiding his attacks? Or parrying? How did he know where Muramasa was when no one else had been able to see him coming when he didn't want them to? And then he pulled back, allowed the man… boy! He was little more than a boy! Ichigo landed on one of the few remaining columns, and that was when Muramasa saw it, his eyes were closed! The shinigami wasn't falling for Muramasa's illusions because he wasn't seeing them… and then he remembered.

"That's right, you have Zangetsu by your side." Muramasa muttered.

Zangetsu, one of two zanpakutou who'd ever been able to resist him, who hadn't been affected in the slightest by Muramasa's powers. And the other belonged to his partner, the petite shinigami girl… just who were these people?! Why was it that they were capable of listening and trusting their zanpakutou… have the kind of relationship Muramasa wanted so badly and couldn't have?! Muramasa was angry, so angry… but more than that, he was desperate. Losing himself in the grief for his loss, of a wielder, of a partner, of what he always wanted and could never be…

The fight kept going. At some point Zangetsu reminded Ichigo of the need to leave soon, before it was too late, and Ichigo was doubly worried because it wasn't just him at risk, but Yuzu as well. And yet… he couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't just give up on Muramasa, like doing so would be a mistake.

"Forcing your will on another isn't the only way to use a zanpakutou." Ichigo insisted, wholly believing every word. "You don't need to do everything your shinigami says!"

*Ossan is going to quote you on that aibou.* Shiro drawled in the back of his mind. *Repeatedly. And me as well.*

*Do so.* Ichigo didn't hesitate in his response. *If I ever forget that we're partners, that our relationship is one of equals, remind me. I will never seek to conquer, to dominate you, either of you. We're partners.*

*Aibou.* Shiro agreed.

Zangetsu just hnned, but that, and the pride Ichigo could sense coming from him were more than enough in that moment.

Muramasa for his part, just stared at Ichigo in shock.

And just like that, they ran out of time.

"Muramasa!"

**xXx**

Outside the dome, things were both better and worse. Byakuya, with help from Tessai and Kisuke had managed to close the garganta, the Nakama taking down the remaining hollows. And yet right when they began to believe that things might be alright, the dome began almost pulsating with an eerie light, as the reiatsu levels shot up.

"If this keeps going…" Kisuke began, eyes wide in shock.

"Karakura Town could be destroyed." Tessai finished for him.

"There must be something we can do!" Uryuu yelled, wanting ideas, any ideas.

When the solution came… it did from a most unexpected direction. One moment the dome seemed to be cracking, the pieces expanding, as if about to be shot in every direction, and the next they were being pushed back together by a translucent film… one that shone in the strangest color, one that seemed to be all colors of the rainbow at the same time…

"Serenity-dono!" Several voices called.

Byakuya was the first to reach the young woman. She was wearing her usual long skirt, peasant blouse, a long veil wound around her head in such a way it concealed everything about her but her eyes, eyes that looked like the purest, brightest silver, or more like stars, two stars pulled straight down from heaven. For the briefest moment Byakuya couldn't help but wonder if that was why they were called Réalta…

The woman didn't even turn to look at Byakuya, her whole attention on the cracking dome. Her arms were raised and as Byakuya turned his attention to her hands. It took him a moment to realize that Serenity wasn't wearing gloves, and yet her hands looked so pale, unhealthily so. Then again, it was no secret that she was dying. The tremors in those same hands also made it obvious, at least to Byakuya, how hard it must be for her to hold the dome in place, to keep it from expanding, or worse, exploding. Yet he said nothing, not wanting to make it seem like he believed her to be weak. Because he didn't. It was a little known fact, that he and the Réalta had met several times in recent weeks. She'd given her permission for the history of her people to be recorded, and then proceeded to tell him everything she remembered. Had even allowed Byakuya to read what books, old diaries and files she had.

"_When we're gone… Keeva and I, we're the last ones. I know because I've looked. There are no more living stars… no more Réalta. When we're gone… I want us to be remembered. For there to be a record of our existence. For people to know that we were here, that we lived, and fought… and loved…" _

Byakuya had promised, and to that promise he held. The oldest diaries and books were all in Irish, and while he didn't know the language Serenity was kind enough to translate for him. He'd considered learning the language, but knew there wouldn't be enough time… It was almost funny, after so many decades, over a century leading such an existence where time became almost inconsequential he found himself in a situation where time was suddenly of great importance, and he realized there was so very little of it…

His thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when he noticed the stain in the veil covering her face. A crimson stain…

"Serenity-dono… you're bleeding…" Byakuya murmured quietly.

The young woman said nothing, and it took but a moment for the Kuchiki Head to realize why. She knew, she'd probably known it'd happen before Byakuya ever noticed anything. And the reason was obvious enough. She was overextending herself, forcing her powers past their limit, and it was costing her… how badly was she hurting herself by using her powers on that dome? How much of her own time, limited as it was already, was she burning away? Too much… Always too much…

"Ah…" The lightest, softest exclamation left her lips, a moment before her body collapsed, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Byakuya moved just in the nick of time to catch her in his arms. She was unconscious, and as he moved to scoop her in his arms he couldn't help but touch her bare skin very briefly, only to realize she was cold, so very, very cold…

**xXx**

Rukia was the first to realize that nothing was blocking her from Ichigo anymore. She didn't even wait for anyone else to say anything, just shot straight towards him. Shirayuki smiled before vanishing back into Rukia's Inner World, knowing it was unlikely she'd be needed again. The battle was over, it was time to regroup, and she missed the coldness of Rukia's Inner World. Even when it had been hard in many ways to learn to share the space with another spirit, and especially one so different from herself as Kaijin… the hollow was a part of her partner, so they learned to be partners, much like Shirayuki and Rukia did.

Muramasa opened his eyes slowly… if he was honest with himself he hadn't expected to survive the collapse of Kouga's Inner World. That moment, when the last columns had shattered and he found himself sinking in the endless ocean, he was so sure it'd be the end. In that moment it wasn't just the water he'd been drowning in, but his own regrets… until he heard a voice calling. A voice calling his name… he could hardly fathom it. So long he'd been waiting, waiting to hear his name being called, for his master to call for him, and he never did. And yet, in that moment, even mostly lost to despair as he was, that voice still reached him, her voice… of that girl-child, who looked at him with so much sadness, so much compassion and a level of understanding he could hardly believe. And she wasn't the only one. The shinigami too, he'd sought to understand Muramasa, like no one else, not even Kouga, ever did. Yet, it wasn't his voice that had made him hang on, no, it was hers.

"Is this what you call for two souls to connect?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah…" Ichigo nodded.

The siblings were kneeling by his side, each holding onto Muramasa, as if wanting him to know without a doubt that they were there, that they weren't leaving him alone.

"I made quite a mess of things with Kouga, didn't I?" Muramasa muttered, self-recriminating, though the grimace of pain made his voice break at the end.

"It happens to all of us." Ichigo sought to reassure him.

"Everyone makes mistakes." Yuzu said at the same time. "What's important is to see and accept when we're wrong, and make amends."

"Amends…" Muramasa broke off.

"Do not give up!" Yuzu pressed. "Not now, it's not too late…"

"I have no master, without a shinigami a zanpakutou is nothing…" It was the regrettable truth, zanpakutou spirits could not exist without shinigami.

Ichigo lowered his head, at a loss of how to help.

"What about me?" Yuzu's question took them all by surprise.

Even Rukia, who'd just landed on the island, closely followed by the rest of the Nakama, froze at those words. Was Yuzu aware of what she was offering…?

"I know I'm not much." Yuzu shrugged, self-deprecating. "I don't actually have the right kind of energy to create a zanpakutou of my own, but if you're willing, I'd like to get to know you, to work with you. You lend me your strength, and I'll lend you mine. What say you?"

"You cannot possibly…" Muramasa was in absolute shock, after Kouga's rejection, after all the troubles he'd caused…

"Yuzu…" Ichigo and Rukia began practically at the same time.

"I know what I'm doing!" Yuzu cut them off, her whole attention in Muramasa. "I know it's gonna be hard. I know not everyone will understand. But I'm willing to do it. Because I think you deserve a chance. To see where you made mistakes, to make amends. I will help you if you let me. So will you, let me?"

"It would be my honor, little lady…" Muramasa whispered, closing his eyes briefly. "You know what needs to be done?"

For all answered she offered him her asauchi. It was broken in half, but even then, it would do. Muramasa's lips lifted minutely, the closest he'd come to a smile as he took the proffered blade. Yuzu didn't let go, reaffirming her choice by helping Muramasa guide the asauchi to her own chest, right over her heart. No one said a word. Even Ichigo, he'd never dishonor his sister by suggesting she might not know her own mind. Yuzu had made her choice and her brother would support her, all the Nakama would.

And just like that, a sword was buried into a heart, and lives were changed… again.

**xXx**

Rangiku turned her head one way and the other several times until there was a loud crack, loud enough that if anyone had heard it they'd have winced in imagined pain; Rangiku just relaxed as the crick in the back of her neck finally smoothed out. She was tired and sore, and it was all Haineko's fault! There was a reason why Rangiku never tried to attain bankai, and contrary to popular opinion, it wasn't laziness on her part. It was simply self-awareness. Rangiku knew she just didn't have the kind of power necessary to have, and to maintain a bankai (truth was, she was surprised enough when she had enough power to have a shikai). So while she spoke to Haineko sometimes, and had gone into her Inner World a few times, she'd never fought her zanpakutou spirit, not truly. Yet that was the only way to make things right.

It was something her captain realized first. Her captain (her son!), she was so very proud of him, always had been. While so many others had been running around like headless chicken, without the slightest idea of how to handle things with the zanpakutou spirits gone, he'd decided to try out his own plan. Searching out Hyourinmaru and getting him back. Only explaining his logic to the assembled shinigami afterwards:

"The zanpakutou have always required two things from us:" He told them seriously: "Strength to wield their power, and trust to take what they give us. That's what you need to take them back. Prove that the power they have is yours as much as theirs. They are, after all, a part of each of us in the end…"

It probably wasn't surprising that he'd be the first one to realize that. Hyourinmaru had been a part of him since he was young, before he ever went to the Academy (the ice dragon was the whole reason Toushirou even needed to go at all! Because he was manifesting without control, and it was dangerous).

So the shinigami went and fought their zanpakutou to get them back. Seireitei and even some areas of Rukongai were a mess, which really wasn't that surprising when one considered the kind of damage some zanpakutou could cause, especially in bankai. Rangiku hoped to never, ever see Ryujin Jakka in action ever again… Once with Haineko back, Rangiku had had every intention to go to her rooms and nap… probably for the rest of the weekend, but then Toushirou went and asked for a favor…

"_I know this is probably completely unnecessary but… would you stay with her? I just… I would be more at ease if I know you're with her." _

And so there Rangiku was, sitting on a not-quite-comfortable chair beside a bed in a private room in the 4th Division. The person on said bed being none other than Karin… they'd had quite the scare, when an unseated shinigami went looking for them, to tell them that Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin had been found unconscious a few yards away from the 10th Division Barracks. And then when they arrived to the 4th, only to have Isane tell them that nothing seemed to wake up the raven haired shinigami.

Back then they hadn't even known what was going on. Some shinigami had been having trouble with their zanpakutou, but the incidents hadn't been connected, not yet. Not until that meeting was called and Muramasa arrived, along with the spirits of all their zanpakutou…

"_But… but Karin-san doesn't have a zanpakutou!" Rangiku snapped, stressed. "She doesn't, she said so at that meeting last summer." _

"_Not precisely." Toushirou shook his head. "What she said was that Tenreikou was no longer a separate spirit. That because they died synced they reincarnated as a single soul. Muramasa used his ability to pull our zanpakutou from our hearts against both our will and their own…" _

"_You think Muramasa… you think he actually split Karin-san's soul to get Tenreikou?!" Rangiku's voice went through a couple of octaves in her shock. _

"_It's not that impossible, if you think about it." Toushirou insisted. "In the end, our zanpakutou came from us, from our hearts. They might be independent spirits now, but they were born from our hearts…" _

Tenreikou had gone back to Karin's heart when they died, and Muramasa had pulled her out, done in an instant what usually took shinigami hopefuls anywhere from a few months to years to achieve (except when they were Kurosaki-Nagaken… but that was a whole other matter). At least that was the theory, and so Toushirou had gone hunting, leaving Rangiku to watch over the unconscious Karin in the meantime.

The strawberry blonde lieutenant was dangerously close to nodding off when Toushirou's arrival returned her to alertness. Rangiku straightened up abruptly, sharply enough for her back to crack loudly. Toushirou actually winced as he turned to look at her.

"You can go rest now… kaa-san…" The last word he said more quietly, and only after making sure no one was listening in.

Rangiku's smile was blinding. It was rare for Toushirou to actually acknowledge their blood connection, much less actually refer to her as mom, but she loved it when he did. Such was the effect it had on her that it actually took the blonde a couple of seconds to understand what he'd just said, and what it meant.

"You found her?" Blue eyes went wide.

Toushirou just smirked at her before turning to the bed, scooping the raven-haired shinigami in his arms and carrying her out.

"Where are we going?" Rangiku asked, falling into step behind him without hesitation.

"The 10th's training grounds." Toushirou didn't even ask why she was following, he knew her well enough. "It's the only place with enough space."

With shunpo they made it to their training grounds in very little time. There Rangiku immediately noticed quite a few of their shinigami loitering around, looking more than a little shocked. It wasn't hard to see why. Right in the middle of the training area there was a majestic blue dragon, scales glinting under the sunlight, they seemed to shimmer between normal scales and actual ice every so often. And if that weren't a shocking enough image, then there was the other being there: a big, gorgeous bird, with red being its main color, though there was also enough gold in its feathers to make it really shine, and its tail seemed to be made of fire… a phoenix.

The phoenix and the dragon, the Yin and the Yang…

Toushirou ignored the busybodies completely, crossing the training grounds and eventually laying Karin's unconscious form down, just a few feet away from the two spirits. Almost unconsciously he ran a hand down Karin's cheek, brushing away a stray lock of hair. Then he stood and backed away.

"She needs you Tenreikou…" Toushirou murmured even as he pressed his own back against Hyourinmaru's lowered head. "And I… I need her."

"Just like she needs you, always has and always will."

Rangiku had no idea how Tenreikou was speaking, but she was (then again, it was the same with Haineko!). Her voice was female, low, cultured, powerful…

"All is as it's always been, as it was meant to be." Hyourinmaru complimented.

The dragon's voice was male, grave, full of power and authority…

"Two bodies, one heart…" Tenreikou began.

"Two minds, one soul…" Hyourinmaru completed.

"Yesterday, today and tomorrow…" They finished in unison.

Tenreikou seemed to almost glide down, landing right on Karin's chest. And while the bird was big and looked like it must be quite heavy the unconscious girl seemed completely unaffected. Tenreikou let out a loud, bird-like cry then, just for a moment, before she lowered her beak to Karin's forehead, like a mother kissing her child's brow… then the spirit vanished into a haze of fire-red reiatsu.

At the same time Hyourinmaru roared briefly into the sky, the two animal calls entwining like some unnamed magic; before pressing its snout to the back of Toushirou's head briefly and vanishing into ice blue reiatsu.

Karin drew in a sharp breath as her eyes snapped open. They glowed red very briefly, fire shining in the back of her irises, and then the glow was gone and her eyes were back to their usual gray.

"Toushirou-kun…" Was the first word to come from Karin's lips as she sat up slowly, her eyes never leaving his.

It was as if something snapped inside Toushirou, as he dropped to his knees and enveloped her in his arms, tightly.

Rangiku brushed away a tear before turning to all the nosy shinigami hanging around, using her authority as a lieutenant to send them away. Karin and Toushirou deserved to have their privacy. Which was also why she left without looking back.

If Rangiku had stayed just a few seconds longer, or if she'd just looked over her shoulder even once, she'd have seen the moment when the two young shinigami pulled back and without a word, or the slightest hesitation, kissed. It was a short kiss, barely more than a touch, but still, for them, it was more than enough. The spirits of their zanpakutou had already said everything that needed to be said anyway…

**xXx**

When Ichigo, Rukia and Yuzu arrived to the 4th Karin was sitting on a cot, waiting non-too-patiently as Unohana performed all kind of scans on her.

"I just want to be sure you'll be alright Karin-dono." The healer informed her, seeing the raven-haired shinigami's patience running thin.

"I'm fine Unohana-san, all recovered now." Karin tried her best to convince her.

"Until an hour ago you were in a coma!" Isane cried out in distress.

"Yes well, my spirit was, essentially, out of balance." Karin shrugged. "But that's been solved now so there's nothing to worry about."

"Solved how?" Ichigo asked, eyes narrowed.

He'd spent the last hour, as he and the rest of the Nakama made sure everything was in order and there would be no more trouble for Karakura, and then awaiting the authorization to open a Senkaimon; as the chaos in Soul Society had made Yamamoto block all travel between worlds unless authorized by himself, until they knew the danger was past. All that time the orange-haired shinigami had spent it worrying about his sister's situation. Because all Yuzu could really tell him was that Karin had been attacked at some point between Friday night and Saturday morning and been unconscious since then. Muramasa had admitted to Yuzu that he'd done to her the same as to all other shinigami, but Karin's very peculiar situation meant that no one really knew how things might turn out… only for them to find Karin apparently just fine… or so she claimed.

For all answer Karin reached behind her back. To the zanpakutou the size of a kodachi none of the newcomers had noticed before that very moment.

"Tenreikou's back." Was all she said for an answer.

Ichigo gaped, Rukia blinked, while Yuzu just smiled brightly. Where the younger twin was concerned, it didn't matter if she didn't understand what was going on exactly, how the spirit of Karin's zanpakutou had come to be again (other than it was somehow Muramasa's fault, that much was obvious to everyone), as long as her sister was alright, Yuzu was happy.

Before Ichigo could ask (demand) further explanations, they were all interrupted by a jigokuchou as it landed on Rukia's hand.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou wants to see us at the earliest convenience." Rukia stated.

Ichigo knew that was noble-speak for 'come, now', but since Karin seemed to be alright, and he'd already been planning to go see the old man, he agreed. Also, he realized that responding to the summons quickly might even help the man be more open minded when they got to the tough topics that they'd be talking about.

"I'm coming too." Yuzu wasn't asking, and really, she knew the Soutaichou would insist on talking to her sooner or later.

It didn't matter how much Ichigo wanted to protect his sisters most of the time. Yuzu had made a choice, and she'd have to face the consequences… of course, that didn't mean that if the man got difficult Ichigo would just stand there and do nothing…

The trio had just left the room when Isane spoke up:

"Hey… was that a zanpakutou on Yuzu-san's back?"

Karin blinked, as her mind processed that yes, that had been a zanpakutou on her sister's back, one that hadn't been there the day before, and wasn't her asauchi… also, as Karin looked back on things, she realized it felt nothing like a new zanpakutou. Karin didn't even stop to ponder on what that might meant.

"Sorry Unohana-san, gotta go!" Karin called as she jumped off the bed and rushed after her family, something had happened to her twin in the last 12 hours and she was going to find out what it was exactly.

**xXx**

Yamamoto stared at the young (half)human girl directly, a look that held all the power his years and experience granted him. It was the kind of look that could get even Kyouraku Shunsui to shut up and pay attention. Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu stood her ground. She knew that the old shinigami didn't like it, she even understood why, and that he'd very good reasons for not liking the situation, but she wasn't going back on her choices!

*Yuzu…* Muramasa whispered in the back of her mind.

Being free of all those hollows, and to a lesser extent, of Kouga as well, meant that Muramasa was finally back to himself. He was once again the kind of individual who believed in honor, in loyalty, in doing the right thing… things that had been twisted into dark versions of themselves after his old wielder was betrayed and all the mess began. Kouga had been a good man once, one whose pride and resentment over the betrayal of the Gotei made into a monster who believed his way was the only right one. And while Muramasa regretted not being able to keep Kouga from becoming what he did, he'd promised to be there for Yuzu, to support her, and never abandon her; while Yuzu promised never to let him go, never to stop listening to him. It was exactly the kind of thing Muramasa always dreamed of having with Kouga… all the same, he was afraid, he didn't like being the reason his young wielder was in trouble.

*I'm not going back on my word.* Yuzu stated simply. *We're partners now Muramasa. Like Ichi-nii and Zangetsu-san, like Rukia-nee and Shirayuki-san. Aibou…*

*Aibou.* Muramasa agreed, unable to help the sense of pride that filled him at the word.

"This is a mistake, child!" Yamamoto snapped. "That zanpakutou is dangerous. It should have been destroyed!"

"Kuchiki Kouga was a dangerous man." Yuzu stated calmly. "And Kuchiki-taichou has seen to it that justice be done regarding him. Muramasa has committed no crime of his own. All he did in the past, he did following his shinigami's command. Is that not what you teach at your Academy? That zanpakutou follow a shinigami's orders, always?" She didn't mention that she and her siblings were different. "What happened over the last few days was a mistake made out of grief, and misplaced loyalty. Muramasa understands he was in the wrong and together he and I promise to do our best to help Soul Society recover from this situation."

"How are you so sure you can control him?" Sasakibe Choujirou questioned.

He'd seen each of the Kurosaki-Nagaken siblings achieve incredible things in the months since they'd first arrived to Seireitei as the ryoka, but after seeing zanpakutou going around of their own free will, after the mess Muramasa himself had started… it was probably understandable for some to be doubtful.

"All he wants is for his shinigami to listen." Yuzu explained calmly. "And I am, listening."

"You understand that if this is allowed to stand, you'll be responsible for any of Muramasa's future actions?" Yamamoto's eyes narrowed as he raised his reiatsu just a bit, wanting the girl to understand the seriousness of the matter. "If he commits a crime, it'll be your head girl."

Yuzu knew exactly what Yamamoto was doing. She also knew that if she shook in the slightest she'd lose respect, and her brother would go nuts; it was enough of a miracle that Rukia had managed to hold him back thus far. So she just wrapped her own reiatsu around herself like a protective cloak and stood her ground.

"I understand." She said simply.

The atmosphere cleared abruptly. Yamamoto just let out a breath and said nothing else. He probably should have realized that the girl would be as stubborn as both of her siblings… and truth was, she was right. Following Seireitei's own laws and traditions, Muramasa wasn't actually guilty of anything. That was, for the most part, because until the recent catastrophe it would have never occurred to anyone that zanpakutou might do things of their own volition, especially start a rebellion. Such laws might change in the future, but even if they did, Muramasa and his new wielder would not be affected. Who knew? Perhaps the girl might even do good things with him. Stranger things had happened before (and most of them had involved the Nakama in one form or another…).

"Very well, then we'll consider this matter sealed." Yamamoto announced officially. "May the records show from this day forth Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu as a shinigami and Muramasa as her zanpakutou."

*Call on me.* Muramasa instructed, knowing it was expected.

Yuzu nodded mentally before drawing her sword and holding it before her and calling the release phrase that had just been given to her:

"Whisper Muramasa…"

No one could have missed the way every shinigami's hand strayed towards the hilts of their zanpakutou, if only briefly. All but four of them…

Muramasa gave a step forward before dropping on one knee, head down in a penitent position:

"I deeply regret all the damage I may have caused while with my previous master, with Yuzu-san's guidance I will strive to do better." He stated in a very ceremonial manner.

Yamamoto said nothing, just nodded. Muramasa waited a few seconds longer before vanishing into reishi, which reformed into the form of a zanpakutou, on Yuzu's back.

"Having concluded this order of business I ask all present if there's anything else that may require our attention at this time." Yamamoto called.

He wasn't expecting there to be anything, on hindsight, he probably should have known better.

"If I may, Soutaichou," Ichigo called respectfully. "There's a matter we would like to bring before you… though we're not sure if it should be done in the present company or in private."

Yamamoto opened his eyes a bit, looking at Ichigo carefully. He hadn't forgotten the last time Ichigo wanted to bring something to his attention. The young shinigami was only ever that respectful and mindful of protocols when it was something he considered important…

"Well, tell me what is it and we'll see, Kurosaki-Nagaken-san." Yamamoto ordered.

"It's regarding Ginjou Kuugo…"

Yamamoto's eyes opened fully, as half the captains present froze. That name hadn't been heard in Seireitei in so long… and for Ichigo to bring him up… not for the first time the old shinigami wondered if the Nakama were the best or the worst thing that ever happened to Soul Society…

**xXx**

It was dark outside when she opened her eyes, the moon hadn't risen yet, but the stars were twinkling merrily in the sky. Serenity wasn't really surprised to discover she'd been sleeping for hours, it had barely been early afternoon when the fight took place. But it had been so hard… keeping that barrier, keeping the strange-looking dome from exploding and affecting, possibly even destroying, Karakura. For a moment she'd even feared she might lose control completely, that she might end up making things worse instead of helping… but she managed to hold on long enough for the dome to collapse in on itself and then… that was all she knew.

"You're awake…" A voice called.

"Byakuya-dono!" Serenity sat up so abruptly the dizzy spell almost made her collapse again.

"Slowly Serenity-dono, you must be exhausted." Byakuya whispered as he put some things on the low table beside the couch, sitting beside her as he helped her sit up again.

It took several seconds for the dizziness and slight nausea to pass but eventually Serenity nodded, prompting Byakuya to let go. A part of her regretted it instantly, but she bit her lower lip discreetly to keep from saying anything about it. It took her a couple of seconds longer to see the mug being held in front of her face, by Byakuya.

"Keeva-san told me where to find the things for tea." Byakuya explained. "I had to go to Soul Society to make my report to the Soutaichou, but then I returned to make sure you were alright."

"Arigatou…" Serenity whispered, lowering her eyes, thankful that even if her long veil had to be taken off, Keeva made sure to arrange the shorter one on her, it only covered to her neck but it was enough to hide her blush.

She reached for the mug of tea, but her hands shook so badly Byakuya barely reacted in time to take it back before she could spill the hot liquid all over herself.

"I'm sorry…" She apologized.

"Never apologize for the fragility of your human body, it's something you have no control over." Byakuya told her gently but firmly.

"Fragility, some would just call it weakness." Serenity couldn't help but quip.

"After what you just did… you stopped that cursed dome from exploding, saving all of us, and potentially everyone in this town, no one could possibly call that being weak." He pointed out. "Though, you hurt yourself doing so…"

"You all did your part, as I did mine."

He held her hands and the mug as he helped her drink the tea. Halfway through her hands stopped shaking but he just didn't let go of her. Neither of them said a word, it just didn't seem necessary. They both understood what she'd done, and the seriousness of what had happened to her afterwards. Time was running out, next time she used her powers would probably be her last…

* * *

So, what do you think? I hope you're still enjoying my writing.

Now, a bit of a warning. Take a deep breath, and brace yourselves. I call this chapter in my head 'the calm before the storm', because, it's coming... the confrontation against the Espada, the battle between the shinigami and Hueco Mundo, from the next chapter, things are gonna get more than a little insane! We're not coming to the end quite yet, but still, one of the biggest confrontations is coming, hope you're ready! (Hope we all are!)

Anyone wanna make guesses as to what's coming? I'd love to see what you all think. See ya next week!


	41. The Beginning of the End

So... I decided to have a bit of an early start today and... here we are!

Something I cannot believe hasn't come up 'til now. The melody Orihime plays on her flute is a traversal flute version of Kokoro, the original version which is sung by Rin Kagamine. When I first started Nakama, and when I became a fan of the Ulquihime pairing, that song was a favorite of us fans for the two of them. There's a particularly beautiful AMV in youtube for it, if you want to look it up. If you're an Ulquihime fan you'll love it. You can also find instrumental covers of the song there, including flute ones, if you want to get an idea of what it sounds like when Orihime's playing it.

A lot of stuff happens in this chapter. Brace yourselves, this is your last warning! The biggest battle of the Winter War's coming!

Also, one more thing, or rather two. First, is there's anyone left who prefers the original, canon Orihime to this verse's, then in this chapter you'll find Orihime particularly OOC. If you've come to love this version of her as much as I have, this is where she reaches the limits of her character, as she becomes who she was always meant to be.

Oh, and if anyone's interested on an explanation for the past-lives names used, their meanings and all that, let me know, I have it written down somewhere. And I promise you, I didn't draw them out of a hat, there's a reason for each name. Though, as I recently discovered, most of them cannot be found in the common baby-names websites (I did all this before those websites were even a thing, using actual translators).

And the last thing. Please remember that if you kill me I cannot post the next chapter... see you in a week!

* * *

**Chapter 41. The Beginning of the End **

Orihime was sitting seiza on a dune, a few yards away from the white walls of Las Noches, in direct view of the hidden side door into the fortress. She wasn't sure if it was because, with the whole place being effectively a labyrinth Aizen didn't believe she'd be able to find her way, or if he had truly deluded himself into believing Orihime was his ally (part of his 'family' as he insisted on calling them all). She'd have thought it impossible, it was ludicrous to believe that anyone would truly believe that someone like she (a Nakama!) would switch sides at the drop of a hat, even (especially!) under duress; and Aizen was said to be a genius, so naivete or foolishness couldn't be the cause. And yet… it wouldn't be the first time, would it?

She could remember, back when she was Amekimi, Kyoshi had made a point to teach her everything he believed she ought to know. She'd been educated as though she were truly still her father's daughter and an heiress to the throne. And while a child's inexperience, and the iron-clad belief of one's father to be all-knowing, all-powerful, almost a god in one's eyes, might blind said child to the parent's defects… once the child became an adult, it was different. Amekimi's father had had three wives: her mother being the third, a miko he'd met while on a war campaign. Ayame had fallen in love with him during the time Arashikensei's men were camped near her temple and when the war caused the death of all the people in her village except her, he offered her a new home, and a new life, as his wife. She accepted. They were a true match, something that couldn't be denied… and something his other two wives didn't like.

The other two wives, had come to be thus under very different circumstances: Takara had been the eldest child of a very rich lord. A very beautiful woman, always dressed in the finest silk and covered in jewels, she'd been the symbol of the kingdom's wealth and prosperity… a trophy wife, in the truest sense of the word. Kyoko on the other hand, had been, at the core of it, a hostage. The only daughter of Arashikensei's most vicious enemy, the marriage was both meant to pacify her family, while at the same time serving as a warning; they all knew who'd pay the price if her father or brothers were to try anything…

Reading through old reports and diaries years later, Amekimi couldn't help but wonder how her father had missed the signs. From the start the situation with the first two wives had been a recipe for disaster. They each may have known and accepted what they were getting into, marriages in circumstances such as theirs not at all uncommon in that era. What had been rare, was Ayame's and Arashikensei's love-match. That was when things began going wrong. Because while the other two could accept that their husband would never love them, they couldn't stand him loving another. Especially one who seemingly didn't 'bring anything' to the marriage. Nothing but a baby girl born less than a year later. And if things hadn't been bad enough by then, the fact that Arashikensei so clearly loved and doted on Amekimi certainly was the final nail on the coffin. But the part that hit her the hardest back then, had been realizing that all the signs had been there. They had known, Arashikensei and Kyoshi both had known who was ultimately responsible for the death of Hina-chan and Haha… and instead of ending the problem once and for all, they chose to send Amekimi into hiding and trying to handle things internally. Perhaps it was that Arashikensei hadn't wanted to deal with the consequences of killing the daughter of a very rich ally, or the rekindling of the war against his worst opponent, but it had all happened anyway! It had all gone to hell. Amekimi had spent most of her life in a secluded palace, a bird in a golden cage, she'd never known freedom, not really.

Orihime exhaled. It was curious really, how so many things reminded her of her past lives, since arriving to Hueco Mundo. And the very first… the very first had been the reason she'd chosen to stay at all…

"Utokui…" She exhaled.

"Hime-chan!" She heard Grimmjow calling her, the lilt of mischievousness that always reminded her of Giichi, and which had made her see through the fragment of hollow mask and the dark reiatsu and truly see her old guard in the Arrancar, shining through in her nickname.

A part of Orihime couldn't help but wonder if everyone else heard it, the underlying respect at the core of that nickname. The fact that the term was no longer meant to mock her, it was her title, her identity… she somehow doubted it. Aizen was always too busy to be around when Grimmjow did it, and while Ichimaru had probably heard it a few times… well, truth was Orihime was never sure what to think about the silver haired shinigami at all. It was as if the man were a puzzle with pieces that didn't fully fit together.

Orihime put down her flute as the melody came to an end. It was the same melody she always played. The one always in her thoughts. It brought her peace, helped her hope that things might just go right this time around… somehow.

"Freaky bastard freaks me out…" Grimmjow muttered in a low tone.

Orihime looked behind him, to the retreating Acidwire. Most of the times he was the one to guide her outside in the afternoons for her 'break'. It reminded her of the inmates in a prison, how they would be scheduled for time outside, in a courtyard… and it wasn't that far from the truth, was it? Regardless of what Aizen might insist on calling it, she was a prisoner (even if it was, at least in part, by her own choice).

"Why?" Orihime cocked her head to a side, curious.

"Wha…?" Grimmjow did a double-take, probably not having expected her to hear him, or at the very least, not expecting her to question him on it. "He just does! You remember what I told you about us hollows. And how hard it is to get to be an arrancar?"

Orihime nodded, not knowing where he was getting to, exactly.

"Sometimes arrancar do come to be naturally, of course." Grimmjow shrugged. "They're weaker than us, the Privaron Espada… they were Arrancars before Aizen ever came and brought his nifty little jewel with him. But they were demoted, became the Tres Cifras, when those of us created by the Hougyoku proved to be better. Acidwire is an anomaly… or more like an abomination, because while, like the Privaron, he evolved on his own, he wasn't a Vasto Lorde or Adjuchas when he did… hell, he wasn't even a Menos at all! He was a single hollow, and somehow when his mask broke, he didn't die, or lose himself, he became an arrancar. That should have been impossible!"

"Is he very powerful?" Orihime hadn't felt much from him, but she might be wrong.

"Not at all!" Grimmjow snorted at the thought. "Makes one wonder why Emospada keeps him around at all. Je! I guess some wonder the same regarding me, huh?"

"He trusts you." Orihime said, fully believing it.

"Nah!" Grimmjow shook his head. "Utokui might have trusted me. But he's not Utokui, not anymore. And that's something you need to get through your thick head, hime-chan. Because we both know that sooner or later things will get moving, and when they do… you will need to fight, for your life above all others, and you cannot hesitate when it comes to him. You cannot look at him and believe that because he was once your guard he will choose you again. He's chosen Aizen, and that means he's your enemy."

Orihime knew that Grimmjow meant well, he was trying to help her and yet… and yet she couldn't give up, not now, not after everything she'd done to get where she was. And besides, if Grimmjow had remembered, who said Ulquiorra couldn't as well?

"You're going to ignore me completely, aren't you?" Grimmjow rolled his eyes, he didn't even sound mad, just resigned.

"I'm sorry." Orihime shrugged and sighed a bit at the same time.

"Don't know why I'm even surprised." Grimmjow muttered, mostly to himself.

Orihime knew Grimmjow was right on one thing though, things were going to get moving, and it was going to happen soon. It had been a week since Aizen had called her for a private meeting, where he'd reiterated his plans from that day in Soul Society, his desire to become the Spirit King. Orihime was also quite sure that she hadn't misunderstood him when he suggested that she might becoming his Queen (the mere thought made her shudder). But it wasn't even just that, their meeting had taken place in his private office. Not the one where they'd spoken the first time, when he'd surrounded them by monitors where she had to watch her nakama fight and almost die in their attempt to rescue her. No, his real office was very different, sparse almost, considering the man was a megalomaniac with delusions of being King of all three worlds… They'd talked about his plans, about the Nakama (a reminder of how Aizen had kept his word, he hadn't gone after them, and wouldn't… as long as Orihime stayed), about how much help she would be when the time came… and then he'd shown her the Hougyoku.

It wasn't like Orihime hadn't been quite aware about the existence of the jewel. Though there had been a few things she hadn't known. Like the fact that Aizen had created his own, and then fused it with Kisuke's, that it was that which allowed him to use it and act so much sooner than those in Seireitei expected him to. It wasn't even that Orihime hadn't considered the possibility of doing something about the Hougyoku, because she had. When first telling Karin about her decision to stay, that had been her excuse (not that she actually needed to use it, but she'd still had it ready). And yet, she'd spent all the days since then more focused on Ulquiorra, on who he'd once been. She hadn't even begun making a serious plan on how to get rid of the Hougyoku. She wasn't sure anymore if she could do it. Could she push aside her own personal feelings, her hopes, her dreams and do what was needed? Could she give up on her own heart, her very soul, and do what needed to be done? No matter what it cost her? Because she knew that if she did it, if she focused all her attention, her power, into erasing the Hougyoku, that would be it, there would be no going back, she'd never again be so close to Ulquiorra, have the chance to see if he might one day remember her, the old her, like Grimmjow had… then again, perhaps Grimmjow was right and that was never going to happen anyway…

Orihime closed her eyes, letting out a sigh that held so much emotion Grimmjow said nothing at all about it. Grimmjow was such a conundrum, there was so little of Giichi left in him anymore, though still enough for Orihime to have recognized him. Enough to allow him to remember pieces of his life, to remember her, and Utokui, and Shaolin, Shaolin… they hadn't really talked about his old lover, nothing beyond the fact that she'd died that day, and that Amekimi never saw her spirit in all the years she spent hiding in the ruins of her palace. Then again, they all had died, with the boys turning into hollows eventually, Amekimi being reincarnated, first into Kiseki, who died much too soon, and then into herself, Orihime.

Grimmjow had been around her so much over the last week. He helped her train (according to him she was a bit rusty, but it was good to see that all the time spent training Amekimi hadn't gone to waste; he seemed to take greater delight in her defeat of Zatara since remembering he was one of those who'd originally trained the princess), he was there to escort her wherever she needed to go if Ulquiorra wasn't, and he tried to be there during her time out of Las Noches every night. At first it had seemed like a coincidence, but after a week Orihime was quite sure he'd taken back his place as one of her guards without saying anything to her. Ulquiorra was the only one who might have noticed, but if he had, he said nothing about it.

"Can you play something else, anything else?" Grimmjow asked when, after another long sigh, Orihime pulled the flute back to her lips.

For all answer Orihime went into a new melody, it wasn't perfect, but still the closest she could get to the song Aileen had been singing last Sunday. She wasn't even halfway through the song when Grimmjow cut her off.

"You know what? Forget about it." He blurted, before turning away.

Orihime observed him quietly through her lashes, even as she changed to a different melody, not her usual one, something simple, an old lullaby. A part of her couldn't help but wonder silently if Aileen's melody had given him the same foreboding feeling it gave her…

**xXx**

Sunday was a quiet day for the Soul Society, a welcome respite after the chaos of the past couple of days. The Kurosaki-Nagaken had joined the shinigami in putting Seireitei to rights after the destruction caused by the rebelling zanpakutou. Karin also spent a lot of time brushing the hilt of Tenreikou with her hand. She didn't even need to speak with the spirit, with the two of them having been a single soul for her whole current life, the phoenix knew already everything Karin did. Still, her physical presence was a comfort Karin thought she'd never have again. She and Toushirou didn't even bother trying to hide the shift in their relationship, and most people didn't react to it at all. Most of them had seen it coming a mile away, some had even believed them to be together for months, since the King's Seal debacle at the very least. It was much like what had happened when Ichigo's and Rukia's engagement was revealed the day after her birthday. While there were some who knew them to be married already, most believed that they were simply dating and to be married in the summer, and that was just fine for them. Rukia in particular had been very happy to be able to wear her engagement ring the right way publicly.

Yuzu for her part, some of the older shinigami had been giving her side-along glances most of the morning, or rather, to the zanpakutou on her back, those old enough to remember Muramasa. But since it was known that she'd met with the Captain Commander already most decided that if she was still carrying the zanpakutou after that, then Yamamoto must trust her with the blade. Or rather, he trusted that Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu, unlike Muramasa's old wielder, had no dark intentions, no desire to conquer or subjugate, which should keep Muramasa well under control.

In the months since the revelation of Aizen as a traitor and his plans to conquer the Spiritual Throne, Yamamoto had been forced to rethink many things. So much that he'd once believed to be true (shinigami turning into hollows, monsters, and not being able to come back; humans with spiritual powers not being trustworthy, Quincy always being a danger) had been proven false since the first arrival of the Nakama (with the Visored, the fullbringers, Réalta, and the Nakama themselves the finest examples). Yamamoto couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he'd gotten too old. He was powerful there was no doubt about that. Might even be the most powerful shinigami still, but the Nagaken-Kurosaki teenagers were still growing, in age, experience and power. The Commander suspected that one, or all of them, might be able to surpass him one day. But beyond power, Yamamoto was aware that he was old, set in his ways, the old ways… it might be time for someone else to lead, someone more open minded, more willing and able to deal with the challenges the new generations were bringing forth… but not yet, not just yet. Not until Aizen was dealt with. That problem had begun with Yamamoto in charge, right under his nose and with him being none-the-wiser, he'd see it through.

On Sunday night Rukia, Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu left back to the Human World after dinner in the Nagaken estate. Byakuya had been invited and, as always (at least in the last year) he cherished the time he got to spent with his sister. He also had to admit that he enjoyed spending time with the Kurosakis. While at first sight they, especially Ichigo, might seem crass and uncouth, the truth was very different, and much more complex than that. Getting to know each of them had shown Byakuya that Ichigo was very much like Nagaken Karin used to be, the young man was without a doubt powerful, a shinigami, and yet he was unsure of his own place in the world. Something understandable considering him being both human and shinketsu shinigami at the same time. While learning of his heritage, and his marriage to Rukia seemed to have given him a better hold onto his spiritual standing, he still held onto his human side tenaciously, refusing to give up on that part of him:

"_I think it's because of his kaa-san." Rukia confided in him once. "She was human and she… she was everything, the whole world to Ichigo, when he was a child. While he's managed to exorcise that particular ghost of his past since defeating Grand Fisher, the part of him that's human, that is what he inherited from Masaki-san, so I don't think he'll be giving it up any time soon." _

"_You know he'll have to, some day, especially when the time comes for the two of you to claim your place as the heads of the Nagaken Clan." Byakuya said quietly. _

"_I know, and he does too." She exhaled. "Maybe it would be different, if he could actually see his kaa-san, know she's alright. But while I'm sure she must be somewhere in Soul Society by now, what with Grand Fisher finally dead, I just haven't had the time to actually look for her…" _

Rukia had never actually asked, but then again, she didn't have to. The very next day Byakuya had put some of his best men on the job, they hadn't been able to find the woman yet, but he'd no doubt that if Kurosaki Masaki was, indeed, in Rukongai, they would.

"Ehm… Kuchiki-dono?" A voice called to him unexpectedly.

Byakuya turned, catching sight of a young woman with lightly tanned skin and long red-black hair in a thick braid down to the small of her back, she wore a pale pink simple kimono. Byakuya knew her to be Rukia's attendant, but that was all.

"I have a message for you." She said simply, voice quiet, standing half in the shadows, head respectfully down.

Her whole pose was everything one would expect from a servant except… except for the quiet thrum of power beneath her skin. Byakuya could barely sense it, he might not have, hadn't she been so close, and the hall empty except for them. It made him wonder who she was really, and how she'd come to be in the service of the Nagaken Clan. But that wasn't what was important, not right then.

"A message…?" He questioned, intrigued.

"Tell her to let go." Yailen said quietly.

Byakuya blinked. Tell her to let go? Let go of what? And who was he supposed to tell that to anyway? Who was the message from?

"You will know the who, and the when, when the time comes." She only half-answered his unasked questions.

Byakuya opened his mouth, probably to question her, when one of the guards arrived in a hurry, loudly apologizing for keeping him waiting as he unlocked the front gate of the estate to allow him out. As it was night already, and with recent events, all Nobles had kept their properties closed for the most part. Byakuya just acknowledged him with a nod, before turning to question the handmaiden. It was too late, she was already gone. So Byakuya just closed his eyes briefly, wondering why not just the Kurosakis, but apparently also everyone connected to them, including their servants, must make things so complicated; and then he left.

Yailen just watched him from the shadows of a column, several yards away. She had no idea if she'd done enough. Even as simple as her message might have been, it'd still count as the second time she'd messed with destiny… she could only hope it'd be enough.

"Guess I will have to trust you, Kuchiki Byakuya… her life's in your hands now…" Yailen murmured, head turned up towards the night-sky.

**xXx**

It took everyone by surprise when Aizen called a meeting that morning, and so early, most had been still sleeping when the call came. That surprise only grew as they realized that everyone was there. The Espada, and Orihime sitting at the long table with the three shinigami traitors, and the Arrancars who served as the Espada's fraccion (and Aileen) standing against the walls. Orihime was among the last to arrive, with Grimmjow at her heels. It had taken a while to convince Nel to hide in the bathroom with Dondochakka and Pesche, and while she felt bad for not being able to do more to protect the small child-looking arrancar, she knew she couldn't leave any of her Rikka behind, as it might call the wrong kind of attention, both towards her, and Nel herself.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Grimmjow muttered under his breath.

Orihime nodded in agreement very discreetly before hurrying to her seat, on Ichimaru's right, who was in turn on Aizen's right. Tousen on Aizen's left, and across from Ichimaru. And after them came the Espada, with Yammy at the opposite end of the table.

At first no one really understood what the point of the meeting was. As Aizen went into a speech, not that different from the ones he'd given before. About power, and authority, and the Throne of Heaven. Orihime was sure she wasn't the only one half-tuning him out, until he said something that really called her attention:

"… and so we begin today." The former shinigami captain stated. "We begin to remake the world into a better place. One where we all have what we deserve. Gather your forces, for we attack Soul Society and the Human World at dawn today!"

"Wha…? No!" Orihime shrieked jumping onto her feet.

"Orihime-san…" Coyote began, quietly.

"Shut up bitch!" Zatara snarled at her.

"This isn't what we agreed!" Orihime snapped, unable to control herself. "This isn't…"

"Oh no, you see, I haven't forgotten our deal, Orihime-san." Aizen said, voice soft and dripping so much poison Orihime felt as if she'd die from the sound alone. "I promised to let your nakama go, I promised not to send assassins after them, and in return you'd stay. But I never promised anything about any places. The attack to Soul Society will keep the Gotei busy, and once they're all focused on that, then it will be Karakura's turn. The old fool and the rest will be so busy dealing with the first attack, they will never see the second one coming!"

And he knew, Orihime was sure he'd to know, that when he attacked Karakura the Nakama would fight him; and if they didn't even have the Gotei's backup, what hope was there? All his promises were worth nothing in the end. Then again, if he wasn't going to keep his promise, that meant neither did she.

"Go, prepare yourselves!" Aizen ordered to the Espada. "Espadas Primera, Segunda, and Tercera will lead the attack on Soul Society, you will leave in ten minutes! The rest ready yourselves, head for the courtyard and await my signal."

Orihime blinked, willing the mix of horror and despair threatening to swallow her whole aside, so she might focus on what needed to be done. She looked to one side in time to see Ulquiorra leave the room, Acidwire with him. He hadn't even cared… and just like that, she made up her mind.

"Hime-chan…" Grimmjow whispered, at her side.

Orihime vaguely noticed that they were the only ones still the room, everyone else having retired for their own quarters to prepare for the battle ahead.

"Grimmjow…" Orihime began.

"We need to get moving, princess…" Grimmjow insisted.

Orihime took a moment, just a handful of seconds to grieve for her missing heart, the heart she'd never be getting back, then she steeled her soul, and gathering all her resolve, looked Grimmjow straight in the eye:

"Go back to my rooms, get Nel and the others, and get them the hell out of Las Noches." Orihime ordered, in a tone that told Grimmjow she wasn't going to allow him to say no, then, almost as an afterthought she called on her power mentally and restored his missing arm, a small smile appearing on her face at the surprise her actions (and the fact that she did so silently) garnered: "Just thought you might do better having both arms."

"Che! I could have done just fine even with just one arm." He retorted, even as he moved his new arm this way and that, testing it, it felt just as good as his original one. "What about you?"

"There's something I need to do." She answered vaguely, it was time she did what she could to ensure that Aizen never achieved his goal. "Go!"

Grimmjow didn't like it, he really, really didn't, but his princess had given him an order, so he just nodded and sonidoed away. Orihime for her part, took a moment more to regret all that she was giving up, all that would never be, and then she walked out of the room as well, in an entirely different direction. Soon she was walking down halls she'd never used, but it didn't matter, her reiatsu sensing was such that she knew exactly where she was going… so focused she was on her goal she didn't notice the blood-red eyes staring right at her from the shadows.

**xXx**

In another part of Las Noches Coyote and Lilynette stood together as they waited for the signal to gather once again. Aileen was a few feet away from them, standing right under what little light came through the window, looking at the eternally-dark sky outside.

"Aileen-chan…" Lilynette began, hesitant for perhaps the first time in her existence.

Aileen turned towards them, the little light framing her body, giving her an almost ethereal glow.

"Today is the day we die." She said simply, her voice quiet and full of feeling.

"You know, there's no need for you to go as well." Coyote didn't question the veracity of the words or the origin of her knowledge, he knew her well enough, that didn't stop him from giving her an out though.

"I have stood by you for so many years, centuries, ever since my mortal life ended." Aileen said in a low but powerful voice. "You were there for me when no one else was. When my own father saw me as little more than a monster, an abomination, the spawn of the witch-wife who was burnt at the stake, a stain on his family name… you were my friend, you gave me a freedom I never knew while alive. I promised to be with you, always, and that's not a promise I will go back on now. If this is the day we're meant to meet our end, we'll do so together. All of us."

"Together." Lilynette agreed, a small, sincere smile on her face, rather than her usual smirk.

"I was getting tired of being Jenny anyway." Aileen said, as flippantly as she could.

"Aileen…" The green-haired arrancar began, voice wavering.

Coyote moved, faster than the eye could follow, in a fraction of a second he was in front of Aileen and her mask was gone. She didn't chastise him for it, just raising her head to look at him, red hair framing her porcelain-white skin, silver eyes sparkling like stars on her face. One side of her face smooth and perfect, but the other was heavily scarred, burned marks, the reminder of her terrible death so long ago. She'd long since learned not to mind them. How could she? when even with those scars her man still looked at her like she was the most beautiful girl in all three worlds. Aileen didn't even need Coyote to say a thing, she stood on her toes, hands high on his arms to help her keep her balance and kissed him right on the mouth.

**xXx**

Grimmjow was almost at the princess's rooms when he heard Nel's childish wail. It made him hurry, just in time to find none other than Luppi, his replacement as Sexta, beating up Acidwire, while Dondochakka tried very hard to keep hold of Nel and Pesche covered them, Nel for her part kept screeching about the Sexta being really bad and cruel, and whatever other gibberish Grimmjow wasn't really bothering to make out. Grimmjow took a moment to wonder where the emospada might be, and why Acidwire was in that room instead of with him, before mentally shrugging and deciding he didn't really care. Instead he leapt straight at Luppi. The new Espada felt it coming, fast enough he let go of Acidwire and turn to Grimmjow, though it still did him no good in the end as Grimmjow proceeded to punch him straight in the stomach, enough to make him breathless and then, when the replacement's mouth opened to try and breathe Grimmjow used his hand to take hold of his tongue, right where he'd his number tattooed, and viciously ripped it out before vaporizing the arrancar entirely with a cero at point-blank.

Grimmjow smirked in satisfaction, he'd been wanting to do that for so long! And yet… when he first thought about it, about ripping out the bastard's tongue, it had been about recovering his place, about proving to the idiot, and to everyone else that he, Grimmjow, Jeagerjaquez and no one else was the Sexta… but that didn't seem too important anymore. He had other priorities now, like his little princess…

"You okay there freak?" Grimmjow asked crassly.

"I'm… alright…" Acidwire broke off mid-phrase to spit some blood to one side, then he brushed the blood from the edge of his mouth with the back of his hand, such a human gesture….

It was until that moment that Grimmjow realized the bastard Luppi had tore off the veil Acidwire usually wore to cover the part of his face that had no mask and what was revealed underneath… it was a surprisingly human face, human and… young. He looked hardly any older than Orihime and her group. It made Grimmjow feel even more freaked out. Even vasto lorde didn't have faces that looked quite as human as Acidwire's.

"Why are you here?" He finally asked.

"Ulquiorra-sama asked me to return Nel-san and her fraccion to the desert." Acidwire explained. "With the coming battle there will be no one left to see to them, they will be better out there." He made a pause before asking. "Where is Orihime-san?"

"Hime-chan…" Grimmjow began, intending to give the vaguest answer possible, only to snap his mouth closed when he realized something: "Why do you call her Orihime? No one calls her that in this place. Not even Aizen."

"Yet you call her hime-chan." Acidwire retorted.

"That has nothing to do with her actual name!" Grimmjow rebuked. "And I have my reasons!"

"As do I…" Acidwire replied evenly.

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed, but in the end decided it was pointless and shrugged.

"Well, you should go ahead and do what emospada ordered you, shouldn't you?" The blue-haired arrancar stated.

"Why are you even here at all Grimmjow?" Acidwire rolled his visible eye.

"Hime-chan asked me to get the brat and the others out, but since you'll be handling that I'll leave now and get back to her." Grimmjow shrugged.

"You're so intent on following her, why?"

"Because… why? Why's she so important to you?"

Acidwire stared at Grimmjow in silence for what seemed like forever, as if pondering on some very important things; then, right when Grimmjow was sure he wouldn't be getting an answer, it finally came:

"She's my sister."

That… Grimmjow had not seen coming.

"She's my princess." The blue-haired revealed, not willing to explain everything, but willing to give the other hollow at least that much. "And it has nothing to do with that bastard Aizen. It's just who she is meant to be."

"I'm glad she has you on her side then." Acidwire clearly didn't understand, but he knew there was no time for lengthy explanations. "You should get going."

"Yes, I should." Grimmjow agreed, turning to do exactly that.

"Grimmjow…" Acidwire called him back unexpectedly, a bit hesitant: "Do me a favor? Don't tell her about me."

"Why not?" Grimmjow turned fully back to him, narrowing his eyes at the other hollow, he really didn't like that. "She deserves to know."

"Because she has moved on." Acidwire… or rather Inoue Sora, explained. "The last time I saw her, before her arrival here, was right after I became a hollow. I'd been dead for over a year and she still missed me, cried for me. Even though she'd smile at school, in front of her friends, in the privacy of her apartment she'd cry. I'd thought she'd gotten over me, had forgotten me entirely; it was that belief which made me become a hollow, and I went after her… Her friends saved her. They couldn't destroy me entirely, but what they did was still enough for me to recover my sanity. And so I became what you see now. I fled to Hueco Mundo, terrified of hurting Orihime again if I stayed. And I've been here since. I was worried about her for so long… but now, now I know she's okay. She has grown into a beautiful, kind, powerful young woman. One who has made a life of her own now. The last thing she needs is to see me as I am and become sad all over again. I won't do that to her."

"Very well, I won't say anything if it's not necessary, but I won't lie to her either. She's my princess, and you're nothing to me."

Acidwire opened his mouth, wanting to ask what exactly was the deal about his sister being the Arrancar's princess, when they both felt her reiatsu spiking.

"Kuso!" Grimmjow cursed. "Get the brat and the two idiots to the desert, and don't come back."

"Grimmjow… you better keep Orihime safe." Acidwire hissed at him.

"Che! Like I need you to tell me that." Grimmjow snorted loudly, before disappearing in a burst of sonido.

**xXx**

Orihime was walking down a hallway, like so many others in Las Noches, right past the entrance to one of the many empty chambers in the place, when she could suddenly feel a reiatsu moving towards her. Very fast, a reiatsu she knew well… The auburn haired human teenager reacted instinctively as she threw herself into a roll before spinning around and adopting a defensive posture on one knee. She could feel as the hand reaching for her tried and failed to grasp her hair by less than a quarter of an inch.

"Zatara…" Orihime hissed, Tsubaki's nibankyuu materializing on her right hand without her needing to say a single word, her conviction more than enough in that moment.

"Time to die, little bitch!" Zatara snarled at Orihime, firing a chain of balas at her.

Orihime called her Santan Kesshun to protect her from the balas, waiting until Zatara stopped attacking to mentally will her Rikka to shift the shield in such a way that she stepped on it, using it as a sort of springboard to throw herself into the air, flipping above Zatara, fast enough that the balas the Espada tried shooting at her next missed their target entirely. Then Orihime took a deep breath to center herself and held her blade straight as she completed the arch. Zatara spun around and moved to dodge the blade; it wasn't quite enough, while she did manage to keep Orihime from cleaving her right in half, the orange blade still went deep into her right shoulder, almost cutting her arm right off.

Orihime landed lightly almost on one knee, absorbing the impact of the fall. Usually dealing such a gruesome attack would make her queasy, but the moment she'd left the meeting room she'd sealed away her soul entirely. Something necessary to achieve her objective, to not hesitate. In that moment the only thing in Orihime's mind was completing her self-imposed mission, nothing else mattered. Not those who might go against her, and not even herself. Zatara was in her way, which meant Orihime would take her out, and then continue.

"Bitch!" Zatara shrieked, furious. "I will kill you! I will make you regret ever thinking you were good enough to…"

She never got to finish her tirade, as a moment later her head was rolling down the hallway, though only for a few seconds before body and hair turned into reishi particles and disappeared. Orihime said nothing at all, just dismissed Tsubaki back into her pins and began walking once again. She couldn't have known it, but her Rikka were worried. The way she was acting… it wasn't natural, it wasn't her. They worried how long it might last, and what might happen when she came out of it and realized what she'd done exactly. Their wielder wasn't a killer, not really, and much as Tsubaki might complain sometimes, they liked her as she was; when it hit her, what she'd done to Zatara… it wouldn't be pretty.

**xXx**

Soul Society was very quiet that early Monday morning, most shinigami still asleep. While there were areas that still required work after the recent debacle, all the priority repairs were finished already. There were those who even believed that the recent rebellion might have served to remind the shinigami not to grow complacent, with themselves or the Gotei as a whole. Even if they believed themselves to be quite powerful already, that wasn't cause to take it easy, not if they wanted to retain their allies' respect (and in those they now included their own zanpakutou spirits). The sky was just beginning to lighten, the sun nowhere to be seen just yet when Skye Kotori, current third seat of the 5th Division (and unknown to all but a chosen few, the legendary Kidou prodigy known simply as the Ave Blanca) began her day. She went through what urgent paperwork there might be, checked any missives that might have arrived during the night, and after ordering some tea, went looking for her superiors.

Kotori knew that most of her rank didn't have quite so many responsibilities, but she'd been serving effectively as acting lieutenant, due to the rather 'delicate' condition of Hinamori Momo, the actual lieutenant of their Squad. At times Kotori even wondered why didn't they just dismiss the other shinigami from service altogether, it had been made clear in the months since the revelation of the traitors that she wasn't getting better; no matter how many sessions of therapy they sent her to, Hinamori just refused to believed that 'Aizen-taichou' had betrayed her, Kotori honestly believed that those who expected Hinamori to recover one day were just deluding themselves. Even if they hadn't wanted to dismiss her when they didn't have a captain, that had since changed, also, everyone knew that Hinamori didn't like Amagai-taichou, and that was beginning to cause trouble within the Squad.

Kotori would never stop believing that Amagai-taichou assuming command of the Squad was a good thing. They had needed a new leader, and Amagai was a good, strong shinigami. They were fortunate that Yamamoto-soutaichou decided to offer him (and he accepted) the 5th rather than the 3rd, as would have been expected. They certainly were more in need of a captain than the 3rd. Shy and insecure as Kira might be, he was strong, he could handle the 3rd on his own; same as Hisagi with the 9th. Yamamoto had actually met with her in private and offered her the captaincy but Kotori refused. She had no interest in holding a position of such power. Besides, most people didn't actually know her powers, becoming a captain would require her to demonstrate them, and she had a very good idea of how they'd all react to Itsuwarino Mira… a zanpakutou that dealt with illusions, that could create near-absolute illusions after the revelation of the truth about Aizen's own Kyoka Suigetsu? Yeah, no thanks.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou…? Amagai-taichou…?"

What she found upon entering the office, was the last thing she ever expected: Amagai was on the floor, just by his desk, slowly but surely bleeding out; less than three feet from him Hinamori was unconscious, blood matting the side of her head from a blow to her temple.

Kotori cursed in a foreign language before using a kidou to communicate with the 4th:

"Unohana-taichou! Isane-fukutaichou! It's an emergency! Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou are hurt and it's bad!"

She sent out a sharp pulse of reiatsu so the medics would know where to find them, at the same time she called on a kekkai to place her two superiors in suspended animation. It might give her away to Unohana, and anyone else who knew enough of kidou to realize how powerful and hard to create such kekkai were, but it was an emergency and Kotori wasn't thinking clearly anymore. Her superiors were badly hurt, if she'd taken any longer to find them Amagai-taichou might have died! And they were in the office… that did not bode well. So Kotori left them and began trying to find whoever might be responsible.

Right as the sun began rising in the distant horizon Kotori gave up on her pursuits to answer the insistent summons of Sasakibe-fukutaichou on the 1st Division. As it happened, all captains were gathered already, except for Unohana, who no doubt would be handling the injured shinigami personally. Isane was there in her representation. Kotori shunpoed straight into the meeting room, landing in the between the two rows of standing shinigami.

She arrived right in time to hear Isane requesting permission to call on Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu to help. According to her, the zanpakutou rebellion had left many injured shinigami, the 4th had been working around the clock getting everyone healed, which meant that most of the shinigami healers were out for the count for the time being. Usually that wouldn't be so bad, especially with the injured parties inside a kekkai as powerful as the one Kotori had created, but if they wanted to question the two about what had transpired, they'd need to be healed first. Hence the request for Yuzu to be called. Only Inoue Orihime would be preferable, but as she was still in Hueco Mundo. Unohana and Isane were both quite aware of the extent of Yuzu's healing abilities and believed that if she were there it'd allow Amagai and Hinamori to recover much faster. So Yamamoto granted his permission and dismissed Isane so she might send the request.

"Report, Skye-sanseki." Yamamoto ordered, turning to the late arrival.

It was clear by the looks some directed at the two that at least some had expected something else entirely, perhaps for Kotori to be chastised for taking so long answering the summons? As if!

"Nothing, Soutaichou." Kotori deadpanned. "And I mean that literally. There were no tracks, physical or spiritual. No traces of anything at all. If we were to go by the evidence alone I would say that Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou attacked each other…"

"That's impossible!" Several of the captains scoffed.

"That's why I said 'if'," Kotori drawled. "As it stands the only ones who know what happened in that office, are Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou."

"That is why I approved the request for calling on Kurosaki-Nagaken Yuzu." Yamamoto nodded. "This meeting will be adjourned until we have more information. Dismissed!"

Yamamoto waited until everyone had left, everyone except for Kotori herself, to focus his full attention on her once again:

"What do you really think?" He asked, eyes fully open.

He knew he could trust her. The woman, whatever name she might be going by at the time, was one of the few people Yamamoto could say without a doubt had the welfare of Soul Society always in mind.

"Honestly?" Kotori didn't actually wait for an answer, the question was a rhetorical one. "I think Hinamori-san should have been sent to a psychiatric facility full-time after her last evaluation. And she certainly shouldn't still hold a rank, any rank, in the Gotei. The things Aizen did to her, the way he wrapped her mind… she might be able to conceal it on the best days, but it's clear she still believes in the persona Aizen portrayed all those years. She cannot stand for anyone to insult him, to so much as suggest anything bad about him. She keeps inciting rebellion, barely keeping from outright insubordination. I know that everyone feels bad about what you allowed to happen to the girl, but you're only hurting the Squad, and the Gotei as a whole, by allowing her to retain her rank and authority. I know Amagai-taichou is at the end of his rope with her already, and the only reason he hasn't ordered her imprisonment is because he doesn't want to make it worse."

"I know this matter should have been handled earlier, but it hasn't been that easy." Yamamoto reminded her. "After the loss of so many a century ago, all the most promising shinigami moved through the ranks very quickly. We just don't have enough people to cover the positions. And then from the few who might be able to, refuse to do so…"

"Oh no… you're not making me responsible for this mess." Kotori shook her head. "I'm already doing my part, considering I didn't even want to be a shinigami at all! Not again. I told you a hundred years ago that blindly following Central 46's decision regarding the Visored would come back to bite you. That you should have investigated further, especially regarding what made the others get involved. You knew Yoruichi had committed no crime, yet you never questioned why she'd get involved at all."

"Her husband was being accused of experimentation, hollowification of high-ranking shinigami and treason, of course she'd get involved." Yamamoto retorted.

Kotori rolled her eyes, she didn't question how the old man knew that Yoruichi and Kisuke were married, even though they'd gone to rather extreme lengths to keep it under wraps, not wanting to risk the Shihouin Elders doing something to break them (or possibly just Kisuke).

"Yoruichi was the Onmitsukidou taichou, she knows about loyalty, she'd have never betrayed Soul Society, not even for Kisuke." Kotori retorted.

The two women had never been close, not at all. But Tessai had always been a good friend, to both her and Kisuke, so she'd heard more than a few stories about both the blonde scientist and his noble (secret) wife.

"The Kurosaki-Nagaken twins are here." Yamamoto stated after a jigokuchou informed him of that fact. "Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou will be treated and…"

He never got the chance to finish his statement, as a shudder in the air around them made both shinigami react:

"They're not the only ones who just arrived." Kotori informed him grimly.

They could both feel it, the huge reiatsu entering Soul Society, more than one source.

"Fukutaichou!" Yamamoto called.

Sasakibe Choujirou was in the room a fraction of a second later.

"Gargantas, at least three." Kotori enlisted, using her superior spiritual senses to pick up on things. "One over Soukyoku Hill, but the other two are farther away, somewhere in Rukongai."

"We're being invaded!" Choujirou exclaimed, shocked.

"All shinigami to their posts!" Yamamoto ordered authoritatively. "We're under attack!"

**xXx**

When Aizen felt the first pulse of reiatsu he was confused, he recognized the energy of the Hougyoku, of course he did. With his constant use of the jewel, especially since combining the two versions of it, he'd become intimately acquainted with its power. Even then, when not in use, he kept the Hougyoku in a special box, sealed. While he'd been considering the possibility of absorbing it, making its power wholly his, it was something he hadn't been ready for, not yet, not until he was ready to achieve all his dreams.

By the time he reached his office it was much too late already. In between the broken pieces of the sealing box was none other than Inoue Orihime, kneeling, panting… and the Hougyoku was gone… not even a trace of its power remained. Almost as if… as if it had never existed… He was so shocked by the sudden development, the former shinigami captain wasn't even sure how to react at all.

"What have you done…?"

He couldn't believe it, didn't want to, what she'd done, that she'd dared… she was a human! A brat! A weakling!

"What we Nakama do best: protect." Orihime said quietly, turning to face him.

She was still on her knees, clearly too weak to even stand, but that didn't stop her from smiling straight at him, fearless even in the face of death; it made him wonder, vaguely, in the back of his mind, if she really didn't fear it.

"Aizen-sama, we are ready…" A voice broke off mid-report as the newcomer took in the scene.

Orihime's breath stuttered against her will. The moment she'd willed her power to erase the Hougyoku… she'd felt the jewel draining so much of her, the energy at the core of her soul. She was almost sure it would kill her, but it didn't, somehow. Still, she was so drained, it was taking all her effort just to turn to face Aizen directly. Then, right as she was bracing herself for death… the last thing she ever expected, happened.

"Ulquiorra…" Of all the individuals she expected to see in such circumstances, she hadn't been expecting Ulquiorra… or more like, she hadn't wanted to consider the possibility.

"What have you done onna?" Ulquiorra hissed.

"You will never win…" She told Aizen with all the confidence she could. "We Nakama will ensure you never win."

"Whatever may happen today, you will not live to see it." Aizen hissed, losing his composure completely for perhaps the first time in over a century. "You will die here, alone."

"Whatever happens to me doesn't matter." Orihime said serenely. "I've done my part. I've taken away your greatest weapon. And I didn't just destroy, I eliminated it entirely from the fabric of the universe. There's nothing left of it, no notes, no trace, nothing at all. That jewel will never exist again…"

She wouldn't make it as if it never existed… in the first place because she wasn't sure she had the kind of power to do that, and even if she did… she wouldn't condemn the Arrancar to returning to their old existence. Some might be monsters, but there were some who she truly believed deserved a chance…

"Why would you do that?" Aizen asked, seemingly honestly confused. "Can you not understand what I'm doing here? The world I'm trying to build?"

"And who says you're the right person to build it?" Orihime challenged. "Who gives you the right to destroy everything that is for a dream of what you believe should be? Who says it'll be any better anyway? There can be no guarantees in the world, and your promises may sound pretty but they're also hollow. As you proved when you decided to go after Karakura, even knowing that wasn't something I'd ever agree with. You see humans as less, why? Because they don't live long? Because most of them don't have any special powers? You fancy yourself a god, but truth is you aren't that special."

"I am the most powerful shinigami to ever exist!" Aizen roared, he couldn't believe how a mere human girl could rattle him so much, even the Kurosakis hadn't been so bad!

"Aizen-sama, if you will allow it, I can deal with her, the others are waiting for you to head to the Human World." Ulquiorra offered. "You shouldn't bother with a piece of trash when your goal is within reach."

"Of course, Ulquiorra, I trust you will deal with her before joining us, you are an important part of us, after all." Aizeen nodded, though before leaving he turned once more to Orihime. "I'll give your nakama your regards, before I kill them all."

It was clear he wanted to hurt her, to see her be as affected by him, as he was by her, but while her heart did skip a beat and Orihime could feel dread filling her lungs, she didn't allow it to show in her expression. In the end, she had hope in her nakama. She believed they were strong, enough to handle anything and anyone that may threaten them, or their world. And she'd done her part, she'd taken the Hougyoku out of the equation. She'd done enough…

The auburn haired girl watched the megalomaniac shinigami leave the room, before her attention went to Ulquiorra, he didn't even bother with his blade, instead just charging a cero almost at point blank, it would be more than enough. She looked straight at him, even if she didn't have the energy to stand, she wouldn't look away, and she wouldn't close her eyes.

"Are you afraid?" Ulquiorra asked, he sounded honestly curious. "You will die here, you will die all by yourself with no one to witness it. So I want to know, how frightened are you?"

"I am not, at all." Orihime answered quietly. "Because even when we're far apart, even when we're not even in the same world, I carry my nakama in my heart."

"Heart?" Ulquiorra questioned. "Tell me, what is a heart? If I tore a hole in your chest, will I see it? If I split open your skull, would it be there?"

Orihime shuddered but fought to keep the horror his words brought her from her face. She loved him so much… always had and always would. She could never raise a hand against him. The mere thought of it… she remembered what she'd done against Zatara and it made her sick! That wasn't her! It wasn't supposed to be her! She'd been so focused on her mission, and she knew Zatara would kill her, but still; she'd fought before, many times in the last year, but she'd never killed another being before in her life! In all her lives! It was almost too much… And then to hear him say such things. She knew he was a hollow, it was in his nature, but in her mind's eye she could still see Utokui, her dearest Utokui, lying dead on the ground, covered in blood, with fire all around them. It would seem she'd really lost him, and would never find him…

"So let me ask you again, onna, are you afraid of me?" Ulquiorra pressed.

"No, I'm not afraid." It was the truth, she wasn't afraid of dying, she never had been, she was just so very, very sad. "Tell me Ulquiorra-kun… have you found what you were looking for?"

"Onna…" Ulquiorra really didn't like the way she could get to him, so easily, he was always so cold, almost unfeeling, except around her, there was just something about her…

"You told me, that day in Karakura," Orihime said quietly. "You said you were looking for something, have you found it?" She made a pause, waiting until his green eyes met her own violet-gray ones before driving the point home: "Have you found your heart?"

Ulquiorra fired his cero, and if it weren't because of the second cero that diverted it, it would have gone straight through Orihime's chest. The two of them had been so focused on each other they didn't sense the reiatsu approaching, until Ulquiorra's cero was deviated, and a moment later Grimmjow was right there, standing in between the two and facing Ulquiorra.

"Hey hime-chan!" Grimmjow smirked, eyes never straying from his fellow Espada. "I leave you alone a few minutes and you almost get killed! Well, not on my watch!"

"Grimmjow!" Orihime exclaimed, suddenly breathless.

"What are you doing Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra demanded, eyes narrowed.

"That's what I should be asking you bastard?" Grimmjow retorted. "Why are you trying to kill the princess?"

"You've deluded yourself Grimmjow, or she has deluded you." Ulquiorra stated. "This piece of trash is no princess. Just an onna who's no longer of any use to Aizen-sama…"

"There you go again… everything's not about Aizen-fucking-sama!" Grimmjow practically roared. "Used your own brain for a change bastard!"

"Are you turning really turning traitor Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra challenged. "Are you choosing to betray everything you are?"

"Not at all." Grimmjow smirked. "The truth is that this is who and what I am. The only difference between now and before, is that now I know who I truly owe my loyalty to."

"To a piece of trash…?"

"To a princess! To our princess!"

"She's nothing!"

"She's everything! She's Amekimi, daughter of Arashikensei, your King, in case you have forgotten that part as well! She's the one you swore to always protect, to guard with your life, and what are you doing? You're trying to kill her! For a bastard who will never deserve my loyalty, much less yours!"

Ulquiorra said nothing, and Grimmjow pounced on the opportunity and just kept going:

"And don't you dare tell me you don't remember her at all you emo-bastard! Don't tell me that you haven't heard that melody of hers in your dreams! That you don't dream of it all! The old times! The palace! And her!" His eyes grew sharp and he dropped into a battle stance. "Because if you dare say that to me… then I'll knock you on the head until your memories unscramble once and for all!"

The two Espada threw themselves at each other, ignoring Orihime's cries not to fight, blades clashing harshly, throwing off sparks and reiatsu everywhere and yet… and yet when Grimmjow went into a roll, leaving his back unprotected for a fraction of a second, Ulquiorra didn't take the chance to bury his own sword in it; and when Ulquiorra miscalculated a block, Grimmjow shifted his hold on his zanpakutou just enough that he shaved off the edge of Ulquiorra's coat instead of burying his blade in the other Espada's flank. It was almost as if they weren't truly fighting but… something else, almost training, but not quite. They were completely serious about what they were doing, they just weren't lethal about it.

Orihime wasn't sure where she got the strength from exactly, but when the next clash was followed by the two Espada pulling away at the same time, she took the opportunity offered to throw herself in between them. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, already in the process of attacking once again, froze in the last second, the tips of their zanpakutou but a hairsbreadth from Orihime.

"Stop it!" Orihime cried out. "Just stop fighting, please! Not over me, never over me… Please, I cannot stand it…"

Tears were falling down her face, almost like rain, but she didn't try to brush them off, instead she looked straight at Ulquiorra, pleading with him like never before. Clear in her mind, like it was happening right then, she remembered the moment when she found his body, his soul was already gone and she could never find it, could never find him and now… now he was standing right there, without a heart of his own, and she wasn't sure if she had any heart to give at all. Her whole soul was in turmoil, between the realization of how cruel she herself could be, what she'd done to Zatara… knowing the potential existed in her, to be as cruel, as vicious, but she didn't want to be, not again, never again, not for anything… and Ulquiorra, if he could just look at her, truly see her…

And then it happened, Ulquiorra's green eyes look straight into her violet-gray ones, almost as if he were seeing straight through her, and a single word came out:

"Hidenka-sama…"


	42. The End of the Beginning

This is... probably the most exhausting chapter of all. I'm warning you all right now. It's not even about the length, though it is quite long, but a hell of a lot happens here. Like... several chapters worth of the manga, really. But I just didn't think you'd like me very much if I split things up. Even then, there's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. Which means I'll have to go back to hiding in a bunker or something once this is posted...

On other stuff. The song "Jenny of Oldstones" that Aileen sang a couple of chapters ago... when I first included it, it was supposed to reflect Orihime, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, with her as Jenny. It was why she and Grimmjow reacted so strongly when she played the melody in the flute. And then as I was writing last week's chapter I couldn't help but notice that Aileen, Coyote and Lilynette fit too, and thus came that line.

A mistake was recently pointed out to me in how one's supposed to say 'little sister' in Japanese... I've fixed it where it was pointed out, and if any of you know of anything else let me know please! I'm very open to constructive criticism.

Like I mentioned before, a hell of a lot happens in this chapter. So many fights happening, if not at the same time, then very closely together. I'm warning you right now, there will be death. Mostly minor characters, but at least one Major One. Regardless, I promise you right now that, no matter how hard things might get, There Will Be a Happy Ending.

P.S. also remember that if you kill me I won't be around to post the ending.

See ya next week! (Now I've gotta run and go hide...)

* * *

**Chapter 42. The End of the Beginning **

In Karakura the Nakama noticed immediately when Ichigo and Rukia arrived to the high-school without the twins. Homura and Shizuku had already been dropped at the middle-school where for the time being they were mostly just sitting in the classes and listening; since their fast aging had stopped they'd ended looking about twelve, so the plan was to have them formally begin junior-high in April. Kisuke had done something with their gigai so if any tests were conducted they would be recognized biologically as half-siblings, not that anyone was expecting any trouble. They'd both finally grown used to the human world and their new family (even the different ways in which they could address their parents, according to the company).

"Is everything alright Ichigo?" Uryuu asked, even as he extended his spiritual senses, trying to find out if something had happened.

"Isane-san called earlier to request Yuzu's assistance." Rukia was the one to explain. "Apparently Skye-sanseki found Amagai-taichou and Hinamori-fukutaichou badly injured in their office earlier, and since the 4th has been so busy healing all the shinigami hurt during the zanpakutou rebellion, they need fresh healers to help with Amagai and Hinamori. Hence Yuzu being called."

"And Karin wouldn't let her go alone." Tatsuki finished for her. "Any clue as to who hurt them?"

"None whatsoever." Rukia shook her head.

"Something's coming…" Ichigo spoke for the first time, in a very low tone.

"What makes you say that?" Uryuu asked, curious.

"Instinct." Ichigo replied simply.

Rukia started, she knew that was code-speak for 'Shiro', the hollows were all about instinct after all. Kaijin confirmed she was feeling the same, which made Rukia tense, something that didn't go unnoticed with the rest of the Nakama, or even their teacher, who entered the room right then.

"Kurosaki-san…" She began.

Whatever it was she might have wanted to say to him, he didn't know, as right then Ichigo's whole attention was caught by what his senses were picking up, Shiro's hollering in the back of his head explaining what he was feeling.

"A garganta…?!" He gasped.

Behind him the Nakama inhaled sharply.

"Kurosaki, I'm talking to you!" Sakurada-sensei demanded his attention.

Ichigo wasn't listening to her, at all, and before she had a chance to insist there was an explosion not too far away, which was followed by the school's alarms. They were being evacuated. The Nakama were on the run before the teacher even began giving orders.

"We have to hurry!" Ichigo stated as he ran down the hall.

"If there are hollows out there, once the students begin walking out…" Uryuu began.

"The school will become an all-you-can-eat buffet for them." Tatsuki finished grimly.

"Tou-san! Kaa-chan!"

Ichigo and Rukia spun around sharply to see Homura and Shizuku running towards them.

"What are you doing here?!" Rukia practically shrieked. "It's dangerous!"

"I… we were evacuated, we didn't know what to do…" Shizuku's lip trembled as he said that.

"I know, I…" Rukia regretted her sharp tone immediately.

"Your kaa-chan and I worry about you." Ichigo did his best to diffuse the situation. "But now that you're here…" He used his badge to get out of his body. "Can you teleport home from here?"

Shizuku nodded, eager to do anything to help.

"Take our bodies and go home." Rukia ordered as she got out of her own gigai and helped Tatsuki do the same. "Tell Isshin-tou-san what's going on. He'll make sure you're safe."

"Kaa-chan…" Homura hesitated.

"I need you to this Homura-chan." Rukia murmured, embracing her daughter briefly. "I need to know you're safe, so I can focus completely on the fight."

"Remember what I promised you before?" Ichigo asked her, kind but serious.

"You will keep kaa-chan safe." Homura remembered.

"Exactly." Ichigo agreed.

"Keep yourself safe too." The blonde girl blurted out, blushing afterwards.

Ichigo smiled warmly at her, it was the first sign the girl gave that she might truly be accepting him as her father.

"I will." He agreed. "Now go. Stay safe."

Homura nodded and joined Shizuku. Then once they made sure to be touching all three bodies, they teleported away.

Rukia stood before where they'd disappeared for a moment, just watching the empty space.

"They'll be okay." Ichigo reassured Rukia. "Oyaji'll make sure of that."

It might have taken some time, and it certainly hadn't been easy, but trust had been rebuilt between them. They were a family, perhaps not as good as they'd been when Masaki was alive, but still a family, and that was good.

"I know." Rukia agreed. "Now lets go, we have a battle to fight."

"We have a battle to win." Ichigo corrected just slightly.

They both stared at each other, just for a moment, then nodded once, and off they went. In the distance, a huge garganta was opening, The battle was about to begin.

**xXx**

In Soul Society things were beyond intense. Three Espada and their Fraccion were doing more damage than all the previous invasions to Soul Society put together. It was made clear early on that only the highest ranking shinigami would be able to go against the arrancars and have any hope of surviving, so it was decided. Captains and Lieutenants formed several teams; while the highest seats were left to keep things in order in Seireitei; the lower seats were ordered to lead squads of unseated shinigami into Rukongai to keep the order, and where possible to evacuate the areas near to where the fights were taking place.

There were so many fights taking place, bankais being unleashed. Even Ikkaku, who'd worked so hard to hide his own bankai, when his partner and lover, Yumichika, was almost cut down by one of the Arrancar as he was distracted with his shikai (his true one, which he'd just revealed for the very first time); when Ikkaku saw Yumichika about to be killed, he reacted instinctively:

"Ban-Kai!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Not far from them Kenpachi laughed loudly. He knew Ikkaku was powerful. He might not have known about the bankai, but then again, he wasn't one for subtleties. Such things didn't matter to him. What mattered was power. And Ikkaku and Yumichika weren't the only ones:

"You planning on joining the fun, or staying there for the whole fight?"

Yachiru was beyond shocked when Kenpachi asked that question, not just for the question itself, but for how serious he was as he asked it:

"Ken-chan…" She tried her best to keep to her usual childish tone, but the shock was so great she failed by a mile.

"I know Yachiru, I've known for a while." He answered the unasked question.

"But… but…" She couldn't believe it.

Yachiru was beyond shocked. Ken-chan knew… Kenpachi knew! The man who was, for all intents and purposes her father, knew that she was hiding the truth about herself… how much did he know? About her shikai? About her real image? How much?!

"I'm not gonna ask why, I don't really care, it's your choice." Kenpachi shrugged. "But this looks like it'll be one hell of a fight, and I've been told it's good for families to do things together so… will you just watch, or will you fight with me, musume (daughter)?"

He didn't care? He was actually calling them a family? He called her daughter?! It was that last part which brought her up short, it also served to set her to rights. As all her past hesitation, her fears, her nervousness vanished like smoke. Yachiru jumped off Kenpachi's back, transforming mid-leap, to land beside him in her true form.

"Heh!" Kenpachi smirked when looking at her. "You're quite pretty Yachiru… I might have to begin kicking some people if they look at you wrong!"

"Ken-chan!" Yachiru shrieked, which sounded even funnier than usual with her grown up voice. "I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Who said anything about boys?" Kenpachi replied with an even bigger smirk. "Boys, girls, I don't care, they look at you wrong and I'll beat them up."

"Hey! Mind leaving the chit-chat for later?" Ikkaku hollered. "There's a battle to be fought!"

"It'll be our pleasure…" Yachiru's smirk turned wild (it was clear who she'd learned it from).

"After you…" Kenpachi really wanted to see it, to see his daughter and all she was capable of when she wasn't pretending to be a little girl anymore…

"Paint yourself with the blood of our enemies." Yachiru called with a huge predatory smile as she ran her hand down the length of her zanpakutou. "Shinkuhana!"

Kenpachi just laughed maniacally, how much fun they were going to have!

Byakuya and Komamura were working together against a blonde female Arrancar who'd proven to be quite powerful. She'd ordered three others, her Fraccion, to join other arrancars and begin their attack. Though they would be Toushirou and the lieutenants' problem; and Kenpachi and his people, wherever they might be). It was how they'd decided to divide their forces. There was still a chance that one or more of the Fraccion would prove to be too much for the lieutenants, but they'd be working together, and Toushirou would back them up. Also, everyone had felt the moment Ikkaku summoned his bankai (the two captains wondered if the third seat had really thought anyone with high enough rank, other than maybe Kenpachi, hadn't known about his bankai; that kind of thing was obvious in a shinigami's reiatsu). The two captains just looked at each other briefly, nodded, and unleashed their bankai. While they might not make the best team, they had no problem working together; Komamura preferred to get closer to his opponent with the aid of his bankai, while Byakuya would use his own to attack any and all enemies from a distance. Harribel couldn't defeat them because whenever she began focusing on one, the other attacked; all the same, she was so powerful that she wouldn't be defeated easily either.

Sui-Feng shunpoed across the rooftops, the Onmitsukidou fanning around her. Each with their blades in hand as they dispatched hollows quickly and effectively. While most high-ranking shinigami were focused on the arrancar; they weren't the only ones to come out from the three big gargantas, dozens of common hollows had taken the chance to get into the Soul Society, looking for souls to consume, and it was the task of Squad 2 to ensure that wouldn't happen. So they were fast, moving in for the kill before the monsters even saw them coming.

Kurotsuchi was the first to fall. The rest of the captains and lieutenants had been so completely focused on the first two Espada and all the other Arrancars to attack, that they all managed to miss the last Espada. With the looks of an old man, he had purposefully kept out of sight. But the 12th Division wasn't known as the Science Division for just anything. Kurotsuchi had known there were three points of origin, so he kept looking until he found the third of the Espada to make it into Soul Society. He saw it as his opportunity, believing he would be able to take down the Arrancar all on his own and then take lots of samples for his experiments, with the rest of the Gotei being none-the-wiser. He had had no idea who he was going against, the kind of power Barragan Louisenbairn was capable of.

Nemu witnessed the demise of the man who'd been both her captain and her pseudo-father with an odd detachment. She knew she should feel something and yet… there was nothing. She remembered that day in Soukyoku Hill, the day she'd died… and she had died, she remembered that much. Her captain, the man who created her, who was supposed to be her father, decided she was of more use to him dead than alive… and even after that she just couldn't imagine him dying. It was why she asked the Quincy to let him live. It wasn't that she loved him, not really, she… she knew she was supposed to, and she wanted to, and that desire for something, for a real connection, moved her.

It had been all for naught. More than half a year later, and as Kurotsuchi Mayuri died, for real, Nemu realized that she wouldn't grieve for him, because no matter how hard she might try, she'd never loved him, just like he never loved her. He might have been her creator, but he'd never been her father, and that was alright with her. She was her own person, and with Mayuri gone she was finally free.

From the corner of her eyes she noticed the Espada her captain had been fighting. He didn't seem to be affected at all by Konjiki Ashisogi Jizou's poison. Nemu for her part, she didn't have a shikai, didn't have a zanpakutou at all. Which was to be expected, as she wasn't a real shinigami, or real at all! Just one of Mayuri's experiments, artificial body and artificial soul enhanced as much as was possible. She could do kidou though, and was decent at it. So that's what she did. The moment the Espada was distracted she used the highest bakudo she was capable of to seal him, it was only a temporary solution at best, but she could only hope that someone else would arrive soon, someone who actually had the power necessary to defeat that hollow, until then she'd do her best to keep him contained…

"This is Kurotsuchi Nemu, fukutaichou of Division 12, reporting the death of Kurotsuchi-taichou, I repeat…"

Thanks to tenteikura the message reached all captains and lieutenants and while none could say they'd honestly miss the crazy scientist, the fact that the Espada were capable of killing taichou-level shinigami sobered them all quite a bit.

With Toushirou and the lieutenants, the message caused a distraction that while it didn't last too long, it did give three of the arrancars the opportunity to use a special technique of theirs and call on their 'pet', a big, strong creature that seemed to have no will or rationale of its own, all it did was destroy. All shinigami were immediately on their guard, but with all the arrancars, and the few lesser hollows the Onmitsukidou hadn't gotten to yet, it wasn't easy.

Rangiku was the first to be seriously injured, a deep cut on her dominant arm, deep enough to cause her to yell out and drop her zanpakutou. It wasn't a life-threatening injury, though it was painful. Even then, after everything that had happened already, with Amagai and Hinamori being injured by an unknown, the sudden attack, the hollows that kept coming, one of their own already dead… when Rangiku's cry was heard Toushirou just snapped:

"Kaa-san!"

Wide eyes turned to Toushirou instantly. No one had ever expected to hear that from him, and when they saw him rushing towards Matsumoto Rangiku of all people… Toushirou didn't pay attention to any of that, he only had eyes for the monster that had attacked his mother, that had hurt her, that could have… he wasn't going to allow it, or anyone else to take her away from him. It didn't matter how long it might have taken him to embrace their family connection, or how he still hadn't quite wrapped his head around who his father was (then again, he wasn't around all the time, unlike his mom); all that was irrelevant in the end. He would protect his family…

"Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru…"

Yamamoto didn't get involved in any of the fights, instead he just stood on the balcony of the 1st Division, his fukutaichou at his side, controlling a kidou that allowed them to watch the fights taking place. They were no cowards, but Yamamoto was quite aware if his own power. He knew that while his shikai would not be enough against a Vasto-Lorde-level arrancar (and it was quite clear to him that at least one of the Espada had been a Vasto Lorde before breaking his mask), releasing his bankai was a last resource, the kind of thing that he'd only do if the complete destruction of Seireitei were imminent… they weren't at that point yet. And he believed in his subordinates, they'd ensure that moment didn't come any time soon…

Shunsui, Juushirou and Kotori arrived to Soukyoku Hill, choosing to engage the group of Arrancar that had made their appearance there. There were three of them, though it soon became obvious that the red-haired girl with the butterfly mask had no intention of fighting, so Kotori pulled back as well, choosing instead to create a kekkai around the fighters, to ensure their reiatsu wouldn't affect the others.

Yamamoto for his part was left watching all from his balcony, cursing the suddenness of the attack, their own lack of preparation, of a strategy. He hated to admit it, but the truth was he'd grown complacent. In the nearly seven months since the traitors' defection they had made plans, all kind of plans and contingencies to deal with them, especially Aizen. Mostly because he knew Ryuujin Jakka's bankai wasn't one he wanted to release, unless he were ready for a good deal of Seireitei to be destroyed entirely; and the situation wasn't that dire just yet. He'd even had a plan in case his zanpakutou failed him entirely… but all those plans were dependent on certain preparations being made, none of which were ready. He'd believed that they'd know when the attack was coming, with enough time to be prepared. He was wrong; he'd grown complacent and they hadn't been ready, not at all.

"Don't worry!" Kotori said to Juushirou and Shunsui right then as they had some trouble with their opponents. "I've called in some help!"

Yamamoto never had the chance to wonder what kind of help exactly, as the Senkaimon opened wide and eight figures stepped out and into Soul Society. They were all wearing clothing that would seem odd to most shinigami, completely human apparel.

"Well, seems the party's already started!" The leader of the group called. "What say we have some fun people?!"

The rest of the Visored shouted their agreement as they each reached, one hand towards their zanpakutou, the other high in the air, dark reiatsu gathering as they prepared to call on their masks. They were ready. After more than a hundred years the Visored were back in Soul Society, and everyone was about to learn what they were truly capable of!

As the Visored split up to help with the different fights taking place across Soul Society Kotori couldn't help the huge smile adorning her face.

"Reflect the lies and blur the truths, Itsuwarino Mira!" The redhead called loudly.

Most who were to look at her would not understand what purpose it served, for her zanpakutou to become a hand mirror of all things; beautiful as it was, completely silver, with a long handle, a handful of stars adorning the back of it, it was still just a mirror in the end. But the thing was, that it wasn't a normal mirror, just like she wasn't a normal shinigami, had never been; and in that moment, as she stood above Soukyoku Hill, facing the arrancar seeking to cause chaos and destruction to Soul Society, to what had been her home for almost two hundred years, Skye Kotori, once known as Gwen Aderyn Morgan, unleashed her power, fully, for the first time since she'd first chosen to fade into obscurity, following the loss of so many of her dearest friends to hollowification and the rejection of those in power.

Somewhere around Shinji couldn't help but laugh like a maniac, he could feel Ave Blanca's power washing over him and he took great delight in it. So much he didn't even stop to think about it as he grabbed Hiyori, who was standing right beside him, and planted a kiss on her cheek before letting go and throwing himself into the fight against the hollows.

"Shinji-no-baka!" Hiyori screeched, her red face only visible for a fraction of a second before she covered it with her mask, and then she was off killing hollows as well.

The rest of the Visored just looked at each other for a moment, wondering what the hell Shinji was thinking, Hiyori was liable to kill him after that move… maybe if she killed enough hollows that might help pacify her? Unlikely, but they could hope…

"Seems the time for games is over…" Coyote murmured softly, almost regretfully as he placed a hand over Lilynette. "Kick back, Los Lobos!"

Aileen seemed to hardly even notice as Coyote's reiatsu shot up drastically, her eyes focused completely on the red-haired shinigami holding the silver mirror, and more specifically, the white ribbon that adorned her hair, kept in place with a clip, of a silver Celtic star… Unthinkingly Aileen's own hand strayed to the buckle of her belt, a silver Celtic star…

"She's a Réalta…" She breathed out.

Such a simple sentence, yet it held so much meaning to her. It destroyed once and for all so many long-held beliefs, and most important of all… it gave her hope…

**xXx**

The Nakama had just crossed the street, right outside the Urahara Shoten, when they felt a kekkai go up behind them.

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo and Uryuu demanded almost in unison as they turned around.

There was nothing visible, at least not to the naked eye, but to those two, whose spiritual senses had been very carefully attuned to anything out of the ordinary, it was almost like seeing things through some kind of transparent film, Something that was there, yet wasn't, at the same time.

"As Ichigo-san and Uryuu-san have probably surmised by now, it's a kekkai." Kisuke announced as he stepped out of the Shoten. "It's the best protection we can give Karakura at the time."

"What kind of protection?" Ichigo needed to know more.

"Months ago, the Soutaichou tasked me and Kurotsuchi with finding a way of protecting the Juureichi while at the same time allowing the taichou and fukutaichou to go full out in the upcoming fights." Kisuke explained. "We began the construction of a replica of Karakura Town, good enough to fool even Aizen at first sight. The plan was to switch the two when the time came. By the time Aizen realized that he'd walked into an empty city it'd be too late and the highest ranking shinigami of the Gotei 13 would be able to fight him directly, without fearing damaging the land or unduly influence the Human World."

"But you haven't switched them." It wasn't a question. "I can still sense my kids, as well as Keigo, Mizuiro and Chizuru."

"No, we didn't switch them." Kisuke nodded. "While the replica is finished we weren't ready for the switch, I've tried calling Mayuri but he's not responding…"

"What are the chances that they're under attack as well?" Uryuu questioned.

That actually made Kisuke stop and consider it. Ichigo for his part just stared at the Quincy, eyes wide, his sisters were in Seiretei! Why did no one tell him something like this could happen?! Then again, it's not like they didn't all know that Aizen would attack sooner or later…

"That's… not impossible." Kisuke exhaled. "In any case, when he refused to answer Tessai and I decided to do what we could in order to protect the humans. We may not be able to send the town elsewhere, but that kekkai should be able to withstand next to anything. It feeds from the energy of the Juureichi itself, so there's no risk of it failing if something happens to one of us."

"Can it stand indefinitely?" Rukia wanted to know.

"Not really, no more than twelve hours at most, though I hope we won't need to keep it going for that long." Kisuke shrugged.

Truth was that he, and the Nakama all knew that if the battle went on for that long, it was unlikely that most of them would be alive by the end of it.

"Eyes sharp kids!" Isshin called as he landed beside Kisuke, it's starting.

"Oyaji!" Ichigo cried out sharply, turning to his father. "The kids…"

"In the hospital, with Ryuuken." Isshin answered, raising his hands defensively before either Ichigo or Rukia could explode. "They're as stubborn as you, they wanted to do their part to help, and Ryuuken agreed to give them some minor tasks to do. The kekkai protecting Karakura, as a side effect, will put everyone without reiryoku to sleep. Ryuuken is staying in the hospital, behind some additional shielding, your kids will be helping him keep an eye on things, make sure no patients are in danger while most of the staff takes an unwilling nap."

Ichigo and Rukia closed their mouths. While they'd have preferred for their kids to be safe at home; they knew Isshin was right that they weren't the kind to stay put when their families were fighting. At least at the hospital Ryuuken would keep an eye on them, while keeping their minds busy. It was really the best plan.

As if on cue, the holes in the sky finished opening right then, and the first thing they noticed was that it wasn't one garganta, but three: the two lower ones held arrancars, all wearing the white outfits the Nakama had seen during their incursion into Hueco Mundo, the month before. They even recognized several of those there: Espadas Seventh, Eighth and Tenth, the Cazadores, and a bunch of others. But it was the contents of the garganta higher in the sky that froze everyone in place: for the ones standing just inside that hole in the sky were none other than Aizen Sousuke, Ichimaru Gin and Tousen Kaname. All three shinigami traitors were there… which meant that it was going to be one hell of a fight.

The hollows began coming out almost the moment the gargantas finished opening. The Nakama began calling out the things they knew about certain Espada, and the Cazadores, those they'd fought before; particularly for the benefit of the older shinigami present.

"The Cazadores are a lot…" Uryuu muttered even as he shot a volley of arrows killing several.

They all knew what he wasn't saying, that much hollow reiatsu in the air might end up calling the attention of other hollows, which would complicate the matter.

"Leave them to us!" A voice called unexpectedly.

All eyes turned to the bunch of newcomers. There were seven, one adult and six teenagers, all dressed in human clothes except for the adult, in a modified shinigami shihakushou.

"Who are you?" Isshin asked, suspiciously.

"Kuugo!" Ichigo and Rukia cried out in unison. "You decided to come."

Isshin, Kisuke, Yoruichi and Tessai turned to them instantly. Clearly not having expecting there to be a connection.

"This is what you needed our help with, isn't it?" Kuugo didn't wait for an answer, it was meant to be a rhetorical question anyway. "We'll handle the ones who look all the same. Yukio!"

Yukio activated his power, and in seconds he and the fullbringers had vanished into Yukio's dimension, along with the Cazadores.

"Who were those?" Yoruichi was the one to ask eventually.

"Kuugo is a former shinigami, had some troubles with the Gotei in the past." Ichigo shrugged. "The others are humans with powers, they call themselves Fullbringers."

"To no one's surprise, it can be traced back to Aizen." Rukia added for good measure. "We met Ginjo-san last week, agreed on bringing his case up with the Soutaichou, and we did just after we were done handling things with the zanpakutou rebellion. Yamamoto-soutaichou still wants to talk with Ginjo-san directly, but he's no longer considered a criminal."

Isshin closed his eyes briefly, he wasn't even surprised that the Nakama would somehow find a way to get involved with yet another rebel group, and not only manage to ally with them, but also put in a good word regarding them with Soul Society…

With the Cazadores off the battlefield the remaining fighters split up to handle their own battles. The Arrancars were numerous, but most of them weren't too powerful, and Isshin, Yoruichi and Kisuke weren't former captains for nothing. The first real problem came when the Espada went into Resurreccion. Most of the other Arrancar had been killed already, and while that should have meant that the Nakama and their allies had the advantage, Ichigo had a very bad feeling, which was proven true the moment the Espada went into Resurreccion. Nothing, not even their foray into Hueco Mundo could have prepared them for what came next.

**xXx**

In Las Noches, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Orihime were moving as fast as possible towards where they could all sense the gargantas into the Human World had been opened. Orihime in Ulquiorra's arms to allow the two Espada to go at their top speed without Orihime expending too much reiatsu trying to match them. She was still exhausted after erasing the Hougyoku and wasn't sure how useful she'd be in a fight, if she were to be honest, but she'd insisted, and the other two eventually agreed, that she was safer with them than on her own in a place like Hueco Mundo (even with Las Noches having been effectively emptied). Had they been able to do things their way, the trio would have slipped to the Human World, warned the Nakama and then gotten ready to fight Aizen when he finally arrived. But Aizen had made it so he controlled all portals into and out of Hueco Mundo (it had been after Grimmjow's unauthorized attack on Karakura, apparently Aizen hadn't wanted a repeat of that particular mess).

The only trouble they found on the way was Nnoitra, apparently the Quinta Espada was running late for whatever the reason. He noticed them, but more than that, he noticed the way Ulquiorra was holding Orihime.

"Kuso!" Grimmjow cursed as he leapt at the Quinta. "Run ahead Emospada, I've got this!"

Ulquiorra didn't even slow down, he went right past the two and kept running. Orihime turned to look over Ulquiorra's shoulder, unable to help her worry.

"He'll be alright." Ulquiorra stated in a clipped tone.

For just a moment Orihime was thrown back to her past life, to a time when Giichi had been sent on a special mission. He'd been several days late getting back, and she'd been so worried about him, that something might have happened to him.

"_He'll be alright." Utokui stated in his usual, no-nonsense tone. _

"_Do you really think so?" Amekimi inquired, voice trembling just a bit. _

"_What makes you so sure?" Shaolin's own tone made it obvious that she wasn't questioning the truthfulness of the statement, rather what gave Ulquiorra's the confidence on it. _

"_Because if he's not then he doesn't deserve to be your guard, Hidenka-sama." Utokui stated, his tone never changing at all._

It hadn't been until much later that Amekimi realized the implications of those words. Utokui hadn't said that Giichi needed to be alright to deserve being her guard, but rather that he had to be alright because he was deserving of being thus… probably the most backhanded compliment Orihime had heard in any of her lives. But it was just how those two were. It was something that had given Orihime hope, long before either of them 'woke', the way the two treated each other, especially after Grimmjow's dismissal as one of the Espada, it was something that no one in Las Noches ever understood, except for her…

They reached the main courtyard of Las Noches soon enough, and once there Ulquiorra had no trouble detecting which garganta Aizen was using and jumped straight into it.

"Hime-sama…" He began.

"I'm ready." Orihime stated with all the confidence she could muster, Tsubaki already gathering power beside her.

Much as he may want to protect her, Ulquiorra knew better than to ignore her efforts, so he just nodded, maneuvering her body so she could hold her with one arm while in his other hand he began powering up a cero.

"Tsubaki, Koten Zanshun, I reject!"

"Cero!"

**xXx**

It was Shunsui who ended the battle in Soul Society, as he dealt the final blow to the Espada he, Juushirou and two of the Visored had been fighting together. There was no doubt that he was the strongest hollow any of them had ever fought, but in the end the shinigami had prevailed…

It took them completely by surprise when a figure in white shot right past them, dark red hair trailing behind her form like a pennant.

"What the…?!"

All the fighters were on guard in an instant, though they soon realized it was all for naught, the figure wasn't rushing for them, instead it went after the falling Espada.

"Bo...nita…" Coyote murmured in a broken voice, he'd lost one eye and the other was growing dark, it wasn't long and he knew it.

"I'm here Cadhóit…" Aileen tore the mask off her face before taking his hands in hers. "I'll always be here… forever."

"Prom…" He couldn't even finish.

"I promise…" Aileen murmured, voice damp with her tears. "Mo Anam Chara…"

Shunsui and Juushirou turned away from the scene, they couldn't help but feel that they were witnessing something that should have been incredibly private. And then it was all over, Espada and woman became pure reishi and then they were gone…

Elsewhere in Soul Society, Ryuujin Jakka's flames were sealed once again after Yamamoto was satisfied with his victory. He chose to intervene after hearing of Kurotsuchi's demise. Barragan might have believed himself to be invincible, his special ability to essentially age all things seemingly unbeatable, but fire didn't age, and as long as there was fuel, it didn't die, and when the fuel was reiatsu… Yamamoto only needed to seal himself behind enough layers of the most powerful kekkai, and his zanpakutou did the rest. There could be no doubt in anyone who bore witness, or heard accounts of the fight that he was the most powerful shinigami in the Gotei 13.

"Aizen is in Karakura!" Karin's scream tore through the sky.

"Karin…" Toushirou rushed to her, not knowing what to do, how to help.

"I'm heading home right now." Karin stated, it wasn't a question. "Yuzu's with me. Are you?"

"Yamamoto-soutaichou has sealed all Senkaimon out of Soul Society." Byakuya, who'd followed Karin's yell, informed them as he landed by them. "It was meant as a security measure, to ensure the fight wouldn't spill over into the Human World."

"Yeah well, Aizen is already there." Karin retorted. "And Yamamoto cannot stop me."

"I'm with you." Toushirou stated with no hesitation.

Rangiku said nothing, just took a step closer to her son. Then, when they all turned their eyes to Byakuya he just stared right back. His sister was in the Human World, of course he was going. There was also no doubt that Renji would be following, in between Byakuya and Tatsuki, there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

"Wait for me! Please! Take me with you!" A voice called unexpectedly.

It was Hinamori Momo, looking not quite as put together as usual, her hair down instead of in her usual bun, but still there.

"Hinamori!" Toushirou shunpoed to her instantly, looking her up and down in concern. "You were badly hurt!"

"I'm fine now." Hinamori dismissed his concerns. "I… take me with you please. I want to go… I have to go."

Karin blinked, there was something in those words that didn't sound right, but she dismissed it a moment later as Toushirou said something in concern and Hinamori retorted with something she didn't pay attention to but made Toushirou snappish.

"Don't fight." It was Yuzu who broke the fight, she never so much as raised her voice but she didn't need to. "We don't have time. We need to go now."

With a nod, Karin spun around, thrusting her zanpakutou into the air, a Senkaimon opening right then and there. She'd been right when she said Yamamoto couldn't stop her, she was a Celestial after all. And so Karin sheathed her zanpakutou again, before jumping straight through the gate, Yuzu on her left, Toushirou on her right, Rangiku, Byakuya, Renji and Hinamori on their heels. Aizen might have thought he could divide and conquer… he'd no idea.

**xXx**

The shinigami stepped out of the Senkaimon and into the air, right on the outskirts of Karakura.

"There's a kekkai around the town…" Yuzu murmured, being the first to sense it.

And then they looked down, and needed a moment to take in the sheer insanity taking place underneath them. There were three Espada, one of them a huge behemoth that was giving quite the trouble to the Nakama and everyone else by its size alone, another that looked like something out of a Jules Verne novel, and the third while perhaps being the most unassuming, it was clear by the way the Nakama kept dashing this way and that, that he was no pushover.

"Ah… the Celestials seem to have decided to join in the fun… and they've brought some friends." Aizen commented with fake cheer from where he was standing, still inside a garganta, about as high up as Karin and the others. "I think it's time to rid myself of at least one pest."

Karin's instincts screamed at her and it was only those same instincts that saved her in the end as she spun around, zanpakutou in her hand almost without her conscious thought, right in time for her to block the blade that had been aimed straight at her back…

"Hinamori!" It was Toushirou who cried out. "What are you doing!"

"What I have to!" Hinamori retorted as she pulled back, zanpakutou held tightly with both hands. "Snap, Tobiume!"

There was that word again 'have', and as she heard it for the second time Karin finally knew why it had seemed so wrong. 'Want' and 'Need' spoke of personal choices, but 'have to'… that could have very different implications…

"Sempai…" Karin gasped in disbelief. "You're a traitor…"

"I'm loyal, to Aizen-taichou!" Hinamori screamed as she shot her attack at Karin.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Aizen asked in a satisfied tone. "Hinamori-kun has always been the perfect subordinate. Always obedient, never asking too many question, her loyalty absolutely unshakable… She's all mine, aren't you Momo-chan?"

"Hai, Aizen-taichou!" She answered dutifully.

There was so much feeling in the girl's eyes, in her voice, a devotion that bordered on obsession. And it was then that Karin and Toushirou both saw what they'd been refusing to see all along: Hinamori Momo, the girl they'd known, who'd been their dear friend, she was gone, they'd lost her, probably long ago.

"Go help the others!" Karin snapped at Byakuya, Renji and Rangiku. "We'll handle this." She turned over her shoulder. "Yuzu…"

"I'll go see if I can reinforce the kekkai, make sure Karakura will be safe." Yuzu said with a smile, knowing her twin wouldn't want her anywhere near the coming fight.

Karin nodded, immediately turning her whole attention back to the crazed shinigami.

Deciding that Yammy was probably the biggest trouble, Byakuya, Renji and Rangiku headed in that direction, helping Isshin, Ururu and Jinta deal with the monstrous Espada. That, in turn, allowed Kisuke and Yoruichi to turn their whole attention to Szayelaporro, leaving the Nakama with Zommari; while Tessai, like Yuzu, worked on reinforcing the kekkai around Karakura to compensate for the greater powers being thrown about nearby.

Even then it wasn't easy, and it was only complicated further when Tousen and Gin stepped out of the garganta.

"Shit!" Ichigo cursed as he noticed the traitors.

"You and Rukia take care of that Ichigo." Uryuu ordered. "We've got this!"

Ichigo stared at him for a moment before nodding and taken off towards were Tousen had just tried to attack Yuzu from behind. It was probably a good thing that Muramasa was so used to wielding himself, and that he was so overprotective of his new young wielder, as the zanpakutou materialized just in time to block Tousen's attack, giving Ichigo enough time to arrive and push Tousen away from his little sister.

"Thank you Muramasa-kun…" Yuzu whispered softly.

"I've got your back Yuzu-san." Muramasa promised his young shinigami, taking a guarding position behind her, as the blonde focused on reinforcing the kekkai.

"So… we've got this, huh?" Keeva said in a drawl, even as she placed an injured Tatsuki on the ground. "Chad is out for the count and Tatsuki hurt her own leg to keep Zommari from using her against us, and you…"

"I'm useless, I know." Ishida muttered with a sigh.

He couldn't move at all, couldn't even stand from where he was laying against a tree-trunk, after being forced to injure himself, much like Tatsuki had, to keep Zommari from using him against his nakama.

"But you're immune to him." Ishida continued.

"I am a Iarann." Keeva shrugged.

Apparently the fact that her reiatsu was always in her body made it so Zommari couldn't take her over, which meant that she could still fight.

"We need to do something now." Keeva hissed.

She was worried for more than one reason. While her sister had agreed to stand guard over their unconscious nakama for the time being, she was already trying to free them from the Espada, and if they didn't find a solution soon Keeva feared she might get it into her head to fight herself. That would mean her death for sure and Keeva just wasn't ready to lose her yet…

"How good a shot are you?" Uryuu asked unexpectedly.

"Ah… good… maybe?" Keeva was taken so much by surprise by his question that she had no idea how to answer it.

"I guess that'll have to do." Uryuu shrugged as he focused his reiatsu.

"Do for what?" She could sense his reiatsu spiking. "What are you doing?!"

"This is ransoutengai." Uryuu explained as thin threads made entirely of reishi appeared in the air, each connecting with a part of him. "It's meant to allow a quincy to control their own body like they would a marionette. Traditionally it was used by the Elders who may have had trouble fighting otherwise."

"But your whole body is out of commission." Keeva retorted. "You don't even have use of one hand to control the rest of you."

"No, I don't, but I'm not going to use it, you are." Uryuu stated simply.

"I… are you nuts?!" Keeva practically shrieked. "You expect me to manipulate your body like some kind of puppet?!"

"I expect you to do what must be done in order to win this fight!" Uryuu snapped. "Do you wish for your sister you take him on instead?"

Keeva snapped her mouth closed, teeth clashing together painfully, so he knew what she was thinking then… what she feared…

"Lets do this then." Keeva snarled, though even with that tone she was still extremely gentle as she took the ends of the reishi strings in her hands and slowly began pulling on them.

"Hey… it's okay." Uryuu did his best to comfort her even as he had to fight the feeling it gave him to have his body moving without his say-so. "I trust you."

He did, and while he might never know it, that made a lot of difference in the end. As his trust, his willingness to put himself under her control allowed her to do so much more than either of them could have expected otherwise. In the end, their enemy never saw them coming, as a Quincy and a Réalta fought together for the first time in centuries, it would soon become obvious why their races had once been so tightly bound together…

It still took a while, but eventually all the arrancars were defeated. Leaving just Ichigo and Rukia fighting Tousen, Karin dueling Hinamori while Toushirou watched, and Aizen observing all while still inside the garganta. At least until a green and an orange flash of light hit Aizen from behind, throwing him out of the garganta violently.

"Is that… Tsubaki/Orihime?" Several of the Nakama asked at the same time.

In confirmation of that, and to shock everyone further they watched the two figures dressed in white shoot out of the garganta behind Aizen. It would be impossible to tell which of the new arrivals shocked them all the most: the arrival of the Cuarta, after quite clearly having shot that Cero at his supposed leader; or Orihime, still in his arms, who'd obviously shot the other attack.

"Hime-sama?" Ulquiorra called, shocking everyone ever further.

"Hai!" Orihime didn't need any explanations. "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily! Santen Kesshun, Nibankyuu! I reject!"

An orange column-like shield formed around Aizen and Ulquiorra instantly. While Orihime would have liked to stay inside, she knew that would have given her old guard an aneurysm or something, so she decided to be cooperative and stayed out of it for the time being.

"What are you doing Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked, seemingly baffled by one of his best Espada switching sides.

"Protecting Hime-sama." Ulquiorra answered stoically.

"She's not your princess," Aizen replied, in a tone as if he were talking to a child. "She's just a bothersome human girl, an insect, nothing more."

"She's my princess." In anyone else that would have sounded like a too-cheesy love declaration, with Ulquiorra it was just a matter of fact. "She's my princess and has been such for longer than you could possibly comprehend, trash. You might have used me against her before, but no more. I'm in my right mind now. I remember… I know who I truly owe my loyalty to now, and that's Amekimi-hidenka-sama…"

The shift in name told Aizen all he needed to know. In all the years he'd been working with hollows, something like that had never happened to him. The closest was Starrk's relationship with Cré… but the human spirit had simply followed his Primera to Las Noches without a complaint. He'd been alert in case she ever got any ideas of rebelling, but she never did, she was happy enough keeping to herself and the Primera, so Aizen allowed it. He never expected something like Ulquiorra's human life to come back and ruin things, ruin him…

High on the sky, Toushirou and Karin had been taken completely by surprise when discovering Hinamori had attained bankai. In that state what looked like a metallic tree appeared floating behind her, each of its branches looked like Tobiume's shikai… and each could shoot fireballs, she could even shoot several at the same time! Even with the both of them in bankai, it wasn't easy to keep up, especially since neither of them really wanted to hurt Momo seriously, they still saw her as a friend. To Toushirou… she was the closest thing he had to a sister, the one who'd been there before he knew Rangiku was family or even met his mom; to Karin… Momo was her sempai, was one of those who'd served as a role model to a young Nagaken Karin, the very reason she was so interested in kidou…

At some point Karin was forced to back away, her right arm hanging useless, with blood running down it from where one of the blade-branches had pierced straight through her shoulder. They hadn't known that the tree's branches could move and Karin had been trying to reach Momo from behind, intent on knocking her out; only to discover the hard way that Tobiume had at least some degree of independent sentience in that form as it protected its wielder's back.

"Why are you doing this Momo?!" Toushirou demanded loudly as he flew around to evade several big fireballs (it was probably a good thing that with most of the others done with their own fights someone would be able to shield from those).

"You know why!" Momo snapped.

"No, I don't, so explain it to me!" Toushirou retorted.

"You know what I remember most from when we were young?" Momo asked, seemingly apropos of nothing. "I remember being so eager to grow up. I couldn't wait to be older. I always thought there was nothing great about being young. Being young meant that you were still naive. Some might call it being innocent, but it just meant being emotional and foolish. Those emotions could control your entire life and can make you lose sight of who you are. I believed that by growing older, your heart grew more experienced. You grew one step further away from being controlled by feelings and were able to keep from soaring through the sky or sinking to the depths of the ocean. That's what it meant to me to grow older. You know what I've discovered since then?" She didn't actually wait for an answer. "Growing older also means learning to be alone. Everyone leaves you sooner or later. Friends, family, all those who might have once promised to always be there for you. They always end up abandoning you."

"I didn't…" Toushirou began, with an emphatic shake to the head.

"You did!" Momo snarled. "From the moment you entered the Academy… no, from the moment you met her!" She pointed a finger straight as Karin. "She was suddenly there and you didn't need me anymore!" She shot over a dozen fireballs in quick succession, forcing the other two to dodge as best they could. "When you finally decided to become a shinigami, I thought it'd be our chance. We could be together in Seireitei, like we'd been at Granny's. But you just… weren't interested I suppose."

"That's not true Momo!" Toushirou denied. "I tried connecting with you once again, but whenever I'd visit you were always busy…"

"Liar!" Momo snarled, turning towards Karin. "You! You took him from me!"

"Don't you see Hinamori-sempai, this is all Aizen's doing." Karin tried to reason with her. "He's put all these ideas into your head.

"Aizen-taichou's a good man!" Momo wailed.

"He's a monster!" Karin screamed. "Who wants a throne that's not meant for him. And now he's ordering you to turn your blade on your friends, and you're doing it!"

"Please Momo, stop this madness." Toushirou pleaded with him. "You're like my sister! I don't wanna hurt you."

"I'm gonna kill you!" Momo hissed.

She shot at Toushirou, Tobiume flying with her, and Toushirou was so weighed down by his love for her, that he just didn't react. Karin did…

Toushirou felt like being sick, so much he couldn't even cry out Karin's name, though inside his chest his heart seemed to have stopped, and Hyourinmaru was roaring his fury inside his Inner World. And it was that through a very complex, extremely dangerous kidou Karin had effectively switched places with Toushirou's; making it so she was the one surrounded by a cage formed by Tobiume's branches, several parts of her body actually pierced by those same branches/blades; enough for blood to begin dripping from those wounds, and even the edge of her mouth. There were also flames licking at her modified shihakushou. Momo was laughing, almost maniacally at it all, while Karin ignored her, and the fire entirely to turn her attention to Toshirou. A whole conversation took place with just a single look. In the end Toushirou nodded, just once, before closing his eyes in pained resignation.

"I'm sorry…" Karin whispered quietly.

"I don't forgive you!" Momo snapped at her. "I'll never forgive you!"

"I wasn't saying it to you." Karin said simply, only then turning her whole attention to the insane shinigami in front of her. "But I'll say it now. I'm sorry sempai. Sorry that I didn't realize what was going on, what Aizen was doing to you, I was always so busy with clan matters, and you were always so strong in my eyes… I never expected you to need me, need us, to protect you. I was blind to your own suffering, we both were and I'm sorry for that."

"Yeah well, your apologies mean nothing to me!" Momo retorted. "You can die now!"

"That, I'm afraid I cannot do." Karin exhaled, so much sadness in that slight gesture. "See, you forgot something Hinamori. Tobiume may be a fire-type zanpakutou, but so is Tenreikou, and no fire will ever be stronger than that of a phoenix." She closed her eyes, just for a moment, letting Tenreikou's voice in the back of her mind sooth her, give her the strength for what she was about to do, as she called her final attack: "Sougi no Maki!"

It was almost like an explosion, except at the same time not. Karin was enveloped in fire, a fire that soon enough enveloped both Tobiume and her wielder. Most of the Nakama called the raven-haired girl's name in consternation, at least until they saw Toushirou, who was just floating there, his bankai's wings still holding him up, while he waited.

It took almost a full minute, but eventually the fire disappeared, and then Toushirou moved. Just in time to catch a semi-unconscious Karin in his arms. She was so weak she could barely stay awake, looked a bit bruised still, and there were traces of blood on her lips and several parts of her body, but her injuries had disappeared entirely. Also, nothing remained of Hinamori herself or her zanpakutou. It was Tenreikou's most powerful attack, the funeral pyre… like a phoenix dying, flames had consumed them, before letting them emerge unscathed their enemies gone for good. It was a very powerful attack, and very dangerous, because while it could destroy almost any enemy, while at the same time healing Karin, it required so much reiatsu that she became incapable of anything afterwards.

"I'm… sorry…" She whispered, very quietly.

"I know, it's not your fault." Toushirou assured her. "You did all you could. I only regret you had to be the one to do so."

"I don't." Karin murmured.

It was true, she'd known killing Momo would destroy Toushirou. Even if she was no longer the girl he grew up with, he still saw her as a sister, that would never change. From the start, switching places with him hadn't been about protecting him from Tobiume's attack, he could have managed just fine, no fire could have ever compared to a dragon's ice, Toushirou was a Celestial, after all… but he couldn't have done what needed to be done, and they both knew it.

Toushirou landed on the ground, beside Rangiku and Yuzu, dismissing his bankai almost as an after-thought as he laid the finally unconscious raven-haired girl on the floor so her sister could check her over.

"Who all is left?" He asked his lieutenant.

"Aizen is still fighting that Espada, the one's who's apparently switched sides and has claimed Orihime-san as his princess." Rangiku explained as she pointed in the direction of each battle in turn. "And Rukia-san and Ichigo-san are fighting Tousen."

"Wait a second, where's Ichimaru?"

Rangiku hesitated just for a fraction of a second, before pointing in the right direction. To where Ichimaru Gin was standing in the shadows of an abandoned building, watching the ongoing fights with obvious interest.

"Has he done anything since arriving?" Toushirou inquired, curious.

"Nothing at all." Rangiku shook her head. "It's almost as if…"

"He's waiting for something." Her son finished for her.

Rangiku just nodded her agreement. Yeah, they both knew that Gin was waiting for something, the question was what.

Ichigo had gone into bankai almost from the moment the arrancars began coming out of the holes in the sky. Even if it might technically have been overkill, he hadn't wanted to risk one of his enemies getting in a lucky shot or something, and the extra speed helped him fight and keep an eye on Rukia at the same time. Rukia knew he was doing it of course, but she just rolled her eyes and kept fighting. It wasn't like she was any different in the end, and her kidou had saved him a few times, so it was all good in the end.

Yet it had soon become obvious that even with the same rank, there could be a wide difference in power between shinigami. Just like Ichigo had discovered Byakuya to be considerably more powerful than Kenpachi… Tousen was clearly very powerful as well. The mask surprised them, though in retrospect Ichigo knew it shouldn't have. Aizen had experimented with hollowification a century prior, which had resulted in the Visored; and he'd had more than enough time to perfect things. As was made clear by the huge power Tousen possessed. The real problem though, was when Tousen went into Resurreccion.

"What the…?!" Ichigo had no words (he wasn't sure if the resurreccion itself was what shocked him most or…)

*He's so freaking ugly!* Shiro yelled inside his Inner world. *Fugly!*

That made Ichigo almost burst into laughter, which would have been entirely inappropriate and he knew most of his nakama would wonder if he'd cracked or something.

And it wasn't even just the Resurreccion, as was proven the moment Ichigo managed to be fast enough to use a black-red Getsuga Tensho on the hollowified shinigami at almost point blank, causing a big tear on his flank… only for his body to reform in seconds.

"Shit! He has high-speed regeneration." Ichigo muttered, mostly to himself. "This is gonna be a pain in the ass!" Knowing there was only one way he'd be able to handle a fight like that, he began pulling on both Zangetsu's and Shiro's power consistently; then, almost as an afterthought he turned to look at his wife briefly: "Rukia… stay back."

"Damn it!" Rukia cursed as she did pull back. "Why? Why can't I be strong enough?!"

She hated that, hated feeling like she was weak. She knew she wasn't, she was actually very strong, so much that she knew that if she weren't part of the Nakama she probably would have been promoted to lieutenant already. She preferred being where she was, though. And yet… by not having bankai, she knew she didn't stand a chance against an enemy like Tousen. Even syncing with Shirayuki wouldn't cut it.

*Rukia-san…* Shirayuki whispered in the back of her mind.

*Shirayuki-san…* Rukia responded with a mental bow of the head.

*You're strong Rukia-san…* Shirayuki reassured her in her usual quiet but powerful voice.

*Not enough for this.* Rukia admitted. *Even with Kaijin's aid…*

*You haven't been practicing long, you just need time.* Shirayuki promised her.

*That won't help me now. I want to help Ichigo, but if I were to try and fight beside him as I am now, I'd be a liability… might even get him killed. I cannot have that Shirayuki-san.*

*Ask me Rukia-san, what you want from me…*

*Would you grant me it? The power I need? Bankai? I know you probably think I'm not ready*

*And are you? Ready?*

Rukia hesitated just for a fraction of a second, before remembering the words Ichigo told her Zangetsu tended to use when he needed to be reminded of his own power and motivations…

"_Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate." _

"I'm ready." Rukia stated out loud, with all the confidence she could muster.

*Then call on me, call my real name, Rukia-sama…* Shirayuki told her, a small smile in her usually impassive face.

"Ban-kai!" Rukia cried out as her reiatsu spiked. "Hakka no Togame!"

Ichigo felt the cold like an expansive wave. He also noticed the moment when small icicles appeared on the freaky insect-like wings of Tousen's hollowified form. Ichigo himself remained completely unaffected. He could sense Rukia's reiatsu spiking and reacted automatically, flipping high into the air to land behind Rukia right as she released her bankai version of Hakuren.

"Well that's a new trick." Ichigo quipped as he approached her.

Rukia just grinned wildly at him, high on the power her new bankai gave her.

"Feels good doesn't it?" Ichigo asked with a smirk, though he didn't actually wait for an answer, he didn't need to. "Together?"

"Always." Rukia answered with a beatific smile.

Ichigo and Rukia were the perfect partners, they always had been, from the very first battle they fought together. Weaving in and out of each other's way, at times coming but a hairsbreadth away from the other's blade or blow, or attack… yet never hurting each other in the slightest. They were so perfectly attuned to each other they moved on instinct, never getting in the other's way, always guarding each other's back, like one single soul in two bodies, one heart connecting two minds… they were, simply put, the truest of soulmates…

"Shirafune!"

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The third dance allowed Rukia to freeze two of Tousen's clawed appendages completely, and followed by Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho they eliminated the limbs entirely… the joy of their victory didn't last long, as he soon regenerated.

"How the hell is he doing this?!" Rukia demanded.

"High-speed regeneration." Ichigo informed her. "You need to destroy enough major organs, fast enough that he doesn't get the chance to regenerate them before becoming critical…" at Shiro's 'helpful' commentary he added. "Or you just blow him up entirely."

Rukia scoffed, then froze as she mentally revised her own opinion on that.

"Rukia…?" Ichigo questioned as he blocked Tousen's next attack.

"That might not be as impossible as it might seem." She explained. "If I manage to freeze enough of his body, can you and Shiro cook up something?"

"Me and…?" Ichigo trailed off.

It was true, while he'd been using Shiro's less noticeable abilities freely since Tousen had gone into Resurreccion, he'd been careful not to do anything too obvious. No Cero, and only enough hierro and regeneration to be able to keep up. But he'd promised hadn't he? That he'd never allow fear, or anything else to stop him from protecting his own… Choice made (or perhaps all he did was realize that it had been made a long time ago, maybe even from the start), Ichigo shot towards Tousen yet again, fighting at close quarters for several seconds, while his beloved got ready to do her part. He felt the exact moment her reiatsu spiked and, mixing shunpo and sonido, managed to get out of the way in the nick of time.

Rukia for her part had decided on using Juhaku. It wasn't quiet as flashy as her dances, but at the same time her power was more concentrated, as it froze the target thoroughly, rather than just the air around them. The moment she was sure her technique had taken she turned over her shoulder to see Ichigo bracing himself as power began gathering between her hands… the petite shinigami blinked as she realized what Ichigo was about to do. She didn't even stop to see Tousen fully freeze, just began shunpoing as fast as she could out of the way.

"Cero/Getsuga Tensho!"

Spoken using the double tones of himself and Shiro at the same time it would be hard for anyone to tell what he'd just done exactly, though they could all see the effects, as a black-red sphere of light shot out of his blade and straight at the frozen shinigami traitor.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia called in the last possible second, her zanpakutou appearing in her extended hand.

Rukia dropped down to the still frost-covered grass, first on her feet, but a moment later on her knees, taking deep breaths and forcing her reiatsu down slowly. While a part of her would have probably liked to rest, Shirayuki was warning her about the negative effects too rapid changes of temperature might have in her body, so she had to do it slowly. It was okay though, she'd done it, she'd attained bankai, and fought side by side with her soulmate to defeat one of their worst enemies to date.

"I'm proud of you Rukia-imouto-san…"

Rukia hadn't even realized when Byakuya approached her, but seeing him right there, standing guard beside her to make sure no one would take advantage of her vulnerability… she had never been happier to have him as a brother.

Orihime's wail changed everything in an instant.

Aizen still didn't understand what had happened exactly. How had the human brat managed to turn his most loyal soldier against him? It just wasn't logical… Aizen, he was a genius, he should have seen it coming, should have been able to prevent such a thing from happening! And not just that, but the power that Ulquiorra was exuding… he might even be able to surpass his old Primera! Aizen was no fool, he knew that for the shinigami to have made it to the Human World the force he sent there must have lost; which, together with what was happening around him meant that he'd lost most of his Espada and at least half his Arrancar army, and he still didn't understand how! It made no sense at all!

The Gotei was useless, Soul Society had been stagnant for so long they didn't even realize how weak they'd become, how much more powerful than all of them he was. And Aizen… he was strong, had always been, so much stronger than anyone else around him. He hadn't really understood it at first, why couldn't everyone be stronger? It was what brought about his first experiments, as he sought to make others as strong as he was… but it never worked out. Instead the dead just kept piling up. What made him angriest was that the people didn't seem to even try, didn't seem to be interested in being strong at all. Happy being mediocre at best… it drove him crazy. So he decided that the system was the problem.

It was then that he began cultivating the image of the kind, affable man, willing to help everyone. It took him as far as being lieutenant relatively soon, but then no further. And he knew why, all taichou and fukutaichou were strong, and revealing his own strength would have destroyed the persona he'd built so carefully until then. Taking the experiments up a notch had always been in his plans, using it on captains and lieutenants served a double purpose, as he got the chance to try his experiments on more powerful souls and it also opened up positions to allow him to progress in his main plan. Of course, it was at that point, as he got the chance to better know Yamamoto, that he realized the fault in his plan: Yamamoto might be old, but he was no weakling, and he wasn't likely to retire any time soon. So Aizen's plan to become Soutaichou and change the system from there was impossible. He doubted that the old man would fall for the same tricks Hirako and the others had; and anything more direct would have given him away. He still thought his plan had merit, so he decided what was needed, was to kick it up a notch.

It had taken years of research into the Spirit King, the Royal Dimension and Zero Unit (more formally known as the Konoe Shidan). Most in Aizen's position would have thought the best plan was to become good enough to be invited into Zero Unit and from there influence things… but by then Aizen had become more than just disillusioned with the system, he'd begun believing that the mediocrity prevalent throughout the ranks could only be torn out by force. Something that would require more than just moving influences over the years, perhaps decades, if not centuries. Something more forceful… that was when Aizen decided there was only one path left for him: to become Spirit King himself.

It was a plan he'd been working towards for almost a century. Whenever someone got too close, saw too much, he'd get rid of them: Isshin, Miyako, Kaien, Karin… He never expected for Nagaken Karin to return, and for her to confirm so many things, both good and bad. Learning the Spirit Throne was as good as empty had been good; yet her being there… he knew what it meant, that an Heir was on the way. Her future son perhaps? He couldn't be sure, even having read everything in the archives about the Royal Dimension, Celestials were still cloaked in obscurity. It was never cleared if they were an extension of the Konoe Shidan, or completely separate, if they were chosen or born into the duty, and what role they were meant for exactly, aside from being guardians of the heir to the Spirit Throne. So the return of Nagaken Karin, and her own declarations that day on Soukyoku Hill:

"_You have fallen farther than I had thought, if you honestly believe such things are up to you, Aizen." She'd sighed then, tired. "But you will see in due time. An empty throne doesn't necessarily mean the absence of an heir…" _

The question was, was that Heir around already, or yet to be born? Did it matter in the end? No.

"The Throne of Heaven will be mine, and no one will stop me." Aizen stated, to no one in particular, as he shot a kidou chain, ending with his most powerful, one of his own creation, more destructive than anything most kidou masters would be able to fathom…

It happened so fast… The first two kidou made Orihime wince slightly, the third made her visibly flinch; the next three made her skin bruise and she knew she'd be very sore in the coming days. It was the seventh that gave her trouble, making her feel as if someone had just punched her low in her chest, robbing her of her breath entirely. Even then Orihime tried very hard (so hard) to hold on, to keep the shield up. She lasted three more kidous, before the eleventh made Santen Keshun shatter, even her Rikka crying out in pain. The reincarnated princess dropped to her knees in exhaustion, waiting for the attack that would end it all… except it never came.

"Hime…"

Orihime raised her head abruptly, and when her mind realized what it was her eyes were seeing… she let out a soul-tearing wail.

"Hime!" Grimmjow yelled as he shot out of still open garganta in the sky.

The moment he caught sight of Orihime, on her knees beside a dying Ulquiorra he let out a string of curses no one had heard before, not even with how much he cursed on a normal basis.

"Grimm...jow…" The Cuarta called him authoritative.

"I'm here emospada." The Sexta felt obligated to throw the epithet out there just because.

"Protect her." Ulquiorra ordered.

"Always." Grimmjow answered simply.

"Hime…" Ulquiorra murmured.

It was the first time he called her anything without a suffix, in either life, Orihime couldn't stop the sob that left her, even as she moved just a little bit closer to him, grasping his hands in hers. She could feel his body already beginning to break apart, and much as she might want to keep it from happening, she couldn't, she hadn't a drop of reiatsu left in her in that moment, nothing left in her, and the hopelessness threatened to swallow her whole…

"I found it…" He said, his eyes not quite on her anymore, though he still held on with what little strength he'd left. "… my… heart…"

It was the last thing he said, and then he was gone, leaving Orihime to cry her despair to the heavens. Ulquiorra… Utokui… he'd found his heart, had found it in her. As for she? She'd lost hers entirely.

"How… interesting…" Aizen muttered coldly.

Grimmjow spun around. One hand protectively on Orihime, the other holding his zanpakutou before his body, defensively. He had no idea how he was supposed to be able to fight Aizen and at the same time protect the princess; especially when Ulquiorra, who had been more powerful than him (usually Grimmjow would refuse to admit that fact, but the situation made him swallow his pride, at least in his own mind) had lost his life to the insane former shinigami.

"You stay away from her!" Ichigo yelled at him. "Getsuga Tensho!"

Aizen looked at the attack with an almost bored expression, knocking it aside with his bare hand.

"You bore me Kurosaki…" Aizen drawled. "I had expected you to be much more… interesting."

Ichigo seethed. He wished more than anything to be able to pummel Aizen to the ground, to destroy him… but he was exhausted. The fight with Tousen had taken everything he had. Even Shiro had nothing left to give. There was no way he'd be able to face Aizen as he was in that moment. And he knew the rest of his nakama had to be in a similar situation…

"However, there are others I'm much more interested in getting out of the way." Aizen went on.

"Karin!" Ichigo yelled, panicked.

He knew Aizen wanted to kill his sister, had wanted to do it since learning whose reincarnation she was. Only too late did they realize she wasn't his objective, not this time. Because Aizen was a genius. And while he might have missed some things, he was paying more attention now. It was suddenly entirely too obvious who Nagaken Karin's partner as a Celestial was…

Toushirou saw the attack coming, much too late to do anything at all. He knew it, even as fast as his mind might be, there was no way his body would be able to react fast enough. And then it happened: a blade pierced flesh, blood was spilled and a body arched in pain at the wound inflicted… except it wasn't Toushirou's body.

"You… will not… lay a hand… on… my… son!"


	43. Not Today

Just like a certain song a few chapters ago, I show just how affected I was by my family binging on GoT at the time I was writing this... But I just couldn't get that phrase out of my head "Not Today"... I had so much trouble finding a title for this one and then... it hit.

I'm sorry for the heartache the last chapter, and what might yet come. Jut know that this fic isn't over just yet, It'll be fifty chapters, and not a single one less, and I promise you, hard at it might seem at times, there will be a Happy Ending!

People seemed to like Rukia going bankai, I'm glad. Also, the imagery of her and Ichigo's fight against Tousen. I was inspired with that one.

Finally, the amazing Photosynthetic Flower aka HibiscusNoir did a fanart for Nagaken Karin. You can find it in deviantart .com (/) hibiscusnoir (/) art (/) Karin-Nagaken-854277206 (just fix the url as necessary) Go give her all the love please! And thank you again dear for your contribution to this 'verse!

Now, on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 43. Not Today **

"GIN!" Rangiku shrieked in a mix of horror and shock.

"Gin…"Aizen blinked, not quite understanding why he'd just done that. "You'd betray me?"

"Not at all Aizan-taichou…" Gin stated, voice perfectly even. "Tis is who ah am, who 've always been…" Gin opened both eyes, staring straight at Aizen. "Ah never fell for ya tricks, taichou… Ah've always known who ya are: a monster. One dat needed ta be slayed, an' if da only way ta do so was from up close… Shoot to kill, Shinsou!"

Aizen shunpoed backwards as fast as he could, though even then he didn't manage to fully evade Gin's zanpakutou, which injured his left flank.

"I can't believe this…" Aizen muttered, pressing a hand to his bleeding side.

"Didn't Ah tell ya, back when we first met? Ah'm a snake." Gin reminded him. "Cold of flesh an' devoid of heart. Ma tongue flicks back and forth, eve' in search of new prey, and if ah like what ah find, I swallow 'em whole."

"You're not… a snake…" Karin whispered, sitting up with some effort, a wide smile on her face as she turned to her old friend. "You're a fox… Kitsune…"

As if in confirmation, Gin grinned, it really did make him look like a fox.

Aizen turned to look at one, then at the other, as if slowly putting the pieces together.

"All this time…" He muttered.

"From the very beginnin'." Gin nodded with satisfaction.

He could hold himself up no more, but before he could fall on his face or something, Toushirou was there, guiding him down slowly, and then using his own haori to put pressure on the wound. The young white-haired shinigami looked like he'd no idea what to say to him, but Gin didn't mind that, just seeing Toushirou up close, having his son help him after everything… it was enough, more than enough even. Gin had been so sure his self-imposed mission was going to get him killed before he ever had a chance to see him, or Rangiku, again… and she was there as well, looking at him through tear filled eyes and there was so much love in her expression when she looked at him… yes, it was definitely more than Gin ever imagined, even in his wildest dreams.

"I'll kill you!" Aizen screamed, losing composure entirely. "I'll destroy you all!"

"Not today."

Aizen gave a step, and then suddenly he could move no further. He blinked, and it looked like he might open his mouth to demand an explanation, but even that was beyond his ability to do in that very moment. No one understood what was going on exactly until…

"Serenity you need to stop!" It was Byakuya who spoke.

All eyes turned, and they saw them then. Byakuya was there, standing in front of Serenity, pleading with her, but she didn't so much as looked at him, her silver eyes instead fixed straight on Aizen, hands extended. She was the reason why Aizen couldn't move. Though what everyone noticed most was the fact that she wasn't wearing her veil. For the first time they could see the woman's upper half and it was, in many ways, horrifying: her skin was pale white, so much it was almost translucent, her veins clearly visible under her thin skin; her hair was a bit wavy and very long (all the way to the small of her back), an ashen-gray, like someone who'd gone gray prematurely. And her skin was tight, so very little fat on her. It made her look more than just sick, she looked almost as if she were already dead.

"I… I have to do this." She murmured, her hands were shaking, and as she stood there, blood began dripping first from one nostril, then the other.

"You're going to die!" Byakuya snapped, and there was so much feeling in his voice, no one had ever heard him like that.

"Nee-san!" Keeva could be heard screaming in the distance.

Uryuu was the one holding her in place, and those that turned to look at her had the mystery of the missing veil solved, as it had apparently been used as a makeshift compression bandage around Keeva's chest, to hold her ribs (which might or might not be broken) in place. She and Uryuu had defeated their enemy, but just before dying the Septima had managed to deal a hard blow to her; Keeva hadn't moved, because moving would have meant leaving Uryuu exposed, and she refused to do that when he'd put so much trust in her. In any case, it was a temporary measure until Yuzu recovered enough reiatsu to heal her.

"I was always going to die." Serenity retorted, her voice shaking just the slightest bit. "Might as well go doing something worthwhile."

"You cannot destroy Aizen." Byakuya knew that much.

"No, I cannot." Serenity closed her eyes briefly. "Even a Síoraí cannot have that much power. We may be able to change and seemingly destroy material things, but a spirit… a soul? That's another matter entirely." She shook her head. "But I can ensure that he won't be a threat to you, not today, and not for some time to come."

"How?" Ichigo asked, hesitant.

He hated what has happening. Hated that someone had to save them, that she was doing so at the cost of her life… but he knew they just weren't in any state to keep fighting, none of them. And Aizen was so powerful… Ichigo could hardly imagine defeating Ulquiorra, the way the Espada kept pouring out reiatsu and pulling techniques out of nowhere… Ichigo couldn't imagine how he might have done against him, and Aizen had killed him. Granted, he'd fought dirty, but still. And after the battle they'd already fought, they weren't ready to go against Aizen…

"I'm going to send him back into the garganta, and them I'm going to seal it." Serenity answered.

"Can you do that?" Rukia was shocked by that.

"I can." Serenity nodded, she was flagging but wouldn't give up. "It's not… it's not perfect and it's not permanent. What I'm going to do is use that garganta to disrupt the way the reishi takes shape to form it. It will not do anything for the accidental gargantas, the ones that some hollows might create while hunting, but since he's not a hollow, he cannot create gargantas himself, and whatever he might have done to create that one… he won't be able to do it again. Nothing he does will work for a while, I hope."

As she spoke, Serenity essentially picked Aizen up, almost as if he were a life-sized doll, and levitated him back to the garganta and through it. The moment Aizen was through Serenity turned her attention away from the shinigami traitor and focused instead on closing the garganta, and not just that, but on sealing it.

Wind seemed to be picking up around her, her long hair flying every which way. Until Byakuya unexpectedly approached her. He unwind his scarf from around his neck and then placed it on her hair, carefully twisting it around her long tresses to help keep them in place. He didn't bother covering her face or body, just her hair.

Serenity blushed, she couldn't help it, but said nothing as she kept her focus on her task. The garganta was almost fully closed when she swayed, her hands beginning to fall down. And suddenly Byakuya was there, holding her from behind, keeping her arms up.

"I… I don't know if I'm strong enough." She admitted, so very quietly Byakuya was probably the only one who really heard her.

"You are, I know you are." He reassured her.

"What makes you so sure?" She couldn't help but ask him, wondering about his confidence in her, he hardly even knew her!

"Because you're Síoraí Serenity." Byakuya stated, as if that alone were enough of a reason.

"Castelo-Faye Seren." She murmured unexpectedly, and at Byakuya's intrigued look, she clarified. "That's my name, Castelo-Faye Seren."

The garganta closed then, but right as Seren began relaxing, her whole body seemed to seize. And then some strange wind began picking up, as the ground beneath their feet rumbled.

All around her the Nakama began calling out, wanting to know what's going on.

"She's lost control!" Keeva yelled, desperate. "Sister!"

Tears began falling slowly down Seren's cheeks as she kept fighting for control, but she knew it was pointless, she was too far gone already. She was going to die… she'd always known it was coming, and as much as the unknown might frighten her, what truly terrified her was the possibility of hurting someone as her powers got away from her, of hurting them: Keeva, the Nakama, Byakuya… she couldn't take that. She just couldn't…

"Let go…"

It surprised her to realize Byakuya was still there, right with her, his arms around her. And what he'd just said, it made no sense… Not to her, but to him… Byakuya remembered the strange message given by a maidservant who seemed to know much seemingly without a reason:

"_You will know the who, and the when, when the time comes." _

That was what she'd said, and it had made no sense, until that very moment…

"Trust me…" Byakuya murmured in his most beseeching tone.

"I trust you." Seren didn't even have to think about it, her response was automatic.

"Let Go." Byakuya repeated.

Seren took one more deep breath… and did exactly that, her whole body went lax in Byakuya's arms, though it was just for a moment, a fraction of a second and then… for just an instant, the space of a single heartbeat, there was nothing but silence, a strange, heavy, unnatural silence… in the next moment there was an odd sound, like the breaking of glass, and it was all gone: the wind whipping around them, the trembling of the earth beneath their feet and Seren… she was gone too, not a trace of her left at all…

They were all still breathless, trying to understand what had just happened exactly. The fact that Serenity had just saved them from Aizen, at least for the time being, and had paid for it with her life… or no, perhaps not just that, because she was gone, utterly and completely. Nothing was left of her, body… or soul.

And then the last thing any of them could have ever expected, happened, as with an almighty bang the Gates of Hell appeared.

"Wha…?"

No one understood what was going on, from all of them, only Ichigo and Uryuu had ever seen the Gates of Hell, after defeating a hollow who'd been a serial killer in life. Chad had been there too, but he hadn't been able to truly see spirits just yet at the time. He'd only gotten involved because the parakeet he was looking after turned out to have the soul of a kid the hollow was using as bait to kill more and more. An innocent kid who did what the hollow wanted, hoping that it would eventually lead him to seeing his mom again… It was the same event which had 'woken' Karin's empathic abilities fully.

Chains shot out of the gates, grabbing none other than Ulquiorra…

"No…" Orihime gasped, horrified. "Nonononononononono…. This is a mistake! No! Ulquiorra! No! Let him go! He doesn't deserve this!"

She kept calling her kotodama, pleading with her Rikka, but it was for nothing, Orihime hadn't a drop of power left in her, and even if she had… what could she do against hell's will?

"Ulquiorra!" When the Gates closed and then vanished the once princess was left being able to do nothing other than shriek his name to the skies.

Everyone was left in a trance, as if trying and failing to comprehend everything that had just happened. Though there were still a few who turned their attention to the sky when a Senkaimon began taking shape up high.

"Hitsugaya-taichou…" Gin began, voice quiet, pained.

"Don't say anything…" Toushirou cut him off, he was barely even aware of what he was feeling, and the last thing he wanted was to confront the man who was his father, much less his feelings regarding the shinigami traitor.

"Ah know Ah don' deserve much." Gin said, with so much self-awareness, and an underlining self-loathing that it surprised Toushirou. "But Ah still request tis one, small, mercy."

"What…?" Toushirou wasn't sure he actually wanted an answer, but he still asked the question.

"Stop what yer doin'." Gin answered simply.

"What?!" Toushirou could barely keep from truly shouting. "Are you nuts?! If I let go you would probably bleed out."

"That's kinda da point."

"Are you suicidal?"

"Not at all! Ta be honest… An' ah know that afta all the things I've done, all da lies I've told, it may be difficult ta believe me, but ah promised maself that if I survived this mess, I'd neve' lie ta ye or yer mother eve' again."

"What do you want Ichimaru?"

"That's jus' it Hitsugaya-taichou… it don't matter what ah want, it never did. I've known da consequences for ma actions from the start."

The more he spoke, his accent got a little spotchy, like it wasn't always there, or always quite as thick. A part of Toushirou wondered if it was the exhaustion, the blood-loss, or if the accent was just one more part of the lies that made Ichimaru Gin. Was there any part of the man he'd known that was real? Perhaps? The man that had gotten in the way of what would have been a very lethal attack, had it touched Toushirou, was certainly real enough. And what he'd just said… it made it clear that he never expected to live to see the end of it all…

"That Senkaimon, we both know who's comin'. I don wanna end up in a little hole, Hitsugaya-taichou, don like dat. Make me crazy. So just… stop… le' me die."

"I'm not… I cannot do that! How can you…? You're supposed to be my father, how can you ask me to just let you die?!"

It was almost funny, yet at the same time not at all, because until he said it, Toushirou had been fighting against so much as thinking about what the man was to him. As if by not thinking it, that would keep it from being real. He didn't want to say it, because saying it meant he accepted it, and he wasn't ready for that… until the possibility of Gin not being there suddenly became all too real. What would the point be then? For Toushirou to learn he'd a father, actual parents, to find them… and then never get the chance to know them? That wasn't fair!

"Let me go… Toushirou-kun…" Gin murmured.

"Not today." The 10th Division captain stated.

**xXx**

The Senkaimon opened then, allowing not just Yamamoto, but most of the remaining captains and lieutenants, as well as the Visored, out and into the skies of Karakura (which remained shielded for the time being). Unsurprisingly, the moment Sui-Feng-taichou noticed Ichimaru Gin, she went straight for him.

"Ichimaru Gin, you're under arrest!" She announced.

However, before she could go into a long speech, Toushirou interrupted her.

"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible Sui-Feng-taichou." The white haired shinigami stated.

"Hitsugaya-taichou…" Sui-Feng began.

"I am Hitsugaya Toushirou, Taichou of the 10th Division and Royal Guardian." For the first time, the young prodigy was acknowledging all he was. "Ichimaru Gin is under my protection."

"That's ridiculous!" Sui-Feng snapped. "He's a traitor."

"Things are more complicated than you know Sui-Feng-taichou." Toushirou told her quietly.

"Are you aware Hitsugaya of what you risk by throwing your lot with this man?" Sui-Feng demanded. "Why would you do that?"

"I am aware." Toushirou hesitated just for a fraction of a second before answering the second question. "It's only right for me to do this… seeing as this man's my father."

That threw more than just Sui-Feng for a loop.

Yamamoto opened both eyes as he stared at them. He'd known of course, of the very few people who'd known about Rangiku's child, he was probably the only one who knew who the father was. There was little that got past him, even being as old as he was… though if the young prodigy whom everyone had known hated Ichimaru Gin with a passion was suddenly willing to take the man under his wing… something must have changed indeed, something Yamamoto did not see coming. Then again, it would seem that since the Nakama's first arrival to Seireitei, there was a lot that he didn't see… and he couldn't even blame the humans, not completely, because most of those things had been there longer than most of them had even been alive! It was just that they were the ones to bring the things to his attention… And a prime example of that was the small group standing to one side, even if the old shinigami recognize none of them bar one… that one he most definitely remembered: Ginjo Kuugo, the first ever Shinigami Daiko…

"I, Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, as both retainer of the Nagaken Clan and Royal Guardian, too place Ichimaru Gin under my protection." Karin spoke up before Sui-Feng could say anything else.

"And we, the Nakama, will back that up." Ichigo added for good measure.

"Why are you even doing that?!" Hisagi Shuuhei demanded, a hand on his sealed zanpakutou. "Shouldn't you hate Ichimaru for what he's done?"

"Karin trusts him and wants to protect him, I trust her." Ichigo shrugged.

Hisagi opened his mouth to say something about how illogical that was, but then Kira stepped closer to him, quietly reminding him of the mess with the King's Key. That was a prime example of the Nakama backing up one of their own, even when having no idea whatsoever what was going on. That situation had also been the reason Karakura was officially declared Nakama territory. Hisagi just didn't know what to even think about that, when something Kira said derailed his line of thought entirely.

"Hey, where's Hinamori-kun?" The blonde lieutenant inquired.

"Dead." Karin answered stoically. "By my hand, when she chose to side with Aizen."

"She what?!" Kira and Hisagi were beyond shocked.

"That's not…" Kira babbled. "Hinamori-kun wouldn't…"

But the way Toushirou turned away, dark shadows in his eyes, gave him his answer. Hinamori most definitely had done that…

"Why?!" Kira shouted, despaired.

Through it all, through all the mess and the despair he, all three of them really, had gone through since the betrayal of the three former captains, their friendship had been what helped them hold on, keep going, keep fighting. Or at least, that was what Kira and Hisagi felt, they'd thought it was the same with Hinamori. Even though she still seemed to care greatly for Aizen, never in a thousand years would they have expected to turn traitor on them!

"'Cause as much of a monster as Aizen ma' be, he also knows how ta play people." Gin offered quietly. "Play 'em like a master musician plays his favorite instruments 'e does, and they like it. He played Hinamori-kun… she never stood a chance. Aizen knew that, tis why he tried ta kill her back before we left Soul Society. He knew she'd never function right without him. But you saved her. And 'e eventually found a use for 'er. Got 'er to spy on ya all for him. Then this morning, she was ta kill 'er poor new captain. She thought it was because Aizen was coming back! Foolish little girl, she was nothing to him…"

"But we're not like that!" Hisagi snapped.

"No, yer not." Gin agreed.

He offered nothing further, choosing instead to relax. Yuzu was the one to approach in the end, after Unohana topped her reserves, and was treating his wound. Toushirou understood what he wasn't saying though: Tousen wasn't the kind to play mind-games, which had kept Hisagi safe enough, and Kira… Gin had probably protected the blonde in his own way. It sounded odd, just the day before Toushirou would have thought it impossible and yet… he knew instinctively that it was the truth.

"What have you done, young one?" Yamamoto asked, low and solemn.

"Wha' needed ta be done, Soutaichou." Gin answered without hesitation. "Aizen needed ta be stopped, and no one other than Karasu seemed ta even be able to see da monster hidden behind da facade of the affable captain."

"Wait a second, Karasu?" Renji asked, confused.

"He means me." Karin clarified. "That was his nickname for me, a lifetime ago. Just like I call him Kitsune."

"A trial will take place, and the judgment passed will be respected by all." Yamamoto declared.

"As long as it is a real trial, where the truth is told, all of it and not just the parts that might be convenient." Karin interjected. "I'm all for justice, but we won't allow for a repeat of the last three times Central 46 passed the wrong kind of judgment."

"Three?" Kira wasn't sure.

"The Visored, Ginjo-san and the demotion of the Shiba as a Noble Clan." Karin enlisted.

"Not the execution order for Kuchiki Rukia?" Hisagi asked, curious.

"I think we all know that wasn't the Central, but Aizen's doing." Toushirou stated.

"The Nagaken will house Ichimaru-san until the time of his trial, and afterwards if necessary." Ichigo stated authoritatively.

All eyes turned to Karin. Usually she'd be the one to speak for the Clan, being the retainer, she had the right to do that. Byakuya was the only one aside from the Nakama who understood the significance of Ichigo speaking up. The time was coming when he'd be revealed as the Nagaken heir, and he was beginning to accept that. However, that wasn't the day, so Karin was seen as the one to formally take Gin in.

"Why is there an Espada still alive?" Sasakibe asked, a hand on the hilt of his sword.

He knew better than to attack straight out, the Nakama never acted like was expected of them, and considering that the blue haired arrancar was the only one still alive, and standing so close to one of their own…

"He's with Orihime." Ichigo answered with a sigh. "I'm not quite clear on the why, exactly. But at least two Arrancars switched sides. Ulquiorra, the Cuarta Espada, died fighting Aizen."

He said it quietly, not wanting to hurt Orihime, even as he knew that it needed to be said. Though all the same it didn't seem like Orihime was aware of much of anything in that moment. After she'd finally stopped screaming Ulquiorra's name she'd gone completely quiet, almost catatonic. Grimmjow just continued to stand guard by her, seemingly at a loss regarding what else, if anything, he might be able to do.

"Report!" Yamamoto ordered, deciding that was the best way to go about things.

Ichigo exhaled, he was tired. Physically, mentally, but especially emotionally. He wanted to go home, wanted to see his children were alright and then fall into bed, with his wife in his arms and just… hold her. Nothing else, just be able to hold her in his arms and lose himself in the comfort of her presence. Of knowing they had survived. They'd deal with the consequences of anything that had gone down later. All the loses… he just wanted to forget for a moment how bad things were, and how much worse they could have gotten if some individuals, like Serenity, and even Ulquiorra (and Ichigo really had no idea how to even begin to deal with that, with the fact that the Espada who once did so much damage to him, who came dangerously close to killing him, for good, had given his life for one that was as good as Ichigo's sister…) hadn't been willing to lay down their lives as they did.

But he was the leader of the Nakama, he was responsible for his friends, his family; and in a way, for Karakura as a whole as well. So he stood straighter, and focused as best as he could. In a second Rukia and Uryuu were at his sides, each standing straight as well, as the leaders they were. With his wife's fingers brushing his, and his brother-in-all-but-name brushing shoulders with him, Ichigo was ready to give his full verbal report.

**xXx**

The trial of Ichimaru Gin was a circus the likes of which Soul Society had never seen before. It was mostly a military trial, as the Captain Commander had declared the Martial Law would continue in effect until Aizen was found and captured. No one tried to convince him otherwise. And really, the last time he'd loosened the restriction and allowed a new Chamber 46 to be formed in an 'on trial' basis, he'd ended with his youngest captain being slated for execution, before most of the Gotei even knew what was going on! There was a reason why he'd decided to grant Kurosaki-Nagaken Ichigo's demand and declared Karakura as Nakama territory.

Yamamoto knew that most people believed him to be prideful, authoritative, and lacking in basic sentiment and compassion, that wasn't actually true. He could be most of those things, yes, when the situation called for it. But truth was that Yamamoto had been young once. Young and impetuous. He'd lead the shinigami in the war against the Quincy and the results had been… terrible. In the end, the order to annihilate most of the Quincy race hadn't been born out of pride, or anger, but out of fear. Not fear for his own life, but fear that the Quincy King's quest for revenge might end up skewing the Eternal Balance irrevocably. If the Spirit King had been forced to intervene… No one knew it, then again, no one other than Yamamoto and Kuchiki Ginrei had been alive to remember the last time such a thing was necessary. There was a reason why the Shin'ou Academy and the Gotei 13 had only existed for a thousand years, before that… some things it was better not to even remember.

Then again, according to Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin, there would soon be a new Spirit King. The ancient shinigami wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.

In any case. The court-martial had begun a few days after the fight against the Arrancar. On a Friday, in deference to the Nakama, who still had lives to keep in the human world. Kisuke had been kind enough to use a memory-device on Sakurada-sensei and whoever else might have seen the humans act strangely that morning. The official version was a drug's bust gone wrong. Presumably the lab had blown up, and while no one other than the criminals themselves had been killed in the explosion, it had still caused nearby businesses, schools, etc., to evacuate. All that came of it in the long run were a bunch of teenagers telling all sorts of stories about the things they'd supposedly heard and seen (and most of them had nothing to do with the memory device, just human teens being human teens).

In the end though, the insane circus of the court-martial hadn't been because of Gin, or at least, not entirely, but everything else around him. It had started with the revelation that 10th Division Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou, who had openly acknowledged his status as the second Royal Guardian, and as such Kurosaki-Nagaken Karin's partner (whom the SWA were convinced had to be dating, they just had to find proof); was the son of Matsumoto Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin. While some were shocked merely at the fact that he was their son… some, particularly the nobles, were shocked at the fact that two 'commoners' had been able to have a child. And while Gin might be quite powerful, Rangiku was more of an average soul, a woman with her average reiatsu being able to have a child… it was unheard of!

And that was just the beginning. Then Gin had revealed the well of information he'd been hiding away throughout the years. Files on Aizen's experiments, all the way to before the creation of the Visored. That had begun a chain reaction. While until then the Visored had been considered as the Nakama's allies, and through them Seireitei's; the files brought to attention the fact that, in the end, the Visored were but victims of Aizen's schemes. It was something they'd all known already, yes, but there had been no proof. Especially since Kisuke had used his Hougyoku on them in an attempt to help. So no one had known for sure if it had been Aizen or Kisuke who turned the former captains and lieutenants into hollows in the first place.

The Visored had no intention of returning to Seireitei any time soon, but it was nice knowing they wouldn't get in trouble if they were to drop by for a visit, and that assassins wouldn't be sent after them anymore. That too brought up the fact that, since Kisuke hadn't created the Visored, he wasn't guilty of the crimes that had gotten him exiled (and almost executed himself) a century prior. And the same went for Yoruichi. While Tessai technically was guilty of the crimes he was charged with (the use of forbidden kidou), it was decided that it had been trying circumstances and his actions were justified; also, one hundred years in exile counted as sentence served.

The battle in Soul Society had ended with the loss of Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Omaeda Marechiyo. Yamamoto had decided to offer Kisuke back his position, which he eventually agreed to, while Sui-Feng insisted on Yoruichi accepting her own captaincy back, the current taichou being willing to serve as her fukutaichou once more. Yoruichi agreed. Kisuke's first task would be to go through all of Kurotsuchi's experiments and get rid of anything that might be dangerous. The last thing they needed was a repeat of that white sludge-thing back in January.

Gin's hidden files had also included information about Ginjo Kuugo. Everything was there, from a copy of the report the 10th Squad shinigami that had made him into a Shinigami Daiko, and then later on been the one to train Kuugo, the training for bankai, all the way to the experiments that turned him into a bastardized form of a Visored. Apparently that had been when Aizen realized that his Hougyoku alone wasn't enough, he needed Kisuke's, as that was the only difference between the Visored and what had happened to Kuugo. It was also Aizen who killed several shinigami either during his experiments, or when they got too close to discovering him, pining their deaths on Kuugo. His hope had been to get rid of the Daiko, after all, who'd have believed the human boy over a respectable shinigami captain? Gin had intervened though, giving Kuugo the opening to escape.

Following that revelation the Fullbringers, with Kuugo as their leader were considered as human allies of the Soul Society, the same status the Nakama had. Naruki City was officially theirs. Also, since Kisuke, Yoruichi and Tessai would be returning to the Soul Society for good, the Visored had decided to take over the Shouten, something that made everyone happy. As the Visored really weren't interested on returning to Soul Society just yet, but they saw the Nakama as friends and wanted to stay close. Also, most of them grew tired of being on the move all the time. They'd long since wanted a place to call home.

Shiba Kaien and Miyako were revealed to have been victims of yet another of Aizen's insane experiments, which surprised no one at all, especially since the report on Rukia's fight against the Novena Espada. The shit really hit the fan though, when files came up concerning the fight during which none other than Nagaken Isshin went missing…

"_You cannot charge Aizen with Isshin's death." Karin stated when Yamamoto wanted to do exactly that. _

"_Why not?" Sasakibe, who was the one taking notes, asked. _

_Yamamoto just took a deep breath. Truth was, he'd long suspected it, he just hadn't been sure. _

"_Because the fool isn't dead!" Ichigo snapped, testily. _

They very carefully said nothing more than that. Things were messy enough already and the last thing they needed was to add noble duties to their already rather long list of things they had to do; especially when they were but a month away from graduating high-school. Yamamoto said nothing about it either, telling himself it was because the Gotei weren't supposed to get involved with noble matters; and not that he felt it wouldn't be fair to put yet another burden on the young man's shoulders, he was so young still… the Nagaken Clan had been without a head for more than 25 years, they'd endure for a little longer.

Orihime didn't make an appearance until the last day of the trial. Grimmjow was with her, as he'd been since Ulquiorra's death. Kisuke had, at Ichigo's request, made him a special gigai that allowed him to look human and kept his hollow reiatsu concealed, so as to prevent any possible side-effects for his prolonged presence in the Human World. Even though most of the Nakama still didn't understand what was going on between those two, except that apparently past lives were involved (and when weren't they? They should have known better than to be surprised by such developments, after Karin and Tatsuki); they did trust Orihime. Also, it seemed that Grimmjow might be the only thing keeping Orihime off the deep end. Even Tatsuki and the other Nakama couldn't reach her, regardless of how hard they might try.

The revelation that Orihime had erased the Hougyoku from existence caused several seconds of silence… then absolute pandemonium. It wasn't a secret how much Kisuke had regretted ever creating that jewel, the lengths he'd gone in his attempts to destroy it, ending with the situation that had brought about Rukia's near-execution and the Nakama breaking into the Soul Society to save her (and from there, everything else). And to think that a slip of a girl, a mortal, had the power to not just destroy, but completely erase the cursed jewel from existence! Those who might have thought that Orihime's earlier exploits, at Soukyoku Hill (the day of the would-be execution), the 12th Division (with the reishi-eating sludge) might have been flukes… there was suddenly no doubt of why Aizen had sought to not just take her, but make her into one of his own. And she'd been clever enough to pretend to give in, all while waiting, preparing…

Of course the people judging couldn't have known that, while Orihime always intended to help, that hadn't been the main motivation behind her choice to stay in Hueco Mundo that day. No, that day the choice had been made with her heart, rather than her head…

In the end Gin was placed under probation. His zanpakutou sealed and not to be released unless in an emergency, but he'd remain a shinigami, and not just that, after much consideration it was decided that he'd even retain his rank. For a decade any decision he made had to be backed-up by his lieutenant, and they'd be revised by other captains every year; but it was still more than he could have ever hoped for. And everyone could tell, by the way he stared with both eyes open at Yamamoto and the panel of judges once their decision had been announced.

"Not expecting this, did you, young one?" Yamamoto commented, an expression on his face that was the closest many had ever seen to a smile.

"Not at all Yamamoto-soutaichou." He admitted.

"What did you expect?" Ginrei, one of the members of the panel, asked, curious.

"Death." Gin didn't mince his words. "Either at your hands, or most likely Aizen's."

"We're not in such a position that we can give up on one of our best officers just because he chose to do things the hard way…" Ginrei said solemnly. "Or rather, was pushed into believing there was no other choice he could make." He shook his head. "You did the right thing, Ichimaru-taichou, even if you went about it the wrong way."

"I ain't do it for ye." Gin couldn't help but admit, he wouldn't allow them to make him into a hero, because he wasn't one. "Ma decision was never about the Gotei or Soul Society."

"We know." Yamamoto nodded. "The decision stands."

Of course they did, Gin had been quiet explicit about it. About what Aizen had been doing the first time he saw him, about Rangiku, and the choices that lead him down such a serpentine, dangerous path. Ise Nanao, acting as secretary for the proceedings, couldn't help but think that the SWA just had to get the story out somehow, it was all so very romantic! The most romantic thing to have been seen in Seireitei since Kurosaki Ichigo lead his friends in the rescue of Kuchiki Rukia…

The whole trial had taken place behind closed doors and all kinds of privacy kidou. The whole thing meant to be kept in private until Yamamoto decided it could be released… but it was Seireitei they were talking about, worse gossipers wouldn't be found anywhere in any of the worlds. So it wasn't really that surprising when the doors into the 1st Division private meeting chambers opened and they found dozen of shinigami waiting in the wings. The moment Gin stepped out in his shihakusho, captain haori on his shoulders the cheers were deafening.

With everything solved, Orihime decided to take her leave, what she wasn't expecting was for Gin to approach her. Grimmjow was on his guard instantly but didn't even try to unsheathe his zanpakutou. He knew that while the shinigami believed him to have switched sides, he was still a hollow to them, and they wouldn't hesitate to strike him down if he so much as give them a reason. Things were already complicated enough since he'd first seen Sui-Feng…

"_Shaolin!" He'd been so thrilled, there she was Shaolin, his lover, the woman he still found himself drawn to, even as a heartless hollow… _

_And she looked at him as if he weren't worth more than the mud under her sandals. _

"_I know you Shaolin, you have to know me." Grimmjow pressed. _

"_I have no idea who you are hollow." Shaolin retorted, voice colder than the arctic. "I have no reason to know a monster." _

"_Shaolin…" Grimmjow didn't understand, even if he was a hollow, that wasn't all he was; if the princess could see it, why not Shaolin? _

"_She doesn't remember Grimmjow-kun." Orihime finally spoke up, softly, gently, as she laid a hand on his arm. "Just like you and… just like you didn't remember." _

"_Well, you made us remember, can't you do the same with her?" Grimmjow asked. _

"_It's not that simple." Orihime shook her head. "She has to want to remember." _

"_I didn't want to remember… I didn't know there was anything I had to remember!" _

"_But you knew there was something missing, and you wanted it back, which in the end amounts to the same. You were looking for someone who might be worthy of your loyalty…" just like Ulquiorra was looking for his heart… _

_She didn't say that last part, she had avoided so much as thinking Ulquiorra's name as much as possible, as doing it only brought all her sadness and depression back. _

"_My name is Inoue Orihime, but lifetimes ago I was Amekimi, only daughter of Arashikensei." Orihime explained to the lieutenant of the 2__nd__ Division. "By the time I turned six I was princess only in name, and my father sent me away to ensure my survival. He died and I grew up in hiding, with only three people for company: Two guards," she signaled vaguely at Grimmjow, "And a handmaiden." _

_She said nothing else, knowing there would be no point. Whatever might have happened to Shaolin to turn her into Sui-Feng… she wasn't yet ready to look back, there was no telling when she'd be, if ever. It pained Orihime, especially because she knew it hurt Grimmjow. Heart or no heart, a part of him still cared for Shaolin and wanted her back, and Orihime wished there was something, anything, that she could do… but there was nothing. She couldn't help herself, much less someone else. Why did people have to die for her?! _

"Orihime-dono…" Gin greeted her with a bow. "Or da ye prefer Amekimi-sama?"

"I'm happy with the name I have in this life, and you need not stand on ceremony Ichimaru-san." Orihime told him politely. "Was there something you needed?"

"Just a word with ye." Gin assured her. "It won' take long." He looked her straight in the eye. "There's something I said to you, back in Hueco Mundo, that I'd like to clarify if I may…"

"_You're a bright star Inoue-chan!" _

The memory shot through Orihime's brain, but she did her best to push it aside.

"If this is about your threats and mind games, I know now that you had to say those things, so there's no need for any explanations…" Orihime began.

"None at all." Gin shook his head. "Ah know what I needed ta do or say, an' I ain't gonna feel bad for what ah had ta do. No, tis is about some words I said ta ye. Ah called ye a star…"

Orihime blinked, of all the things for Gin to bring up…

"Did ya know, there are no stars in Hueco Mundo?" Gin explained, a strange glint in his eyes. "Nothing in that sky 'cept a fake moon. No stars at all!" He made a pause, wanting to make sure that Orihime understood what he was saying. "An' then there was ye! Such a bright star… bright enough ta pull those worthy to yer side, those tha' deserved ta be saved…"

"But I didn't save Ulquiorra!" Orihime couldn't hold herself in check anymore. "I got him killed! Me! I'm the reason he's dead!"

"Nah… Aizen's da reason he's dead." Gin corrected. "An' ya saved him. Trust me Orihime-dono, getting outta that place is salvation enough!"

Orihime said nothing else, she knew they'd never agree. To her it'd never be enough, because it wasn't the first time that she lost him, the first time she failed him… as insane as it might be, she couldn't help but see it that way. Why did he have to die for her? Why couldn't she be the one to save him, just this once?

**xXx**

Byakuya was taken completely by surprise when his sister went looking for him after the end of Gin's trial.

"A will reading?" He blinked.

"Sort-of." Rukia shrugged. "From what I understand, it's not quite as formal as that. All Serenity-dono had was the apartment and that's in both their names. But apparently, since she expected to die relatively soon Serenity-dono left some letters to be opened after the fact, and some things are to go to specific people."

"And she left me something?" Byakuya still didn't understand.

"Just, will you come Nii-sama?" Rukia requested softly.

So Byakuya followed her. They crossed the Senkaimon and walked to the Castelo apartment. Where Keeva was waiting for them.

"Thank you for coming, Kuchiki-sama." Keeva bowed at him. "I understand this might seem unexpected, but Serenity left several requests and I'm doing my best to follow through on them." She signaled to two boxes beside the couch. "The bigger box holds copies of most of the diaries, translations to Japanese. She never got around to translating the last two, but as they're in English rather than in Irish, I'm working on it and will get the copies to you in a few weeks. The second box… it's her glass figurine collection, all but this one…" It was a beautiful piece of a cloaked woman with a lance/staff in one hand and a crow in the other. "The Morrígan, many consider her as the first Réalta Iarann… she said in her letter this was just for me. So I know a part of her will never leave me…" She swallowed past the knot in her throat. "The rest are yours."

Byakuya thought about asking her if that was really what she wanted to be doing, if she wouldn't rather be grieving her sister… but if she'd asked for it, maybe doing it was helping the young human girl grieve. Byakuya knew that his own grieving for his late wife hadn't been exactly traditional, even when they might not have loved each other the way they should have, they'd still cared for one another, and it had pained Byakuya dearly to lose the best friend he'd ever had. The only person who truly knew him for so long… nowadays it was different, he had Rukia, they had truly become siblings since the mess of her near-execution, and much as he might give him a hard time, Renji had proven to be a worthy ally, always there when it truly mattered.

And then there were the things Serenity had chosen to leave to him. The diaries were one thing. Serenity had wanted someone to keep the histories of her people, and with her gone… while Keeva might keep the original diaries, she was no historian, and they weren't even sure if there would be any more réalta in the generations to come. But her collection of glass figurines? He'd first seen them during his second visit to the apartment, when she began reciting the old stories and poems of her people so he might record them (usually there would have been others, scribes, who'd do so, but Byakuya knew that Serenity was a very private person, and she was already being very accommodating, opening her home to him, so he decided to do things himself).

He'd noticed the figurines then, holding place of honor on a shelf in her living room. There were almost a full dozen: a mermaid, an elf, a fairy, a unicorn, a Pegasus and several other creatures he'd not the names for. She'd explained to him that she collected them, she'd always loved things like that, and the first two figurines: the fairy and the unicorn, had been gifts from her cousin and mother respectively.

And she'd left them all to Byakuya… granted, she was gone, and Serenity herself had said that Keeva didn't care for them. Except perhaps for the one that had been meant for her.

"There's something else…" Keeva seemed to be having a hard time with that part, but finally she pulled something out of the inside pocket of a jacket and offered it to Byakuya.

The noble had it in hand before he even stopped to realize what it was exactly… Serenity's glass pendant. It was beautiful, and absolutely unique: completely translucent glass almost two inches in diameter, and inside it a Celtic-knot five-pointed start made of the purest silver, a little over an inch wide. Serenity had explained to him that it was her talisman. All réalta had one. They all carried something on their person with the symbol of their people. Keeva's was a cuff-bracelet, Yailen's a brooch she usually pinned to her sash, and Serenity's had been that pendant…

A memory hit Byakuya then, of that day, in the outskirts of Karakura, Serenity standing tall, with no veil, using her powers to save them all, to give them more time before they had to confront Aizen once and for all… he hadn't realized it then, or he had, but not fully. He'd known that something was missing, but couldn't begin to fathom what, or why. He realized it then: Serenity hadn't been wearing her pendant. If she had, the talisman would have disappeared along with her. Instead she'd left it behind, and Keeva had just given it to him… it made no sense!

Byakuya raised her head from the jewelry to Keeva abruptly, trying and failing to understand what was going on exactly.

"She wanted you to have it." Keeva explained quietly. "This is why I asked Rukia-san to bring you here. Had it been just the diaries I could have send them to you with her, but this… I wanted to give it you in person, I wanted… needed to make sure you understand what it means, for her to leave it to you."

"She told me once it was her talisman." Byakuya explained. "That all réalta have one and always carry it on their person."

"That's correct." Keeva nodded. "But there's more to it than that. Every talisman is absolutely unique. They are created, or at the very least ordered, by an elder Réalta, to gift to a younger one. You could say it's something an older sister gives to a younger one. And there need not be family connection, it's about connecting us Réalta, trainers to trainees, sister to sister… They're custom made for each of us, and what they're made into says something about us, and about how much the one who gifted it to us knows us. Me? I wear a wrist-cuff because I mostly don't like jewelry, but this… whenever I look at it, it reminds me I belong. That I have a family. My talisman was given to me by Serenity, of course; hers was given to her by her own sister: Yailen-dono; who received her own from her mother."

Byakuya nodded to show he was keeping up, though he knew that wasn't everything.

"Traditionally a réalta will wear their talisman from the day it's gifted to them to the day they die. Where she will be buried with it." Keeva added.

Byakuya blinked, his hand tightening on the pendant.

"You see now." Keeva nodded. "There's only one recorded case where a Réalta took off her talisman and gave it to someone else. Lady Maitilde, one of the most famous Réalta, left her talisman, a handkerchief embroidered with silver thread to her lover when she went off to war in ancient times. It is said that doing so was akin to leaving her lover her own heart…"

Byakuya's hand tightened almost convulsively around the pendant. Serenity's voice rang in the back of his head, words said seemingly so long ago now…

"_I don't think it's ever a mistake to love…no matter what comes out of it, no matter how it ends. Love is such a wonderful thing…it can never be wrong." _

Had she loved? Had she ever had the chance to, having died so young? He'd only learnt that it was her birthday after the fact, when he dropped by for one of their sessions and he noticed a couple of new glass figurines on her shelf: a Chinese dragon and a Western phoenix.

"_Keeva gave me the phoenix, the other one was a gift from the Nakama, they'd heard from Keeva that I collected them." At his questioning look, she explained. "It was my birthday, two days ago. I'm officially twenty years old." _

Her last birthday… and her greatest possessions, both her collection of glass figurines, and her talisman, she'd chosen to leave to him… It made Byakuya feel both incredibly honored, and at the same time… almost unworthy. What had she been thinking, when she made such a choice? What could she have possibly seen in him that made her believe he was the right person to keep her heart? Why him and not someone else? He'd probably never know the answer, but that didn't mean he wouldn't endeavor to do right by her, by her memory.

"Then I shall guard it well, always." He declared solemnly as he carefully wound the platinum chain around his wrist and slipped the pendant inside his sleeve.

"Arigatou…" Keeva murmured with a bow.

**xXx**

When Yailen heard what had happened to Serenity, she cried. She cried a lot, for a very long time. Ichigo and the others didn't judge her, since learning that Serenity (or Seren, as the older girl said her real name was) was family, as good as her little sister. Ichigo was perhaps the closest to understanding what Yailen was going through. After all, he was in many ways the reason why his twin sisters had gotten involved with the spirits in the first place, nevermind Orihime, Chad, Tatsuki and his other friends. It was because he leaked so much reiatsu it awakened powers in them. And while most of them might have ended involved in things sooner or later (Orihime, Tatsuki and Karin due to their past lives, Yuzu because she was their sister, and Chad because, while Ichigo might have kick-started his powers, they'd been a part of him since he was born, being a fullbring and all), it was still Ichigo's fault they got involved when they did. And while no one would ever say it, it would have been Ichigo's fault if getting involved in things had gotten them killed… Orihime and Tatsuki had gotten dangerously close to that once or twice before their powers activated; and Chad when they had that mess with the parakeet.

Yailen… she was the one to introduce her little sister into their world, to guide her… it had been Serenity's choice to become a Síoraí, to walk down the path that she knew, from the start, would eventually mean her death… but Yailen would never stop feeling guilty. Even if no one would ever blame her, even if they all knew that Serenity herself would refuse to blame her in any way (she would probably hate knowing Yailen felt like that). Yes, that feeling of guilt was something Ichigo understood well.

So when Yailen asked for license to go into the world of the living, Ichigo did his best to help her get it. It was something extraordinary, and not the kind of thing that would usually be allowed, but in the end Yamamoto acquiesced, on the condition that there would be no gigai, Yailen would be escorted by a shinigami and she'd only get in touch with, at most, one living person, someone who knew already about their world. Yailen agreed to everything.

And that was how she found herself standing there, by the back entrance of a small, modern, two floor home. There was a rose garden, beautifully cared for… Yailen remembered so clearly learning how to care for the roses when she'd lived there. Byakuya, who'd volunteered to be her escort, followed her without saying a word, just taking in the place. The two spirits went through the almost floor-to-ceiling windows that lead into the sitting room. Though Yailen didn't stop there, and Byakuya just followed her, to a small table underneath the staircase leading to the upper floor, where in between a small vase with a single white rose and a candle, there was a photograph. Byakuya actually blinked as he saw it, saw the girl in the picture, it was Seren, a younger her, with bright eyes and raven-black hair. Her skin was lightly tanned and without blemish. She had been a very pretty child, so full of life and dreams…

"I was wondering when you'd drop by…" A voice called unexpectedly.

Byakuya was startled. He hadn't sensed the woman approaching. It was probably to be expected, as he could sense no reiatsu coming from her and yet… and yet she could see them. Both of them, as he realized when she acknowledged his presence with a brief glance before focusing on Yailen completely. The woman looked like she might be in her fifties, and didn't seem like anything special to look at; short hair in light waves that had more white than auburn, healthy tanned skin, wearing black jeans and a simple red blouse. But her eyes, those Byakuya couldn't stop looking at, because they were small but strong and bright, the exact same shade of light-gray her daughter's had been. Those eyes held strength, the kind Byakuya had rarely seen in anyone in either world, and they also held the knowledge that seemed to belie the woman's years and status as merely human.

Yailen said nothing, just watched as her aunt placed a small crystal sculpture on the table, just behind Seren's picture. It was a woman in detailed robes with hints of green and brown. Yailen recognized her as a representation of the mother goddess.

"Keeva sent it through express delivery." Marie answered the unasked question. "One last gift from my daughter…"

"I'm so sorry Aunt Marie!" Yailen could hold herself back no more, she broke into tears and continuous apologies.

"Oh my dear… you have nothing to be sorry for." Marie did her best to assure her.

"But Aunt Marie, it's all my fault." Yailen insisted. "I'm the one… I'm the one who made her into a Réalta. Who pushed her…"

"Seriously?" Marie shook her head, a hand tenderly on Yailen's cheek. "Do you honestly think my daughter needed anyone's help to get into trouble?" She scoffed lightly, then turned serious once again. "Seren was born to be a Réalta, we both know that, darling. And more than that, she chose it." She took a deep breath. "I raised my daughters, both of them, the best way I knew how. What they've done with their lives has been the result of that. Seren… she always wanted to do so much, she wanted to save the world… I always knew it might end up costing her her life, and as much as it might pain me, I respect her choice, because it was hers to make. You should do the same. Blaming yourself all it manages to do is hurt you, and detract from the choice she herself made. Remember her, but don't torture yourself over this."

"How can you do it?" Yailen couldn't help but ask.

"I always knew I wouldn't have her for very long." Marie admitted. "The hardest job a parent has, is to let their child go. Even if I didn't know how it'd happen, I knew I had to let her go, so that's what I did… The day she told me she and Keeva were leaving for Japan… that was when I knew, that I'd never see my daughter again in this life."

"I'm sorry Aunt Marie…" The two women embraced tightly.

Byakuya said nothing, just stood back, watching, he couldn't help but admire the woman, her strength. She'd lost her eldest child, yet she didn't seek someone to blame, she wasn't angry at the world. Rather she accepted that her daughter's own choices had lead her down that path, and there was nothing that could have been done. Byakuya himself still had trouble with that part, he'd known Seren for such a short time, and most of that had been with her facade, with the Lady Serenity… he wished he could have known the young smiling girl in the picture. The one who'd had so many dreams her eyes couldn't hide them…

"Thank you for bringing my niece to visit, Mr. Shinigami."

Byakuya was surprised when the woman actually addressed him.

"It's my honor to be of service." Byakuya bowed his head respectfully, thinking things over a bit before adding. "Your daughter did a great service to us all Castelo-san, and it was decided at least someone in her family deserved to know it."

"Keeva told me." Marie nodded with a sad smile. "The poor child. She was never as comfortable with the rest of us as she was with Seren." She shook her head. "I've always believed that if Seren had just been a little older when the two first met that girl would have arrived to my house as my granddaughter instead of my daughter. She's a good person, but I know she too feels guilty for not saving her sister. As if there's anything she could have done!" She exhaled. "I've done my best to reassure her that I'm still here, still her family, whenever she needs us. She's not alone, is she? That would be terrible after the loss of Seren."

"No, she's not alone Aunt Marie." Yailen assured her. "She has a group of friends who've all promised to look after her."

Marie nodded, satisfied, right as a hell butterfly appeared, flying directly to Byakuya.

"It's time to leave." He said quietly.

"Of course, of course you must leave." Marie nodded, not surprised at all. "Thank you again for your visit, and my best wishes go with you, always."

"Goodbye, Aunt Marie…" Yailen murmured as she turned to leave.

"Not goodbye, with family there can never be anything so final." Marie contradicted. "We'll meet again some day darling. Have faith, I certainly do…"

Yailen nodded absently as she walked out of the house, unable to help the feeling that there was something about those words, but she just had no idea what… perhaps one day… perhaps…


	44. Abandon All Hope

Hello! We're back with another chapter of this insane story! (Insane it might be, but I'm extremely proud of it).

So much has happened in recent chapters, that at times I have to wonder if everyone's noticing everything, but if I make the chapters longer there will also end up being more of them, a lot more, and it's already going to take almost a whole year to get this posted as it is so... I just hope you're all enjoying this, whether you're commenting or not.

For those of you who've been waiting for "Jigoku-Hen"... (you know who you are). Here we are! The time has come and we're all heading to Hell (just in case the chapter-title didn't give it away). This is actually one of my favorite chapters, so much happens! From the moment the movie first came out I knew a lot of what I wanted to do with this part; though I also got some ideas that I loved and thus made me change a few things around. In short, I love this chapter and I hope you will too.

Most of the events of the movie (all the important ones) take place in this piece, a few details and the aftermath will come next week. So, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 44. Abandon All Hope **

It began with a freaky accident at school one Friday in mid-March. The past weeks since the end of Gin's trial, and especially since the end of the battles against Aizen and his Espada the week before that, had been rather quiet. Something everyone in both worlds had taken advantage of as they focused on recovering. Orihime… she was clearly making an effort, smiling and reassuring everyone that she was alright, but it was quite clear to all her nakama that she wasn't. Grimmjow was with her practically all the time, and there came a moment when he thought he might have to protect his princess even from herself…

"_I'm not going to commit suicide Grimmjow-kun." Orihime told him gently after he admitted to his fear one day. "I know that wouldn't be right. Ul… he sacrificed himself for me, to save me. And as much as I might wish he hadn't done it, or that I'd been able to save him. Giving up this life so callously would be an insult to his memory, and that I won't do." _

Much as it might hurt her sometimes, to have to live without him. She'd found him, after looking for so long, two whole lifetimes! And then she lost him again. It wasn't fair! But to the words she'd told Grimmjow she'd hold. The worst part sometimes was having to act 'normal' in front of their classmates. The official story (shared by Chizuru and Keigo) was that Orihime had met a boy, fallen in love hard and ran away with him. They'd been planning on marrying. It was all supposed to be a secret because his family wouldn't have approved… or something. But then he'd died in a traffic accident. There had, in fact, been a rather serious traffic accident in Kyoto a few days before Orihime was seen back in Karakura. Five people had died, and the names had never been given, out of respect for the families, though there were rumors that the rich son of a businessman had been among the victims. It all fit the story, and after some 'insistence' on Chizuru's and Tatsuki's part, their classmates stopped asking questions.

When Squad 12 first detected that something odd was going on, the Nakama and the Fullbringers were immediately on alert, though they weren't expected to have to get involved. At least not until Renji with a warning early Friday morning.

"They detected traces of hell in this world?!" Ichigo repeated, not quite able to comprehend what that was supposed to mean.

"That's right, according to Urahara-taichou, the Gates have appeared and opened several times over the last week." Renji nodded. "That's an anomaly in that never before had it happened so many times in such a limited span of time. And there are no reports of any particular deaths at those times either, or particularly difficult hollows either so…"

Of course, because the Gates were only supposed to appear to take those who'd done some heinous crime while alive. The gates could take spirits or hollows, it didn't matter, if they'd committed heinous crimes when alive, hell could claim them. And while Ichigo wasn't one to keep up with the news exactly, he was sure that if some criminal had died recently, he'd have heard about it; and if there had been hollows around that ended going to hell he most definitely would have known about it. In his whole life he'd only ever seen the Gates appearing twice. First for that hollow that had been a serial killer in life, and then for Ulquiorra, whatever he might have done in life to deserve hell Ichigo didn't know, and he'd rather not ask.

The school had been working on some renovations, so there was a lot of scaffolding on the front of the building, and students had been warned to be careful whenever they were walking by it. Of course, no one was expecting for a good part of it to just creak and then collapse for seemingly no reason at all. A couple of girls in the lower years had almost gotten killed, they would have if Keeva hadn't moved fast enough (using some of her powers) to pull one of them out of the way in the nick of time, while Chad simply stood above the other, the wood and metal falling on him. He was strong though and didn't buckle under the weight. Even then, the moment they were in private Yuzu made sure to heal him, for which he was thankful.

There was a lot of gossip regarding the possible reasons for the accident, but the nakama said nothing at all. At least not until Ichigo lead them to the cordoned off area once classes were over. One look and Uryuu was crouched in front of it, a hand lightly touching one of the pieces.

"Do you sense something?" Tatsuki asked, running out of patience incredibly fast.

"Yeah… it's very minimal, but it's still here." Uryuu answered thoughtfully. "But it's not like anything I've sensed before."

"What does that mean?" Ichigo didn't like the implications.

"It's not a hollow or a spirit." Uryuu began enlisting. "And it's not a human with special powers, like Chad, Orihime or Keeva. Moreover, it's not a shinigami either. Anyway, it seems certain that something is going on."

Ichigo exhaled, he wished Orihime were there, she was the best from all of them at reading reiatsu. But she'd left the moment the last school bell rang, something that wasn't uncommon these days. And truth was he wasn't sure if he should even get her involved, if the 'accident' was connected with what Urahara had been picking up, that meant Hell, and the last thing Orihime needed was a reminder of her loss.

"Yeah well, we knew that already." Tatsuki retorted. "What we need to know is…"

She never got to finish what she was saying though, for suddenly they all sensed the reiatsu approaching, fast.

"Bakudo #39, Enkosen!" Rukia and Ichigo reacted in record time.

The later was still a bit touch-and-go when it came to kidou, but they'd discovered that when he did it with Rukia, his spell would reinforce hers. They suspected their bond might be to blame (or thank) for it.

Even then, the shield was barely enough to hold the attack, and it broke almost immediately, throwing them both back and through the air. Though luckily Ichigo had a good physical condition in both spiritual and physical forms and managed to right himself in the air, landing on one knee, holding Rukia with one arm against his chest.

"Take them up!" He ordered the rest. "We need to keep them away from the people!"

He'd no idea who was attacking them exactly, but his priority would always be to protect as many people as he could. They couldn't fight so close to the school. Even with classes over, many people had clubs, or simply were the kind to hang around before going home. The Nakama couldn't risk their classmates.

It took several very long seconds for Ichigo, Rukia, Karin (while only seniors had classes that ended that late, she'd been at her club, and thus still at the school) and Tatsuki to get out of their bodies, leaving their gikon with Keigo, Chizuru and Mizuiro. They'd just made it to the roof and were observing Uryuu, Keeva and Chad fighting, waiting for the best moment to intervene, when Rukia and Ichigo sensed the same thing at the same time.

"Homura! Shizuku!" The two cried out.

That was their children's reiatsu that had just spiked!

"Go!" Tatsuki ordered.

"But…" They couldn't help but turn to look at their nakama.

"You won't give it your all if you're distracted by your children anyway." Tatsuki pointed out. "Go, make sure they're okay, then come back to help us."

"Yuzu might be with them already, but you know oyaji left for that overnight conference, she and your kids might need help." Karin added for good measure before pulling out her zanpakutou and calling her shikai: "Fly across the fiery heavens. Tenreikou!"

It cost her to stay behind, but she could tell there were more enemies at the school than at the clinic, so stay she would. Uryuu took his attention away from his enemy for a moment to nod at the shinigami pair. Who nodded back at him before shunpoing away.

**xXx**

Ichigo and Rukia got to the Kurosaki Clinic just in time to watch a strange being, cloaked, with tentacles instead of arms, holding an unconscious Yuzu and pulling her through an odd-looking portal high in the sky.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo screamed as he went right past shikai and straight to bankai, even taking some power from Shiro to move as fast as possible, though it just wasn't enough. "YUZU!"

Rukia was horrified, yet the moment she heard her children calling, she couldn't help but rush towards where they stood, just inside the Kurosaki clinic. Rukia could sense the traces of a kekkai, and she suddenly had a very good idea of how Yuzu ended unconscious in the hands of those monsters.

"Kaa-chan!" The two children cried in distress. "Yuzu-ba-chan…"

They were clearly distraught, not only for having those monsters after them, but it was clear that they knew their aunt had been captured while protecting them…

There was another cloaked and masked individual, one who seemed to be able to conjure fire and he attacked Ichigo. Starting a short but intense duel. The real problem was that Ichigo was so distraught by what he'd just seen, he just wasn't completely in the fight. It was probably a good thing when a man with a scarf that covered most of his face, and carrying a distorted blade arrived and helped Ichigo in the nick of time, somehow managing to deflect an attack before it could hit Ichigo straight on, instead there was an explosion in the distance.

"Give Yuzu back!" Ichigo yelled at the pyrokinetic.

The pyro didn't just ignore Ichigo, but he shot fire straight at the clinic. Ichigo shot towards it, but he just knew he wasn't going to make it there in time. First Yuzu was taken, and then his wife and children were about to be burnt in front of his eyes…

The fire never did hit them. Though Ichigo didn't realize who it was that had just saved those he loved most, until they all saw him fall:

"Chad!"

Uryuu and Karin arrived a fraction of a second later. The latter already in bankai began shooting fire at the person who'd almost killed her family straight out. Uryuu for his part went to take a defensive stance in front of the Kurosakis, just in case. It was for naught, as the pyro disappeared a moment later.

"I'm calling Isane-san!" Rukia announced, soul-phone already in hand.

Usually they could have called Orihime, but being depressed meant her powers weren't as good as they'd usually be. Also, since Chad was the one hurt, his girlfriend would probably want to be there for him anyway.

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, when a voice echoing across the sky called every Nakama's attention:

"We are the Togabito from Hell. If you want to help your sister then you will help us out."

"Teme!" Ichigo cursed, looking around and finding no one. "Show yourself!"

"We have only one wish." The echoing voice continued. "To be free from hell. And we need your power for this."

Ichigo noticed something from the corner of his eye and turned ready to attack, but Karin was faster than him:

"Enmouchou!" Karin yelled, pouring as much reiatsu as she could into the attack.

The Togabito was there, and he blocked the attack, before turning back to Ichigo:

"Destroy Hell's Gate, Kurosaki Ichigo. If you do that, I'll return your sister to you."

And with that, the masked one was gone. Ichigo almost went completely nuts. Heading straight for the man who'd also appeared out of nowhere and demanding explanations. In the end Rukia was the only one who could calm him and convince them that they should go into the clinic.

Things really weren't good. Renji and most of the missing Nakama arrived shortly after Isane, Hanatarou and Toushirou. Keeva was unconscious, and Tatsuki was badly hurt, as they'd taken a direct attack to protect several of their classmates (Chizuru, Mizuiro and Keigo had done their best to lead them away but as always there were those who were just too curious for their own good, and who would look for the origin of the explosions instead of running away from them). All their classmates had really seen was an explosion coming out of nowhere that had knocked out Keeva (as Tatsuki was a soul and therefore not visible to them); that, at least, finally convinced them to get away from there.

It took a lot of time to calm down Homura and Shizuku, who both kept crying and apologizing and blaming themselves for what had happened to their gentle aunt.

"She told us to stay inside the clinic, and then she went out and put up that kekkai." Homura related. "Muramasa did his best to help her but they were too strong!"

"We're sorry!" Shizuku wailed "Kaa-san! Tou-san!"

"Shizuku, Homura, listen to me." Ichigo was so serious that the children did stop and focused on him. "Never, and I do mean never, blame yourselves for someone choosing to protect you." When it looked like they might insist on it he raised a hand to stall them. "I know how you feel. I know because I've been where you are now. Yailen-nee-san, and my kaa-san, they both died to save me. Your own kaa-san gave herself up to Seireitei to save me once. And each time I blamed myself. I tortured myself for their choices, I didn't realize that by doing that I was diminishing their decisions. I was making it about me, when it was them who decided to do what they did. And they did it because they cared for me, they loved me and wanted to protect me. Now I no longer blame myself, instead I try very hard to make sure their sacrifices were worth it."

Most of the Nakama said nothing. They'd been quite aware of most of what he'd just said, even though he'd never spoken about it so candidly.

"They were, and they are, always Ichigo." Rukia assured him quietly.

Homura and Shizuku said nothing else, they just threw themselves at Ichigo, embracing him tightly and refusing to let go for a good while.

Rukia just smiled at the scene. There was a warm feeling in her heart as she realized that maybe, just maybe, Ichigo had finally healed from the loss of his mom, and Yailen. And besides, Yuzu wasn't dead. They would save her!

Orihime and Grimmjow were the last to arrive. He was in the modern clothes he'd begun to favor since leaving Hueco Mundo: off-white pants and a black button-up; though by the fragment of mask on the side of his jaw it was clear he was in soul form. Orihime for her part was in a cream colored yukata with a branch of white and pale pink cherry blossoms in her back and small flowers and petals that seemed to be floating everywhere; a dark pink obi around her waist and simple sandals on her feet. A scarf that seemed to mix all the different colors of her yukata was covering her hair.

"Grimmjow what the hell?!" Uryuu explained the moment he saw the former Espada.

"The Gotei isn't going to like this…" Toushirou muttered looking at the arrancar.

"Yeah well, I didn't exactly like having a building fall over my head, but you don't see me complaining, do you?" Grimmjow retorted snappily.

"Idiot, you did just that." Karin snapped at him.

"Are you alright Orihime?" Tatsuki asked, worried about her best friend.

"We're both fine Tatsuki-chan." Orihime assured her with the barest hint of a smile, the closest she got to one these days.

According to their new ally, Kokuto, the Togabito had kidnapped Yuzu believing that Ichigo could free them of hell. As for why he'd intervened exactly… Kokuto didn't see it as helping Ichigo and his nakama, but simply as going against the other guys whom he 'disliked'. In the end, Ichigo didn't really care about his reasons, as long as he got Yuzu back.

"So… what's the plan?" Renji asked the obvious question.

"We're going to Hell." Rukia began with the obvious.

"We're getting Yuzu back." Ichigo added for good measure.

"And then we'll make them regret ever laying a hand on her." The two finished in near-unison.

Toushirou didn't like the plan, neither did Karin, if not for the same reason. Toushirou thought it was insane for them to go into Hell; while he wanted Yuzu to be rescued, he still thought the Nakama didn't know Kokuto enough and were trusting him way too much. Karin…

"We cannot go." Karin stated between clenched teeth.

"I'm not going to leave Yuzu!" Ichigo snarled. "And I thought…"

"Stop Ichigo!" Rukia slapped a hand in front of his mouth before he could finish. "Don't say something you'll regret." She turned to Karin. "Why not Karin?"

"To clarify, I didn't mean that you shouldn't go, I meant that I, specifically, cannot go… or well, Toushirou and I, rather." Karin explained. "And the simple explanation is that, being Royal Guardians, we cannot set foot in Hell without calling a, and excuse me the pun, hell of a lot of attention." Karin didn't even smile as she made the joke. "Ichi-nii? Get Yuzu back."

"I will." Ichigo stated solemnly. "You'll see Karin, we'll get her back."

**xXx**

It was early evening when Kokuto opened the strange garganta-looking portal into hell. The team going along was comprised by: Ichigo, Rukia, Uryuu, Renji and Orihime. Chad was still in the process of being healed, and while Tatsuki and Keeva were better, they'd been forced to admit that neither of them were strong enough to go against the Togabito, thus staying behind. Shinji and Hiyori had offered to accompany them after hearing what was going on, but Kokuto warned them about how the miasma in hell would make them react.

Ever since learning about the way Ichigo dealt with his hollow, the Visored had been planning. They knew their situation wasn't the same, Shiro was a part of Ichigo, half of his original soul, while the rest of them, their hollows were outsiders who'd been forced into them. And yet… that didn't stop them from wanting to try. So once the Kidou Corps confirmed that Hueco Mundo was sealed and Aizen wouldn't be making a reappearance at least for a few years, the Visored got to training. Their plan was to bring their hollows back from whatever tiny corner in their minds they once buried them in, and then find a way to either ally with them, or make them submit without having to seal them again, thus being able to use more hollow powers. It wasn't easy, and it could be dangerous, but they were willing to do it.

In any case, because they were all working on that, their hollows were closer to the surface, which made it a very bad idea for any of them to go into hell.

"It's okay." Ichigo assured him. "I'd rather you help watch over things here anyway."

"Are you sure you won't have trouble Ichigo?" Shinji asked him with a piercing look.

He very carefully didn't say with what, he didn't know how many people outside of the Nakama themselves might or might not know about his hollow counterpart, but he'd rather not risk it.

"Nah!" Ichigo shook his head calmly. "If worse comes to worst, Shiro can handle it."

The real problem, was when it was made clear that Grimmjow was another that couldn't go. He really, really didn't like that. He cursed and raved for minutes on end, until Orihime got to him.

"Hime…" Grimmjow broke off, seemingly out of things to say.

"I will be alright, Grimmjow-kun." Orihime told him gently. "I promise. I won't leave you."

Most might not understand the tight bond that had formed between them, but in many ways it was quite simple. With Ulquiorra gone and Sui-Feng not wanting to know anything about them, they were all each other had. Orihime could have chosen to stay behind, she knew no one would have thought any less of her for it, but she wanted to go, she felt that however insane it might be, she just… she had to try…

The best Toushirou could give them was wait until they were gone to place the call to Yamamoto and let him know what had happened. Ichigo was thankful for that, he knew that if the old man had found out earlier he might have tried to stop them… that wouldn't have gone well. It wasn't even that Ichigo believed Yamamoto to be a bad man, he just was too used to putting the many above the few. He'd have decided that keeping Ichigo out of Hell and thus away from the Togabito and their plans was more important than rescuing Yuzu; that was something Ichigo would never abide.

So off they went to Hell.

It didn't take long for the Kushanada (Hell's Will) to make an appearance, and so they had to run. And they had to run. Kokuto had warned them that any reiatsu above average would draw the Kushanada faster and in higher numbers. Zangetsu and Shiro were holding tight onto Ichigo's power to keep the reiatsu output as low as was possible for him.

Even then it didn't take long for trouble to find them. Though surprisingly enough, it wasn't the Kushanada. The gigantic guards of Hell seemed to be leaving them alone, after the initial encounter, and while that seemed to surprise Kokuto, in the end he didn't comment, deciding to take the good fortune and move on. The Togabito though made their appearance as soon as they got to the second level of hell. Ichigo was all for fighting them, but in the end good sense (Uryuu's) prevailed. Uryuu, Orihime and Renji would handle the Togabito, leaving Ichigo and Rukia free to continue with Kokuto.

"O human race, born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou so fall?" Ichigo muttered in a low voice.

"What was that?" Rukia asked, curious.

"A quote from the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri." Ichigo explained. "It's a novel where the narrator supposedly visits Hell… I read it a while ago and yet 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here' just doesn't seem to be enough for… well, this."

And really, desolation just wasn't a hard enough word to describe what surrounded them.

"We'll get Yuzu back Ichigo…" Rukia sought to reassure him, a hand in his, not knowing what else to say.

Ichigo just nodded, clenching her hand briefly to show he understood what she was doing and was thankful for her support.

They made it to the lowest level of hell eventually, to find Yuzu unconscious in a cage, the odd part was the way her whole seemed to be outlined in a pale violet color…

"Is that Muramasa?" Ichigo blurted out, shocked.

*He's protecting his wielder.* Zangetsu sounded approving.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Rukia asked in turn.

*Very.* Shirayuki answered soberly.

Ichigo didn't need to hear the answer, he knew it instinctively.

"Let's do this!" He called, before raising his zanpakutou and calling forth his shikai: "Pierce the skies to reach True Heaven, Zangetsu!" Then bankai: "Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!"

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia chose to stay in shikai.

Ichigo demanded he release Yuzu, but it was all for naught. The real shock came when they watched the very Togabito their nakama had stayed behind to fight, rise from what looked like some sort of spring, except there was lava in it, instead of water. It was apparently where the sinners were revived, to continue with their eternal torment. But the part that seemed to shock even Kokuto was that Shuren apparently could control how fast the Togabito were returned.

It was Rukia who got things going, as she threw herself at the first of the Togabito, Kokuto following, giving Ichigo the opening he needed to fight Shuren directly. Though the real shock came perhaps when, once the going got tough, Kokuto chose to sacrifice himself in order to take the last of the Togabito with him.

"Kokuto!" Ichigo and Rukia yelled in shock.

Ichigo was so furious he didn't even think about it as he threw a getsuga tenshou with all the power he could gather, which ended up being not just his own, but also Shiro's. That pleased Shuren greatly, convinced that it was that power which would free him. Ichigo cut off the output of power instantly. He'd allowed himself to loosen the leash on his control for a moment, it couldn't happen again.

Ichigo and Rukia turned to look at each other briefly. That one look was enough, they knew what needed to be done. Ichigo smiled briefly at his wife before throwing himself at Shuren, focusing on pushing him as far away from the lava pool as he could, but more importantly, away from the cage Yuzu was in…

It worked, the bastard was so focused in making Ichigo lose control, so convinced that victory would be his, that he didn't even seem to remember Rukia. Not until he heard the remains of the cage splash into the lava, and turned in time to see Rukia land on one of the columns, younger unconscious girl in her arms. Shuren roared in fury, but it was too late, and his distraction cost him, as Ichigo took the opportunity to shunpo inside his defenses and cut the togabito's head off with a single wide slash of his zanpakutou.

For a moment it seemed like that was it, they'd won, they could go back home… the attack came out of nowhere, straight at the base of the column Rukia was standing on.

"Rukia! Yuzu!" Ichigo cried out, turning towards them.

The next shock came as he found himself run through by a blade… one he'd seen just minutes earlier… in Kokuto's hand…

It was all a trick. From the very beginning, Kokuto had never been an ally, never been a friend. All he wanted was exactly the same thing as Shuren and the rest of the Togabito. He wanted to be free of hell, only he was clever enough to come at Ichigo from a side, instead of straight on. Ichigo didn't understand, it made no sense… But Kokuto just kept threatening and provoking him, trying to get him to 'become the monster'. When he refused, he resorted to other measures. Attacking Uryuu and Renji as they arrived, too worried and tired to see the danger coming their way before they found themselves on the ground, badly wounded…

"Uryuu! Renji!" Ichigo cried out, horrified.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out as she made her way out of the remains of the column.

Kokuto turned to her then, shooting an attack of dark energy straight at her, similar to the one that had destroyed the column from underneath her not two minutes before… Rukia just stared at it in shock. She was hurt already, and she knew there was no way she'd be able to move in time, and with Yuzu in her arms she couldn't use any kidou either…

The attack never reached them, because someone shielded them instead.

"Ichi… go…" Rukia gasped in disbelief. "ICHIGO!"

Chocolate brown eyes blinked a couple of times, before rolling into the back of the shinketsu shinigami's head as Ichigo lost not only consciousness, but also all sense of self.

*Kuso!* Shiro cursed inside their Inner World. *Aibou! Answer me! Aibou!*

It was a matter of survival, as a white substance began shooting out of the veritable hole in Ichigo's chest, covering him. It went slow though… too slow, for Kokuto's liking.

"Ichigo!" All Nakama cried out in horror.

Rukia didn't seem him coming, she was too shocked by the developments, too concerned about her husband. And then there was pain, she was on the dark ground, and her arms were empty… Kokuto had Yuzu, and there was nothing she could do about it…

"This is Hell, you don't have to hold back." Kokuto pressed as he stood right above the magma spring, Yuzu held loosely in his arm. "Let the darkness take over!"

Guttural, non-verbal cries began coming out of Ichigo's voice, except it wasn't his voice. Rukia, Uryuu and Renji could do nothing except watch from their prone positions, praying that Ichigo might make it through, somehow. It was impossible… and yet Ichigo seemed to specialize in doing the impossible, didn't he?

"Welcome to Hell." Kokuto sentenced, before letting the unconscious girl fall.

It was as if some kind of switch had been flipped, as Ichigo's body fully transformed into a hollow, a Vasto Lorde, who sonidoed across the courtyard, catching Yuzu with one arm before doubling back and landing not far from Kokuto, a cero beginning to form in between the huge horns of his fragment of mask.

"That's it!" Kokuto cried out eagerly. "Use that power to break the chain!"

The cero was huge, bigger than anything any of the Nakama had ever seen a hollow create. It obliterated the huge skeleton first Shuren and then Kokuto had liked to stand over, as well as half the bowl-like construction around the magma pool. It was also enough to burn away the first pieces of Kokuto's chains, nowhere near enough to free him, but certainly proof that it could be done, that Ichigo had the power to do it…

"Do it. Free me!" Kokuto called eagerly. "Cut off all the chains that bind me!"

"Shiro…" Rukia murmured, worriedly.

She had no doubt about it, it was Shiro in control right then. Though control perhaps was a bit of an overstatement. It was indeed Shiro on the 'front seat', but he was fighting tooth and nail to gain control. Ichigo coming so close to death (closer than even when Ulquiorra had punched through his chest with his bare hand!), along with hell's miasma, was making it very hard for Shiro to keep his own mind. Hence the out-of control cero he'd shot. Shiro was fighting to keep his own mind, and to stabilize his transformation, Ichigo's power had grown since their stint in Hueco Mundo, which meant that Shiro's power too had grown, and he'd already been quite powerful before… but that meant his mask had changed, and there was more reiatsu in him than the arrancar version of Ichigo knew quite what to do with… and hell really wasn't the best place to learn what he was now capable of…

And then Renji chose to play his last ace…

**xXx**

What none of those in Hell could have known was that Shiro's out of control cero continued unimpeded, creating chaos and destruction through every level of hell, before blasting right through the Gates, half destroying them and leaving a trail of dark fire across the night sky of Karakura Town. Which only stopped thanks to the quick intervention of Karin and Toushirou, who used their respective bankais to halt Hell's miasma before it could affect the human world. They managed to hold on until a squad of the Kidou Corps, lead by Tessai, arrived and formed a temporary kekkai, as discussions began on how to repair the Gate.

They didn't arrive alone. Yamamoto, Juushirou, Byakuya, and Kotori were there as well; though the latter mostly worked with Tessai and Hachi on finding a way to fix the Gate. The other three went straight for Toushirou and Karin, wanting an explanation as to what had happened exactly. They knew already about the missing Nakama, and while Yamamoto really didn't like it, he wasn't surprised either, it was pretty much what he'd come to expect where the gifted humans were concerned. The trouble with the Gate… that was unexpected.

Karin closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find a way to explain it. It was the one thing they'd kept out of all reports, Ichigo's and Rukia's 'other sides', and the fact that they'd both tapped into that power to defeat Tousen once and for all (though Ichigo was the most obvious about it). It was clear that the Togabito had known something, it was why they were so interested in Ichigo. It was just as clear that they knew nothing about Rukia; which was all good, as far as they were all concerned, though they still had no idea how to handle things…

"Soutaichou! The kidou has been used!" A messenger announced abruptly.

Karin opened he mouth to ask what kidou exactly when she felt it, a reiatsu signal she knew well… and it wasn't Ichigo's…

Karin cursed under her breath before shunpoing away at her top speed. Toushirou had no idea what was going on, but he followed her anyway.

Things were pretty much as she expected. On a nearby rooftop there was Shiro, the remains of the white coat he was wearing, and the daito he was keeping carefully down made it obvious he was still in bankai, making use of all the speed to evade the shinigami that kept trying to attack him, and worse even , to take Yuzu from him.

"Stop it!" Karin yelled as she landed on the same rooftop, in between Shiro and the other shinigami. "I said STOP IT!"

The shinigami froze, more in surprise than because they really saw her as a figure of authority.

"You know this hollow, Nagaken-dono?" Yamamoto muttered, the question only half-concealing the accusation in his tone.

Karin ignored the old man completely, instead turning around to face the arrancar.

"Shiro?" She called slowly. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?!" Shiro snapped. "No, I'm obviously not alright! That bastard Kokuto betrayed us! I told aibou it was too good to be true! The bastard put a hole through aibou's chest! We almost died! Even Ossan and I working together had a hell of a time getting things under control. And then… bam! The bastard tried to kill Yuzu! And then, we're still getting control back, when that monkey goes and does something idiotic! What the hell was he thinking sending just us back here?! The snow princess and the others are still back in hell, with that monster! We'd have never abandoned our nakama! Ichigo's gonna go ape-shit when he wakes up!"

"Shiro-nii… it's okay…" Karin approached him slowly, not wanting to startle him before hugging him tightly. "It's gonna be okay…"

In touching Shiro, Karin ended touching Yuzu as well… as if it were some kind of signal, her twin's eyes opened just a moment later.

"Karin-chan?" She asked hesitantly. "Ichi… Shiro-nii?" She revised the name instantly.

That made both Karin and Ichigo's hollow turn their whole attention to Yuzu instantly, as they both embraced her tightly.

"You're alright… you're alright…" Karin kept mumbling.

"How's this even possible?" Juushirou was in shocked. "I've never heard of someone enduring so long in hell unaffected."

"Muramasa-kun protected me." Yuzu explained quietly. "When it became obvious that we could not defeat the Togabito, I poured all I had left on that kekkai, and then he pulled me into my Inner World. Where he put his coat over me and held me tight. He refused to let me go… even when things got bad…"

"Thank you Muramasa…" Karin murmured softly.

"Shiro-nii…" Yuzu called quietly. "Is Ichi-nii alright?"

"He's badly hurt Yuzu." Shiro didn't see the point in hiding things from her. "That attack Kokuto threw at the snow princess… it was bad. He moved fast to intercept it, but there was nothing we could do to shield against him. Ceding power to me was the only way for us to survive. And even then, the attack hit him hard enough to knock him out. Ossan is watching over him in our Inner World. Our high-speed regeneration kicked in just in time. Still… it was close, too close."

"So, let me see if I understand." Juushirou called hesitantly. "You're… Ichigo-san's hollow? He's like the Visored?"

"In a way…" Karin began.

"Not at all." Shiro said brashly, ignoring Karin's hard look. "The Visored had outside hollows pushed into them. Geta-boshi's use of that cursed jewel allowed them to exist, which in turn gave them the chance to defeat those hollows and claim a fraction of their power. We're nothing like that, because I was never separate from Ichigo…" He looked straight at Juushirou. "Take a good look at me taichou-san… do you see?"

"You look just like Ichigo…" Juushirou trailed off as he understood the implication.

"Remember aibou's story about what happened to kaa-san?" Shiro asked, not really waiting for an answer. "It wasn't just Zangetsu-ossan that came to be that day. So did I…"

"That's impossible…" Several of the lower ranked shinigami around muttered, though they were ignored by the others.

"Why has this never been in any of the reports?" Yamamoto asked stoically.

"Why do you think?" Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Look around you Soutaichou." Karin stepped in. "Do you see the way your own men look at the Visored? When they see them, they aren't seeing allies, only potential threats. How do you think they'd react if they knew Ichigo qualifies as one of them? That he's more powerful than every single one of them?"

There was no answer to that.

"Well, aibou's awake, I'm out of here." Shiro announced unexpectedly.

Before anyone could say anything they saw Ichigo's body seize just for a moment, as the hole in his chest (still visible due to the fact that he was missing more than half his bankai coat) filled up, the fragment of mask on his head turning into reishi particles before vanishing entirely. His skin darkened from the bone-white it had been to the usual tan. Finally he closed his eyes tight for a moment and when he opened them they were back to the usual brown on white, rather than the amber on black they'd been.

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked hesitantly.

"Yuzu…?" Ichigo blinked, hugging her automatically. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"I'm just fine, Ichi-nii…" Yuzu assured him, hugging back immediately.

"You're the one who had us worried, idiot." Karin snapped at him halfheartedly. "Shiro said you almost got killed."

"That bastard…" Ichigo hissed darkly remembering Kokuto, then he remembered something else and cursed. "And Rukia and the others are still back there!" His eyes narrowed, and he rose to his feet, mind made up: "I'm going back."

"You cannot do that!" Juushirou and Kotori exclaimed at the same time.

"It will not be allowed…" Yamamoto began.

"Ichigo…" A different, quieter voice interrupted.

All eyes turned towards Byakuya. It would be hard to tell what surprised people most: to hear him interrupt Yamamoto, or the tone of voice he was using with Ichigo.

The Kuchiki noble said nothing more, just stared at his brother-in-law (though most of those present had no idea of their connection) in silence before going to stand right in front of Ichigo, raising a hand to the orange-haired teenager's temple and transferring reiatsu. Not a word was said by either of them, after so long, they understood each other. Ichigo knew that Byakuya was worried about his sister, but he'd never blame Ichigo because he knew Rukia had made the choice to go on that mission. He also knew Ichigo wouldn't abandon Rukia and their nakama, and while Byakuya might not be able to help directly, he would give Ichigo what he needed to handle things himself. It was remarkable, once they no longer had a reason to be enemies, how much the two had in common… more than most people knew…

When Byakuya stepped back, kidou finished, and the result obvious in the bankai coat fully restored, and even the faint aura of power forming around Ichigo, the shinketsu had a plan.

"Noblesse oblige…" He quoted, bowing formally to Byakuya, before turning to his raven-haired sister. "Karin, it's time."

Karin didn't reply, nor did she seem particularly surprised, instead she just nodded and proceeded to recite a short but complicated kidou spell, accompanying it with some very specific hand motions. At the last word there was a small flash of light, and a bound package appeared in her hands. Placing it on her sister's awaiting hands, Karin opened it deftly, revealing a pair of wide armbands made of Damascus steel; beneath those was what would later be revealed as a wide obi, made of royal-blue dyed wind-flower silk; finally there was a second parcel, still bound. Karin handed each piece to Ichigo, one at a time, wordlessly. The armbands fit well from the edge of his black tekkou to just before his elbow (and his sleeves); the wide obi replaced the thinner sash, he'd been wearing before. The smaller parcel he left with her, not wanting to risk damaging what was inside. At Ichigo's nod, Karin turned to face everyone else before speaking out:

"I give you Nagaken-Kurosaki Ichigo, son of Nagaken Isshin, 22nd Head of the Nagaken Clan, and Kurosaki Masaki, last descendant of the Miko Bloodline." Karin announced, voice steady and strong. "Hail Nagaken-Kurosaki Ichigo, from this day forth 24th Head of the Nagaken Clan."

"Arigatou, Karin-nee-san…" Ichigo bowed his head at his sister, before turning to face everyone else with absolute determination: "I'm going back to Hell and getting my wife: Nagaken-Kurosaki Rukia, and our nakama, back."

He wasn't asking for permission, and by announcing his noble status and making the situation a matter of a Noble House, he'd effectively tied the Gotei's hands, there was nothing they could do to stop him (not that Ichigo would have allowed them to; but fighting them would have delayed him, and it might have destroyed what good will he'd gathered thus far; it especially wouldn't have gone well so soon after the revelation of Shiro's existence.

The sky was particularly dark as Ichigo shunpoed across the rooftops towards the still half-destroyed Gate of Hell but he paid it no mind. He had a mission, he wasn't backing down, that bastard Kokuto would soon find out why it was a bad idea to mess with the Nakama!

**xXx**

Kokuto seemed at least a bit surprised when Ichigo landed on the blackened ground, just a few yards away from him.

"Ichigo, I was just about to pay you a visit." The Togabito said. "Wasn't expecting you to come here. Are you here to avenge your sister?"

"Yuzu is safe, she's fine." Ichigo said calmly.

"That was a surprise." Kokuto admitted. "Why are you here then?"

"I came for my nakama." Ichigo answered, still calm.

"Your nakama?" Kokuto retorted. "You don't seem to understand this place. They will all be soon permanently tied to Hell. Just look at them."

Uryuu and Renji were unconscious, bound with chains to a dead tree nearby. Rukia for her part was on the ground, laying against the roots of the same tree. While still being mostly conscious, she actually looked worse off than the rest. That made Ichigo's worry escalate, yet as she tilted her head and looked at him through her long eyelashes, Ichigo noticed something. It had actually been there from the start, but he hadn't been paying that much attention, not until the eyes made it obvious: one violet/amethyst, the other lavender/silver with a slitted pupil. Kaijin was close to the surface, she was probably lending her strength to Rukia to keep her free of hell's chains.

"The rule is simple in Hell." Kokuto stated in a fake-amiable tone. "Those that are bound by the chains can be revived endlessly. And as long as the chain is there, they will never be free of this place. So you see, you'll have to break the chains."

"Or alternatively, I can just get them and get out before they have chains." Ichigo replied in a perfectly blasé tone.

Kokuto's eyes narrowed, he clearly didn't like Ichigo's relaxed attitude, or the suggestion that he (Kokuto) might be defeated.

"You know what's almost funny?" Ichigo asked, some might have called his tone conversational, were it not for the glint in his eye, cold and hard. "If you hadn't done… all this. If you hadn't betrayed me, hadn't hurt my nakama, I might have even helped you. Because I thought you were like me. I thought you were a good man, one who might have made mistakes, might have gone too far wanting to do right by his sister, but a good man deep down. Except, you're not a good man at all, you never were. Tell me Kokuto, what would your beloved little sister say about who you are now? What you've done? The monster you've become…"

That made Kokuto snap, as he let out a guttural cry, throwing himself right at Ichigo, who parried the first blow, and then the fight was on. A fast paced, harsh fight that Rukia followed silently, she and Kaijin watching through her eyes, praying for everything to be alright.

Things kept going, and eventually Kokuto began talking again, egging Ichigo on, trying to get him to turn into Shiro once again (though he didn't even know what the transformation was about, why or how it even happened).

"Are you afraid Ichigo?" He taunted the orange-haired shinigami. "Of that monster you can become? The one that will destroy the world?"

Ichigo refused to dignify that with an answer.

"If you won't change into him again, then get out of this place!" Kokuto snapped as he threw Ichigo aside. "Your sister is safe, because you turn into that monster, right? Without that, you can do nothing!"

Ichigo actually chuckled at that.

"My sister is safe because her zanpakutou spirit protected her." He clarified. "I am okay because Shiro protected me. And he's not a monster. But if you want to fight him so badly… you'll get your chance. Or rather, you'll get to fight us both."

Ichigo had lowered his head and when he raised it again… one of his eyes remained the same chocolate on white, the other was amber on black. He and Shiro had synced. It was only the second time they'd done such a thing, and the last time… that one had been a very important battle as well, against the monster responsible for much of the 'rain' in his life.

The fight was pretty even, more than Ichigo would have liked. It seemed that Kokuto couldn't only control the frequency with which a togabito, himself included, 'resurrected', but he also had a form of rapid regeneration. Which made fighting him a pain for Ichigo (Shiro was delighted, he hadn't had so much fun in a while). It wasn't that the two weren't stronger than the Togabito, they were, without a doubt. The problem was that the kind of power that he'd need to call on in order to defeat Kokuto once and for all, was the same kind of power that might destroy Hell's chains, that was one risk neither of them were too eager to take. Not because they thought Kokuto might escape, but they'd been fortunate enough that the Kushanada hadn't seen them/him as an enemy thus far, the last thing they needed was to end up having to fight the huge sentinels of that awful dimension and the bastard of a Togabito at the same time. Also, having Hell's Will against them would make it harder to get Rukia and their nakama out… The Kushanada were close, as if standing silent vigil over the ongoing fight, as long as they didn't interfere Ichigo and Shiro would rather not focus on them.

"If you don't destroy Hell, you'll just have to keep reliving this!" Kokuto snarled. "Because I'm never going to stop!"

"You couldn't get what you wanted, so you decided to get revenge?" Ichigo demanded. "That's not being a victim."

"Just a whiny bastard." Shiro's voice might have come from the same mouth, but his tone was distinctive, and separate from Ichigo's.

"You're just making other people as miserable as you." Ichigo punctuated. "Revenge is just the path you took to escape your sufferings."

"Revenge means nothing." Shiro added his two cents. "It changes nothing."

"We want to save our nakama." The two began talking in unison, their voices together gaining an odd, almost haunting quality. "But won't sacrifice innocents to do it, won't put the worlds at risk to do it. We've swore on our souls that we will fight!"

"ICHIGO!" Rukia was so tired, she hadn't noticed just how close the Kushanada really were, not until one of them was practically upon Ichigo already, and then it was too late. A huge hand fell upon the orange-and-white haired Visored.

It should have been the end… but as Rukia quieted down (Kaijin screamed at her inside their head to shut up and focus), she realized they could still sense Ichigo. He was fine… and more than that, his reiatsu was rising…

"Wha…?" Rukia was at a loss for words.

There were threads of light connecting Ichigo and the Kushanada. Rukia could vaguely hear Kokuto cackling in glee, yelling something about destroying Hell's Will… it was clear he hadn't realized that whatever may be happening, Ichigo wasn't doing it…

The power kept rising, higher and higher, until it seemed to practically explode. Rukia closed her eyes, expecting the shockwave to hit her any moment. And it did, but it didn't hurt her, instead she found herself completely healed, and not just that, but her energies were back to full. Kaijin cackled in delight as they stood, their dual eyes blinking.

"What is going on?" Kokuto demanded. "What did you do?"

Rukia had no idea what the answers to those questions might be, but she knew one thing: the pieces of armor that went down Ichigo's body (mostly the left side, though his whole upper chest was protected), were reminiscent of the Kushanada, and she didn't think that to be a coincidence.

Ichigo was saying something to Kokuto, something about his sister and revenge. Rukia wasn't really paying that much attention to it. Ichigo was a bit… distracting. Even with the new golden armor a lot of his body was on display, and Rukia couldn't help but think she liked what she was seeing. In the back of her mind Kaijin cackled almost madly, making Rukia blush slightly. It wasn't the time to be thinking about her husband's attractiveness!

"My nakama do not want me to avenge them, they want me to stop you." Ichigo stated right then. "And by the looks of this… Hell agrees with me. Hell would rather help an outsider like me than let you escape…"

"Hell… helping a human…?" Kokuto didn't seem to be able to grasp it.

*But Ichigo's not just a human, is he?* Rukia asked, mostly to herself.

*The Boss is the Boss!* Kaijin yelled in mad delight.

"No! How's that even possible?" Kokuto was furious. "My predicament was just like yours!"

"Yes." Ichigo nodded evenly, it was only his voice then, Shiro having stepped back when the Kushanada got involved, but the hollow half didn't mind. "Both human, both elder brothers. The difference is that I didn't betray my soul, and my sister's, in her name. The difference is that I didn't give into the darkness of my own heart and blamed it on her!"

"Ichigo…" Rukia murmured as she reached for him, lacing her fingers with those of his free hand (the one not holding his zanpakutou).

Rukia gasped a moment later as a flash of golden light came from Ichigo, running down his arm, to their entwined hands, and then up Rukia's own arm and into her soul… It wasn't quite the same as him, but she still found herself with golden armor covering strategic parts of her body. Nothing as bulky as Ichigo's, clearly meant for a female.

"Oh…" She really hadn't been expecting that.

It wasn't just the armor, in the back of her head she could sense Hell's Will. There were no words, more like images and feelings. It was so odd… and yet she had no trouble understanding the meaning behind it. It was the same with Ichigo.

"It's time." Ichigo sentenced, as his reiatsu spiked.

Rukia said nothing, she just held Ichigo's hand as he raised his daito and slashed the air. Instead of the blue, or black Getsuga tenshous (or the one lined in red he used when aided by Shiro), it was golden. It was enough, Kokuto had less than a handful of seconds to celebrate the loss of the chains, when a hundred new chains shot out of the blackened ground and bound him anew.

"This is your retribution for deceiving hell, Kokuto." Ichigo stated in an emotionless tone.

"Atone for your sins in Hell!" Rukia added for good measure.

The chains pulled him deeper into hell then, his screams being cut off.

For a moment Ichigo said nothing and then… in a single move he picked up Rukia, pressed her against his chest and claimed her mouth with his. Rukia was completely shocked, yet even that didn't stop her from replying to the kiss with the same amount of passion. Eventually they had to break off due to lack of oxygen.

"We have to find the others…" Rukia murmured as she looked away, cheeks flushed.

Ichigo smirked at her and followed as they went looking for their nakama. They found Uryuu and Renji still bound by the chains, hanging from the branches of the same tree Rukia had been sitting against. A single touch by either Ichigo or Rukia and the chains disintegrated, letting their friends fall. They were both a bit sore and stiff, and confused about what had happened exactly after they lost consciousness, but they were satisfied enough when learning that Kokuto had been defeated. Their biggest shock though was when they Saw the golden armor on Ichigo and Rukia.

"What is that?!" It was Uryuu who asked what they were both thinking.

"Ah, this?" Ichigo looked at himself, then at Rukia. "I think it's some kind of power they lend us. Strange right?"

"It's more than just strange." Renji snapped. "We're talking about controlling Hell's power. How exactly did something like this happen?"

"I have no idea." Ichigo shook his head.

Rukia just shrugged, she'd no idea either. Though before any other question could be asked Ichigo, who'd been looking around, asked a very important question:

"Hey, where's Orihime?"

No one had an answer to that.


	45. Golden Judgment

This chapter is dedicated to BeBraveBeLion who, while not guessing everything, did guess enough of what I'm doing in this chapter that I'm counting it. Also, to those who wanted/were sure Orihime and Ulquiorra meeting again...

There's mention of a poly-ship here, just a slight mention, and you can ignore it if that's not your cup of tea, but I'm not going to change it.

We're almost at the end of this arc, then just one more to go before the end of the fic...

If anyone would like to know more about all the things that I'd planned but didn't find where to put them like some of the back-stories for our realta, Orihime's other past life, and the Thousand Year War (I'd planned a few idea, but when things got out of control I decided it was easier to do away with it entirely, still, the ideas remain in my head and I'd be willing to share them with anyone who's interested).

You can still make your guesses about what's coming, both in the end of this arc, and in the last arc. All I can offer are virtual cookies and a dedicatory, hope it'll be enough. See ya around, enjoy the chapter!

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**Chapter 45. Golden Judgment **

"I REJECT!" Orihime screamed, hands in front of her, the tips of her fingers forming a triangle.

The orange shield materialized in front of the teen-aged girl just in time to block a Cero aimed at her front, at the same time a second figure dashed to her back, firing an attack of his own to block a second opponent.

It had begun easily enough, at least considering where she was and how she'd ended up there. At first Orihime hadn't been planning on getting quite so involved in the fight against the Togabito, fearing that in doing so she might give herself away. The last thing she wanted was to give the nakama something else to worry about, they needed to focus on Yuzu. And then she saw him, the Togabito with the tentacles, go for Rukia… It wasn't that the petite shinigami couldn't have handled him just fine, she was strong, so very strong… but if she had to fight, then she wouldn't be able to stay with Ichigo, and Orihime just knew those two needed to stick together. Things just tended to go better when they did. So the auburn-haired girl wordlessly called on Tsubaki and used it to cut off the Togabito's tentacles before they could reach Rukia.

"So you want to fight, huh, little girl?" The Togabito mocked her. "Lets fight then."

Orihime exhaled. It wasn't that she wanted to… but she knew it was necessary.

In the end she focused so much on her fight, that she didn't notice when Renji and his togabito ended crossing into the next level of hell mid-fight, or when Uryuu finished his own enemy and went after the others. She had just finished her own enemy, afterwards saying a prayer under her breath (she so hated killing, even beings already condemned to eternal damnation…) when she felt it: the cero aimed at her back.

There was no time for Orihime to turn, not even to call on any of her Rikka, all she could do was brace herself… but the cero never hit her, because in the fraction of a second before the attack could make contact she was gone, carried bridal-style in a pair of arms she knew even before she saw her savior's face:

"Ulquiorra-kun…" She breathed out, a mix of joy and the deepest grief underlying the word.

"What the hell are you doing here onna?" Ulquiorra demanded gruffly. "There's nothing you could have possibly done, in this or any life, to deserve damnation."

Orihime couldn't help herself, she slapped him. She'd been missing him so much, and the first thing he said was that?! Then again, the first thing she did was slap him… That made her throw her arms around his neck in an embrace…

"Hime-sama…" Ulquiorra murmured quietly. "Why are you here?"

"Some of the togabito are trying to escape, they kidnapped Yuzu-chan to try and force Ichigo into helping them." Orihime explained succinctly. "I volunteered to join the group coming to rescue Yuzu-chan. We got separated when the togabito attacked. And then you found me…"

"I thought Hell had managed to conjure a new torture, there was no way Hime-sama could be here… But I had to check it out, if it was really… I had to protect Hime-sama…"

"I wish you'd call me by my name…"

They were interrupted as another cero was fired in their direction. Ulquiorra, still in Resurreccion form, turned to face the attack, but Orihime was faster. As a single thought was enough to create a Shiten Koushun, returning the attack to its sender.

"Not again." She told Ulquiorra authoritatively. "I'm not standing in the sidelines this time while you fight for our lives. We fight together."

"As you wish, Hime-san…"

It was the closest he'd ever come to her real name, and enough to make Orihime smile wide as she jumped into the air, yukata flapping around her as if under an invisible wind, calling all her Shun Shun Rikka at the same time, golden-orange light enveloping her as the whole of her power surged. And so they began fighting, side by side… or more like back to back. They stood together like they never had before, on either lifetime, the very way Orihime (Amekimi) deep down always wished they would…

**xXx**

While Uryuu and Renji had been of the opinion that Ichigo and Rukia should go back to normal right away, in the end Rukia's more sensible reasoning had prevailed and they were keeping the Kushanada's 'gift' at least until they left Hell. As it happened, it wasn't just armor, or the ability to call on the chains of Hell that Ichigo had displayed when damning Kokuto all over again, but both Ichigo and Rukia could pick up on things the way the Kushanada did. Like how they sensed the similarity their current power had with the sentinels'. They could also tell that Uryuu and Renji did not belong in Hell, and had some kind of protection, which explained why the huge guardians of that dimension hadn't attacked them. They could also track down Orihime in a similar manner. And they could tell she wasn't alone.

They found her some levels up, though still at least one from where they'd split to fight the togabito. There was a bright flash of light, the echo of power almost making them fall off the air they'd been standing on (that had been complicated, as none of them had been sure how to get back to the Gates exactly, until they realized that even if they used their abilities, the Kushanada didn't attack them; it was about then that Renji and Uryuu decided that it might not be such a bad idea for Ichigo and Rukia to keep their new add-ons for a while longer).

When the smoke cleared Rukia was the first to realize that Orihime wasn't alone. Also, she had changed. Instead of the simple yukata she'd been wearing before she was wearing an elaborate, layered kimono with long trailing sleeves and a wide obi that made it look almost as if she had wings on her back, more to the fact, Orihime was actually floating in that moment, her sandaled feet not touching the ground, or anything at all. Even her hair pins seemed to have changed, half hidden as they were beneath the scarf she still wore, they looked bigger and more beautiful than before, and when put together with the kimono they seemed more like maezashi kanzashi than the simple hair pins they'd been before.

Ichigo for his part, focused more on the individual at Orihime's side, huge bat-like wings open in a pose that was, without a doubt, protective.

"Kuso!" Renji cursed when he noticed the 'dead' Espada. "Howl..."

Ichigo placed a hand over his before he could call on his shikai, stopping him.

"Why…" The redhead began, confused.

"It wouldn't be right to attack one who's an ally, who so diligently protected one of our own." Ichigo explained evenly. "Isn't that so?"

"Hai." Orihime nodded once.

Renji didn't seem convinced, but even he had to remember Ulquiorra fighting Aizen. And Orihime's desperate wail after his loss (that was one thing no Nakama would ever be able to forget, no matter how hard they might wish to).

"Are you alright, Orihime-chan?" Rukia inquired, worriedly.

"Fine, thanks to Ulquiorra-kun." Orihime answered with a nod, then proceeded to explain how several of Aizen's former subordinates had found her, and Ulquiorra had helped her fight them.

"Arigatou." Ichigo bowed his head respectfully at Ulquiorra.

It surprised everyone, except for Rukia, but then again, she knew his heart like no one else did. She knew that Ichigo would never judge others by their past actions, even his own enemies he'd be willing to see as allies, as long as he had a reason to. It didn't even matter that Ulquiorra had as good as killed him once. That he'd been the one to kidnap Orihime in the first place. All that mattered was that he'd aided one of their nakama, he'd been one of those to protect Orihime during her time in Hueco Mundo, nevermind going against Aizen, and dying for her. That was more than enough for Ichigo to see him as a potential ally.

"Where's Yuzu-chan?" Orihime noticed right then that Ichigo's sister wasn't with them.

It was then Ichigo's turn to explain what had happened. About Kokuto's betrayal, his true plan, how Ichigo almost died (again) but was saved by Shiro. Renji sending him and Yuzu back to Karakura with a kidou.

"Which reminds me," Ichigo interjected, turning to the redhead. "the next time you make me leave my nakama, yourself included, behind for any reason I'll beat you up Renji. Do you understand me?"

"Ha!" Renji scoffed.

Ichigo shunpoed to him, taking hold of the shinigami by the collar and holding him tight.

"Do not mock me." Ichigo snapped at him.

"I did what needed to be done." Renji retorted. "I'm not sorry for that."

"I'm not asking you to be sorry, I'm telling you never to do it again." Ichigo retorted, steel in his voice. "I fight to protect, always. I do not give up, and I do not run away. What you did… you forced me to do something I never would have of my own free will. You took away my will, and ignored who and what I am. Why? Because you thought I was losing control? Do you know me so little?"

"That cero…" Renji began.

"That was Shiro blowing off some reiatsu while he got things under control." Ichigo explained. "Kokuto's attack was so sudden and so bad… we couldn't plan the switch, we did it or we died. That means it took him a bit to balance out our energies. Shiro might be a hollow, but he's not a monster. You made him, made us, abandon our heart… that's an unforgivable crime. You cannot do that again Renji, never again."

Ichigo wasn't trying to be cruel, or to give ultimatums. Shiro was a hollow, which meant he was all about instinct. Unless they knew for sure Renji would never do something like that again, Shiro would never trust Renji again. And they couldn't have that, it wasn't feasible, not with their lifestyle. Aizen would return one day, and the Nakama would most likely have to fight, and Ichigo had to be able to trust all his nakama, with all of him…

"I won't." Renji's voice was low and formal, seemingly realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Ichigo nodded, just as serious, then turned to Orihime and finished the retelling of their story.

"Break… Hell's chains… could you do that?" There was no way Orihime could have hidden the hope underlying every word, nor did she even try.

"I could, but Orihime, it's not that simple." Ichigo was dead honest, even as he tried to keep it simple. "What the togabito wanted me to do was use mine and Shiro's powers together (not that they knew that was what was needed, but still), that would break the chains, but they were marked. The next time they died they'd have ended back here anyway… and so would I have as well. By breaking the chains that way I'd have been effectively damning myself." He shook his head. "Right now Rukia and I have some of the power of the Kushanada. And with it we could allow him out of hell, but he'd still be bound. Because he still needs to pay for his crimes; he could do so out of Hell, that much is in our power to grant, but he'd need a… keeper. A warden, for lack of a better word."

"A warden?" Orihime didn't understand.

"He was damned for a reason." Rukia sought to clarify. "Heinous crimes he committed. Which you might or might not know about." She raised her hand before Orihime could interrupt. "I'm not asking you to judge him… but if he's going to leave Hell, he cannot be entirely free, as that wouldn't be fair either. He'd have to be bound in some way, limited, at least until Hell's Will decides he's thoroughly paid for his crimes which we have no idea when it'll be exactly."

"And who'd be this warden exactly?" Ulquiorra asked, eyes narrowed. "You?"

"No, it cannot be us." Ichigo shook his head. "We can conduct the ceremony, but we cannot be your wardens. It has to be someone else. Someone who's willing to stand for you and, this is the most important part: If you ever commit a terrible crime again, you will be going straight back to Hell… and so will your warden."

That was the most dangerous part of all. Because whoever stood up for him would be making themselves responsible for him, and then it'd be the both of them…

"I'll do it." Orihime announced calmly.

Orihime wasn't stupid, she'd never been. Even back during her life as Amekimi. She might have turned a blind eye to a great many things, but that didn't mean she didn't know they happened. It was just… easier, to pretend, sometimes. She knew that Ulquiorra wasn't a saint, but she never expected him to be, and she loved him for who he was, the good and the bad and everything in between. She loved him, the human, the hollow, all of him.

So she'd stand by him, she'd vouch for him. She knew that whatever the future might hold in store for them, Ulquiorra wouldn't leave her again. She was sure of that much.

Ichigo wasn't quite sure what it was he was doing exactly. As with the explanation before, he was just following the instincts this new power gave him. So he stepped closer to Ulquiorra, raised his left arm, the one covered most in the golden armor of the Kushanada, and placed it over the former Cuarta's head, the base of his palm on the other male's forehead, and he let Hell's power course through him…

For a moment it was like he was drowning. There was so much. So many memories, so many deaths, so many feelings… and then he felt one touch: Rukia's. Her dainty hand on his much bigger one, the hands that had no armor; their fingers were soon entwined. And just like that, he was no longer alone, the current was still there, as terrible as before, but he had an anchor, he had something, someone to hold onto. And then it all became clear, and the both of them could see it all: soldiers, rebels, civilians… a blind girl, young, she was an innocent, she wanted nothing more than to live her life, except her mere existence was also a risk to her, his princess… spies, rebel soldiers, human traffickers, so many dead, for reasons good and bad both. There were never any regrets, how could there be when he did it all for her?

And yet, he wasn't unfeeling, and he wasn't a sociopath. He knew that what he did could be seen as bad. He was aware that while many of those he'd killed deserved to die, not all did. Especially that girl, the handmaiden, she'd been an innocent, but she'd known the princess existed, and that couldn't be allowed, it was too risky. In the end Ulquiorra's only regret was leaving his princess. It was that regret, the belief that he'd failed in that, his 'sacred duty', the one thing he'd fought and lived for since he was a child, that had made him into a hollow.

Rukia for her part had followed her instincts and placed her armored hand on Orihime before lacing the fingers of her free hand with Ichigo's free one. The four of them became connected like that. As they bore witness to each and every one of Ulquiorra's crimes, as Orihime shed tears for every life lost in her name. It was the true burden of what they were doing. If she was going to stand for him, she was going to have to bear the burden of his crimes, and for that, she first had to know them all… And she had to hold on, if she let go before the end… it'd all be for nothing.

But Orihime didn't let go. While she never stopped crying, feeling terrible for all the pain and the death, she still never let go. And eventually it all came to an end: Ulquiorra's truest regret: failing her… the connection snapped into place then.

Orihime said nothing, she just followed her instincts and offered a hand to Ulquiorra, he took it.

To Uryuu and Renji, everything seemed to happen in seconds. Ichigo standing there, one hand on Ulquiorra's head, his other entwined with Rukia, whose own free hand was on Orihime, at the very base of her neck, just above her chest (her heart). Orihime's eyes were closed but she was crying, tears falling steadily, seemingly in an endless rain down her cheeks. And then she moved, extending a hand as if in some sort of trance. She didn't see where she was moving, but didn't seem to need to. Ulquiorra still found her hand and then they were connected as well. For a beat nothing seemed to happen, and then there was a blinding flash of golden light that began with Ichigo and Rukia, and then went from them to the other two.

From one moment to the next the light was gone, and the four opened their eyes again. Ichigo and Rukia remained unchanged, they even had the golden armor still. Ulquiorra and Orihime for their part had a new accessory on them: a black steel cuff, thinner than the ones Kokuto had had on his own wrists, but just as durable. They also each had a kanji engraved: Orihime's read 'warden', while Ulquiorra's said 'penitent'.

"Just what the hell was all that?" Renji demanded, not understanding anything.

"Ulquiorra is technically still damned, though he will be able to leave Hell, with Orihime as his custodian." Uryuu said simply.

"Oh… Yamamoto-soutaichou is just gonna love this…" Renji groaned.

**xXx**

Yamamoto wasn't surprised at all, or if he was, he didn't act like it. And really, after the situation with Gin, Grimmjow, and the revelation that Ichigo was like the Visored (not exactly like them, but since most shinigami were having enough trouble changing their old views to see those with hollow powers as more than just monsters, it was perhaps easier to group Ichigo with them than to try and explain the differences); and no one aside from the Nakama and Byakuya knew about Rukia's own status just yet (though the old man was clever enough that Ichigo wouldn't be surprised if he suspected already).

Kotori, Tessai and a bunch of shinigami, most of them members of the Kidou Corps were in a circular formation around the Gates of Hell when the group got there. Uryuu and Renji crossed out first, stumbling a bit as the differences in the concentration of reiatsu in the air made them lose focus briefly. They recovered soon enough though and found their 'footing' in the air again. Orihime and Ulquiorra were the next to come out, both of them powering down so as not to alarm the shinigami too much. There was no doubt that most of them recognized Ulquiorra anyway, and those that didn't… Grimmjow's shout from the nearby rooftop said enough.

Rukia and Ichigo were the last to cross, letting go of their own new powers as they did. Those that were paying enough attention noticed how some kind of golden reishi separated from them, before floating towards the holes in the Gates, which repaired on their own before vanishing altogether. It was over. And behind them, the sun was rising…

"Nagaken-dono…" Yamamoto called.

"Nagaken?" Renji and Uryuu asked in unison as they turned to Ichigo.

"I revealed my heritage before going back." Ichigo said simply.

Renji blinked, but Rukia and Uryuu, who understood politics better, realized what Ichigo wasn't saying. He'd revealed himself, and likely Rukia as well, in order to make his second incursion into Hell a matter of the Noble Houses; which in turn kept the Gotei from trying to stop him, and him from fighting them on it. They knew Ichigo hadn't intended on revealing things for some time yet, probably not until he'd finished college, but needs must. They'd adapt, they always did.

As if on some kind of silent signal, Karin shunpoed to their side right then, offering Ichigo the small parcel that had been along with his symbols of nobility. He opened the parcel and then handed Rukia a blue obi (this one made of wind-flower silk, rather than the normal silk her first sash was made of), and a set of armbands made of Damascus steel. They weren't as wide or long as Ichigo's, but still, fit well with Rukia. What no one could have missed was that they didn't look quite as old…

"Traditionally the Lady of the Nagaken Clan would wear a heavy Ougi kanzashi with the mon of the Nagaken Clan, along with a pendant like the one Karin wears as retainer of the clan." Ichigo explained. "But you're not just my wife, not just the Lady of a Clan. You're Rukia, you're a shinigami, a warrior… and I thought that needed to be shown, so with Karin's help I had those armbands commissioned, they're similar enough to the ones I wear, and have been added to our records. From now on, if the wife of a Nagaken Clan Head is a shinigami, and wishes so, she will wear those armbands instead of the kanzashi of old."

Rukia blinked quickly several times to clear the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Did Ichigo realize how romantic his actions were? The fact that he'd just turned the traditions of one of the oldest Noble Clans in Seireitei on their heads… for her. It was just like him. Like how he'd insisted she summon her zanpakutou before he even proposed to her that day in the Kuchiki Estate… the day it all began for the two of them… or no, not began, because a love like the one they shared, the love of a perfect match, of soulmates, was infinite, and as such it had neither an ending nor a beginning.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou." Ichigo nodded his head at him. "I presume a verbal report can be given later. I'd like to make sure my nakama have recovered from their fights against the Togabito, and that Yuzu isn't suffering any ill-effects from her time in Hell."

"Their accounts of those events will also be part of the report." Yamamoto ordered.

"Of course." Ichigo nodded evenly.

While it did still irk him whenever the old man acted like he expected obedience from Ichigo and his nakama, the shinketsu shinigami did realize that, with the kind of conversation they had ahead of them, some good will on his part wouldn't go amiss. Rukia's hand still in his also helped. They were back on ground level, finally, not far from the clinic and Ichigo was almost itching to get there, to see his family, but first he'd a duty to fulfill.

"The Arrancar will also be expected to move to Soul Society, and stay there." Yamamoto stated. "I imagine the Nagaken are still willing to house them."

"We are." Ichigo said without hesitation.

He wasn't even surprised. From the moment he'd seen Grimmjow outside of his gigai, and with the mess with Hell, he'd known the old man would say that. He hadn't liked Grimmjow staying in Karakura from the start, so of course he'd take the first opportunity to get him out of the Human World. Really, it was fortunate enough that he wasn't blaming Grimmjow for losing his gigai. Also, considering the time that had passed since the beginning of the mess, chances were the rescue crews had already found the 'dead body', it would be too much of a hassle to erase the memories of everyone who'd have seen it by now. Still, he worried about how Orihime might react, especially because there was no doubt that if Yamamoto was taking the opportunity to get Grimmjow away, he certainly wouldn't let Ulquiorra stay…

"I understand." Orihime nodded. "We will all be leaving today."

"What?!" They were all yelling, though Tatsuki's voice was the loudest.

Ichigo hadn't even noticed when his missing nakama arrived from wherever they'd spent the night (his home, as he'd later find out). All the same, he was happy to see that Chad was back to full health, Isane standing beside him, smiling. Tatsuki and Keeva too looked much better, as dis Yuzu, with Hanatarou beside her.

"Oh Tatsuki-chan…" Orihime murmured, pain lacing her best friend's name.

"You cannot go, Hime…" Tatsuki was at a loss for words.

"I cannot stay Tatsuki-chan… I…" Orihime hesitated, playing with the edges of her scarf before finally pulling sharply on it and letting it fall to the ground.

Orihime's hair cascaded down her back. The first thing Ichigo noticed was that it looked longer than it had been, to her her mid-thighs at the very least. The second was that while the lower half was the same auburn it had always been, from the middle up it darkened until being completely black at her roots. Even absentminded as Ichigo could be at times, he was quite sure Orihime's hair hadn't been black the morning before in school…

"No…" Tatsuki gasped, seemingly the first to reach the right conclusion.

Or the second, it was clear by Uryuu's own expression that he knew it too, but he didn't say anything, just closed his eyes and lowered his head in an almost defeated posture.

To drive the point home Orihime raised a hand to her neckline, pulling on it just enough to reveal a chain attached just above her breasts… a broken chain.

"Oh…" Rukia exhaled, turning to Grimmjow: "A building falling on your head…"

"It was my apartment building." Orihime confirmed. "I used my Rikka to hold it up as long as possible, for everyone else to get out but well… I wasn't at my best, and my power ran out. Grimmjow-kun refused to leave me, with the gigai he couldn't use sonido and while he tried to cover me with his own body… you will remember my new apartment is on the second floor, and it was a four-floor building…

New apartment, because she'd had to move after her time in Hueco Mundo, to one with a second bedroom, for Grimmjow. A building that had apparently been hit by a stray attack during the latest fight. Orihime was dead…

Tatsuki let out a wordless sob as she threw herself at Orihime, hugging her tightly.

"It's okay Tatsuki-chan, it's okay…" Orihime comforted her. "You know, death is not the end…"

"No, it's not." The martial artist knew that better than many.

The two girls kept embracing for a few seconds longer, before letting go. And really, it was only a see you later, not a true goodbye, and they both knew it.

"So… how are we doing this?" Orihime asked, turning to look at Ichigo and Rukia.

"Konso is probably a bad idea." Rukia mumbled, mostly to herself. "No way of knowing how it might affect the bond between you and Ulquiorra."

Ichigo simply approached Orihime and brushed a single finger over one of her Rikka pins; which, like the elegant kimono, had gone back to the pins they'd been before her transformation.

"Ichigo…" Orihime murmured, feeling the power activate.

"Be at peace Orihime." Ichigo murmured. "Reject your grief, your pain, and anything that might bind you to this world."

Even though he himself didn't fully understand what he was doing, Ichigo just followed his instincts as he bent his head and placed a short, quick kiss on Orihime's brow. There was a small but bright flash of white light, and the chain on Orihime's chest dissolved; not like on those about to become hollow, but like it had never been there.

To one side Yamamoto opened one eye, silently pondering what had just happened, before dismissing it as yet another anomaly connected to the Nakama. The girl had such odd powers…

Behind and to one side of him, Toushirou's eyes opened wide in shock, however, before he could say a thing Karin's hand was covering his mouth. He turned to her immediately, ice blue eyes meeting ashen gray ones as the genius realized his partner knew… Karin just shook her head. So much had been revealed already, but for some truths the time hadn't yet come. Not yet…

**xXx**

The meeting with Yamamoto seemed to take forever, but the man wasn't satisfied until he was sure he knew everything concerning Ichigo's hollow side and, as it turned out, Rukia's as well. He'd already been aware of their marriage, and had suspected them to be soulmates; even his nobility he'd been half sure of, only the existence of their hollow sides surprised him. Though, as he realized, it explained why Shinji and the other Visored had been so quick to trust him and the Nakama; more than that, it explained how the two groups had ever met.

"You lied to us, young one." Yamamoto said at the end. "From the very beginning of our acquaintance you've lied about the extent of your powers and abilities. How can we trust you?"

Ichigo could have said he hadn't lied, just omitted a part (a very small part) of the truth; but he knew it wasn't the time to be glib, so he was honest instead:

"Karin said it best, you've seen the way your own men look at the Visored, we all have." Ichigo explained. "It doesn't matter how many times you tell them they're allies, that they're the good guys, some will never stop seeing them, judging them, by the hollow in them. Seeing as possible threats, as potential enemies. How do you think those same shinigami would have reacted if they had known the truth about Shiro from the start? It was hard enough to get rid of the epithet of ryoka!" He shook his head. "And tell me one thing, Soutaichou, honestly, if you had known from the start about Shiro, would you have ever considered forming an alliance? Back when all you knew was that I was the leader of a bunch of humans with power, with enough contacts to get into Seireitei unnoticed, and enough power to challenge even captain-level shinigami? Would you have given the slightest amount of trust to us Nakama, or would you have just seen us as a bother? As possible future enemies?"

Yamamoto exhaled, they both knew the truth already.

"We knew, almost from the start, that one day we'd have to confront Aizen and his allies." Ichigo explained seriously. "We also realized we couldn't afford fighting a war on two fronts. It just wasn't feasible."

"We hoped one day that would change." Rukia added quietly.

It was only a half lie. Truth was they had never really planned for that, because while they always knew that if they ever needed their hollow powers to win a fight, to protect their own they'd use the power and deal with the consequences later, they never really believed there would come a time when they might reveal that truth about them without something forcing their hand.

"It appears there's still much we, as shinigami, do not know." Yamamoto said thoughtfully.

"There is much we, as humans, as spirits, whatever we might each be, do not know." Ichigo offered. "But that's okay, we can learn."

And learn they would.

**xXx**

That evening Rukia found Ichigo standing on the small veranda connected to their bedroom in the Nagaken estate. Despite their diminishing numbers, the Nagaken had never stopped being seen as one of the Great Noble Families of Soul Society. As such, they had a huge property in one of the Seireitei, as well as some smaller homes in several Districts of Rukongai. The main estate wasn't as big as the Kuchiki one, but then again, even in their best times, their numbers had never been as great as the Kuchikis. Even then, they did have several buildings in their property, along with a couple of dojos and other areas. Rukia and Ichigo lived in the main house, a private wing housing their quarters, while another held the guest rooms for all their nakama, and a third the servants' quarters. Kasumi had had her own set of rooms in the main-house, but insisted on moving to one of the smaller houses (little more than a cottage) after the Nakama's first arrival to Soul Society.

Upon returning to the estate after the meeting with Yamamoto and the oldest shinigami taichou (Unohana Retsu, Ukitake Juushirou and Kyouraku Shunsui), Ichigo and Rukia lead Orihime, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow to one of the houses that had been empty until recently. It had been aired out and new linens put in place.

"Are you sure this isn't too much?" Orihime asked, worried.

"You're more than just our friend, Orihime." Rukia put into words what Ichigo couldn't. "You're nakama, you're family. This is your home as much as it's ours."

"And since the other two seem to have become a package deal with you…" Ichigo drawled.

Grimmjow let out a wordless cry of rage, while Ulquiorra only hnned, though it was clear that he was pleased to be taken in consideration, as well as his bond with Orihime.

"There's something else I've been thinking about." Ichigo stated, surprising even Rukia. "I'd like you to consider being adopted into the Clan."

Orihime blinked, mouth dropping open in surprise.

"Ichigo…" Rukia murmured.

"Unlike Homura and Shizuku you wouldn't be our children, of course not, that'd be ridiculous." Ichigo scoffed. "But you'd be considered part of the Clan, a branch house if you will. That'd give you a better status, here in Soul Society, as well as protection. You have much of it already now Orihime, as a Nakama, but those two are a different matter. While Yama-jii might have promised they'd be left alone, that they're officially considered as Nakama as well, it will take some time for most shinigami to see beyond the broken masks on them."

"Thank you, we'd be honored." Orihime agreed after considering it for a few seconds.

The Nagaken Elders had nothing to say about it. On the one hand, they'd already learned that their new Clan Head wouldn't be waiting for their approval, or anything at all, and if they wanted to retain any amount of influence it was better if they worked with him. And more importantly, the adoption had just added three powerful individuals to their clan, which meant that their Clan was rising in power once again. Also, having more Nakama bearing the Nagaken name, especially someone as powerful as Orihime was even better. They didn't even have anything against the two arrancar (mostly because they'd never been shinigami, and thus had no previous experience against hollows); though they'd heard that they too were quite powerful, among the best even. In their heads that only mattered because it meant more powerful Nagaken in the coming generations.

After dinner, Ichigo had a hard time falling asleep, and in the end he left the bed he shared with his wife (they'd been sharing a bed for months, but it was entirely platonic; they hadn't been ready for sex, and later on they decided to wait until getting married again so it might be all the more special).

"Ichigo…" Rukia murmured.

She wasn't sure what else to say, but knew the young man enough to understand that asking him if anything was wrong was likely to make him clamp up. It was better to just wait for him to open up to her. And he would, if there was one person Ichigo didn't mind being vulnerable with, it was her; Rukia knew how huge that was with someone like Ichigo, and she valued that trust. So she waited. It didn't take long.

Ichigo turn around in place, placing his arms around Rukia's waist and pressing her slightly against his chest. Just enough to feel her petite body against his own bigger form, feel her heart beating in time with his, their reiatsu mingling… Rukia raised her head, watching him in silence, waiting for him to speak:

"Marry me Rukia…" Ichigo whispered quietly.

"Baka, I'm already married to you." Her smile took the bite out of the insult. "And if you're talking about the human wedding, that'll be in the summer."

"I know, but I don't want to wait anymore." Ichigo replied. "I'm tired Rukia. Tired of having to check who I'm with to know what I can call you. I want to be able to call you my wife, no matter where we are, or who we are with, all the time. I want the world… all worlds, to know I'm damned lucky that you agreed to be marry me. And more than that… I want us to have that chance, the chance to say vows that are our own, and mean them, to have a real wedding, and not just an arrangement between our clans."

"Oh Ichigo… you know our marriage is more than just an arrangement, right?"

"I know but… I'm not sure I can explain it right. I want to stand before you, with your people and mine as witnesses, and declare I love you, you Rukia, not for being an adopted noble, or a shinigami… those are part of what you are, but not who you are. I want to marry you for you…"

Rukia blinked, it was so rare for Ichigo to be so verbose, she knew he had trouble finding the right words sometimes. He'd only really said 'I love you' twice in all the time they'd been together, but she treasured each time dearly. Just like she treasured the times when he'd read aloud from his book of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. She knew when he reached a part that was meant just for her, because his tone of voice changed, became deeper, warmer. And in doing so he'd found a dozen different ways of telling her he loved her when his own words failed him.

"I want to marry you too." Rukia agreed quietly.

"Then, will you?" Ichigo pressed. "Marry me? Not in four months, but sooner?"

"How much sooner? Are you sure it can be done?" Didn't a wedding take a lot of planning?

"Two weeks." Ichigo answered. "We graduate high-school next week, then we have two weeks before we start college. If we marry then we'll still have a few days to ourselves before the move to Tokyo. As for the preparations: Uryuu has been working on your wedding dress since you approved his design, he told me yesterday that it's finished. We'd already decided we didn't want a big production of things. Just us, our closest families and nakama, and that's it. Oyaji will be paying for the catering, at his insistence, and Yuzu insisted on doing the cake. We would just need to find a venue but it cannot be that hard…"

"Then yes Ichigo, I'll marry you in two weeks."

Byakuya was probably going to have an apoplexy… then again, as far as he was concerned, they were already married, so…

"Ichigo, I'd like to invite Ukitake-taichou." Rukia said thoughtfully. "I know that technically he isn't my captain anymore, but he was for a long time, and he was always there for me…"

"You don't need to explain anything Rukia, I understand." Ichigo assured her. "And I suppose if we're inviting him we'll need to invite Kyouraku as well, since they're partners and all."

"Ah… yes, and Ise-fukutaichou as well."

Ichigo blinked, head cocked to a side.

"It's complicated." Rukia admitted with a small shrug. "From what I know, Ukitake-taichou and Kyouraku-taichou have been best friends since they were at the Academy together. For many years they were just friends. Then Kyouraku fell in love with a shinigami woman and they married. I don't know what her name was, only that they were very much in love and when she died, some four hundred years ago or so Kyouraku-taichou went off the deep end. Ukitake-taichou was the only one who could reach him, who kept him from getting himself killed in the aftermath and then… well… some say they'd always been in love, deep down, others that the closeness as Ukitake-taichou helped his widowed friend recovered eventually transformed into love. However it happened, eventually they came to be together."

Ichigo nodded, while he couldn't begin to imagine ever loving someone else if he were to ever lose Rukia (and just the mere thought of losing her was so painful as to almost make him flinch, and in the back of his head Shiro howled his denial), he wasn't the kind to judge.

"Doesn't explain how Ise-san figures in all this." He commented, until suddenly something occurred to him; except, it couldn't be, could it? "The universe isn't that insane, is it?"

"You tell me." Rukia smiled at him. "It's not like it's a unique case, is it?"

No, it wasn't, and he'd seen it already first hand: with Tatsuki and Renji, Karin and Toushirou, and more recently, with Orihime and Ulquiorra (and Grimmjow and Sui-Feng, but that woman wasn't budging, she still wanted nothing to do with the former Sexta Espada... yet).

"How did they handle it?" Ichigo couldn't help but ask.

"That, no one really knows." Rukia admitted. "Well, I think Kaien knew, he's the one who told me all this, after I accidentally walked in on Kyouraku-taichou kissing Ukitake-taichou, after having seen the way he always flirted with Ise-fukutaichou… apparently, while Ise-san doesn't really remember her past life, Kyouraku-taichou managed to make her fall in love with him all over again, and she loved him enough to be willing to share him with Ukitake-taichou. So the three of them are sort of together and have been at least for as long as I've been a shinigami."

"Sounds a bit odd if you ask me, but it's their life." Ichigo shrugged.

"Well, just don't go getting any ideas, I'm not sharing you with anyone!" Rukia warned him.

"Nor could I ever share you." Ichigo reassured her. "So that's the three of them, your brother, Renji, Toushirou, Rangiku-san, probably Gin-san, oyaji and our nakama."

"And the Visored and Fullbringers." Rukia reminded him. "And your tou-san might want to invite Urahara and Yoruichi."

Ichigo nodded, agreeing they were good points. So it was probably not going to be quite as intimate as he'd have preferred, but still not a big event either, they wouldn't even be fifty people in all. They could be ready in two weeks.

"Lets go to bed." Rukia murmured after a while. "I'm exhausted."

He was too, so Ichigo didn't say a thing as he followed his petite wife inside, as they took off the robes they'd pulled on when walking onto the veranda, in the pale moonlight something that looked like tattoos in the inside of their left wrists became visible: golden skulls. They'd noticed them when they had first taken off their tekkou, just before bathing. They had no idea what it meant, and had already decided not to mention them to anyone. Chances were they were caused by the powers the Kushanada granted them while in Hell. And if there was more to them than that they'd worry about it when the time came.

**xXx**

Much as he might never admit it out-loud, truth was Byakuya wasn't really surprised when he got the wedding invitation from a bemused Renji a couple of days later. It was handmade, simple but elegant, with remarkable calligraphy. Attached to it there had been a note in Rukia's handwriting explaining the ceremony would be simple, no more than fifty guests in all, and would be taking place in the underground cavern beneath Urahara's old shouten. Renji opened his mouth to ask his captain what he was thinking exactly, when they were unexpectedly interrupted:

"Taichou!" It was Juno Masai, their third seat. "Kuchiki-taichou! We found her!"

"You found her?" Byakuya sought to confirm.

"Yes sir." Juno nodded, wide smile on her face.

"Found her?" Renji repeated, confused. "Found who? Or what?"

"A wedding present." Byakuya said simply before signaling for Masai to lead the way. "I'll go with Juno-sanseki, Renji, you're in charge in the meantime."

"Yes sir!" Renji replied automatically.

Byakuya left with Juno, leaving Renji to handle the paperwork and whatever might come up for the time being. The redhead had no idea what his captain might be planning exactly. It was clear though, that he was, indeed, planning something. Whether it was good or bad, he'd no idea. Though, he supposed, he'd be finding out in less than two weeks.


	46. Always and Forever

New chapter! This is fluff and family feels, and maybe some angst but mostly all good feels. It's all about love: family love, friendly love, romantic love... all the love! I hope you'll love reading it as much as I loved writing it...

For mugetsu_Ichigo, Nozomi Higurashi, and a Guest who gave no name, all who accurately guessed what Byakuya was talking about last chapter.

Also, Shirayuki55, you asked about Soifon, here you'll find what you've been waiting for as well.

If at all possible I encourage you to cue up the song Kawaranai Kotoba, also known as Unchangeable Word, which is one of Ichigo's character songs. You'll know when to press play...

And on with the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 46. Always and Forever **

The Nakama's High School graduation went off without a hitch. Of course, Karin, Yuzu and Keeva still had a couple of years to go, but the rest were done with that level of education. They had even had a little memorial for Orihime, as everyone knew that she and her cousin (most of the others had no idea how anyone bought that one, considering Grimmjow and Orihime looked in no way alike, but still) had been the only victims when their apartment building had fallen, following the awful 'gas explosion'. Miss Sakurada was inconsolable and she didn't understand why the girl's closest friends weren't more grieved by the loss… then again, she couldn't have known that they all knew exactly where Orihime was, and that she was doing much better than she'd been over the past month. Dead or alive, Orihime was much happier in Soul Society with Ulquiorra and Grimmjow.

As soon as the graduation was over Tatsuki followed Renji to Soul Society. While he'd only gotten a few hours off to attend her graduation and had to go back to work, she was planning on visiting Orihime. The last of Orihime's things had been delivered to her. As per the dead teen's instructions, most of her clothes had been given away to charity. Tatsuki only kept several changes in a drawer in her room, in case Orihime ever got the chance to visit and wanted to wear something other than yukatas or kimonos. Though she knew her best friend actually liked dressing like that. The rest of it: jewelry, books and knickknacks were in a bag Tatsuki would be handing personally.

She found Orihime heading out, and after leaving the bag in her new home, the two went out.

"Where are we going exactly?" She asked her friend.

While it wasn't her first time in Soul Society, aside from some fights, Tatsuki usually stayed at the Nagaken estate and only visited Renji, so while she knew her way from the Estate to the 6th Division, she wasn't familiar with the rest of Seireitei, much less Rukongai.

"Kenpachi-san had been complaining about the lack of 'good sparring opponents', and after a while Yamamoto-dono agreed to let Grimmjow-kun be his sparring partner." Orihime explained. "That's where they are right now. Ulquiorra-kun is with him, probably to keep an eye on things."

Because they were no fools, while they might agree to stay in Soul Society because of Orihime, the two males were still Arrancar and they knew it. Knew that not everyone would accept them so easily. Thus far the only two squads that seemed to have no problem with them were the 4th and the 11th; the latter because they all respected their captain's interest in fighting the former Espada, the former because they valued Orihime's abilities so much they were willing to put up with the Arrancar if it meant she'd visit and help.

Orihime didn't have any official position, aside from being part of the Nagaken Clan, but she was considering accepting Unohana's offer to help at the 4th as a medic. While she'd always be a Nakama first and foremost, that didn't mean she couldn't use her skills to help others.

They arrived to Soukyoku Hill, where a wide space had been prepared beforehand, bordered by a line of sekkiseki stone to ensure that no stray attacks would hit someone else. Tatsuki found it entertaining for a while, she was a fighter through and through, and even just watching she could learn about styles and moves. But eventually she grew bored; while both men were certainly strong and skilled, they were also too stubborn (pigheaded might have been a better word) to know when to call it quits. Tatsuki turned to her friend, finding her curled up against Ulquiorra's side, much as she might want to spend time with her best friend, she wasn't going to split those two up, not when they were still in the honeymoon phase (and she wasn't blind, Tatsuki had seen how much Orihime suffered when she lost him), so she just told her friend quietly that she was taking off, there was no need for an escort, or for anyone to worry, and she walked away.

She was about to reach the stairs leading down from the hill when a particularly strong clash made the ground shudder despite the sekkiseki stone. Tatsuki crouched instinctively, carefully re-distributing the weight of her body away from the cliff's edge. Some of the shinigami standing nearby as they watched the spar weren't so lucky. And while two managed to react fast enough to take hold of something and stop their fall, there was another that couldn't do that. Tatsuki noticed it and reacted instinctively: as she threw herself forward to take hold of the falling shinigami's hand, at the same time she sent enough reiatsu to her own legs and feet to attach herself to the ground. It worked, though barely, the man kept flailing and almost dislodged his hand from hers in the process.

"Baka!" Tatsuki snapped at him. "Stop moving! Do you wanna fall?!"

The shinigami stopped moving then, allowing Tatsuki to pull him up without further trouble.

"Idiot." A new voice murmured disdainfully. "You should have let him fall."

"T-Fukutaichou!" The shinigami Tatsuki saved, along with a few others called out in dismay.

The martial artist had to bite her tongue to keep from saying the first thing that came to mind. There was a reason why she'd made a point to avoid that particular shinigami since the fight against the Bounts…

"Fools, all of you, and you call yourself onmitsukidou members." The woman, Sui-Feng, scoffed. "Perhaps a fall might have given you a very necessary wake up call."

"Nah," Tatsuki made a conscientious effort to keep her voice even. "All that would achieve would be to make Hime have to come and heal them. And Ulquiorra wouldn't like her being bothered when she'd rather be cheering on Grimmjow."

From the corner of her eye Tatsuki could see a grimace on the shinigami's face.

"I just don't understand how she can stand being so close to them, their darkness…" Sui-Feng trailed off, shaking her head.

"There's more to them than their darkness." Tatsuki said softly. "From what I understand, Ulquiorra has called Orihime his heart. I think that's pretty significant." She shrugged. "And there are past lives involved…"

"Ridiculous!" Sui-Feng scoffed.

"What? A hollow having a heart? Or the past lives?" Tatsuki couldn't help but ask.

"Both!" Sui-Feng snapped, finally facing Tatsuki. "But the past lives specially. Past lives are meant to be forgotten…"

Tatsuki couldn't help but arch a brow, at the same time Sui-Feng took her in, the old yukata… While ever since learning that she could change clothes in her spirit form Tatsuki had made a point of putting on a pair of comfortable black hakama with the ends taped to her ankles to make it more convenient during a fight, she still wore the yukata on top of that, as a way to remember who she'd been, who she still was (and that she most definitely wasn't a shinigami!).

"It's easy to forget, painless one might even say." Tatsuki murmured solemnly as she looked straight at Sui-Feng, for the first time not looking away at the memories that assaulted her. "For the most part you don't even know you've forgotten anything." She shook her head. "Sometimes… some things are worth the pain."

"What can you know of pain?" Sui-Feng knew she was missing something and yet, what could a human know?! "You're dating Abarai, it's because of him that you chose to remember."

"I am dating Renji, that is true." Tatsuki wasn't even offended anymore, she could tell that Sui-Feng's tone was more about wanting to protect herself than any real scorn and, deep down, Tatsuki would never stop seeing another in the hardened shinigami: a little girl, so full of hope, her little bell… "But it's not because of him that I chose to remember. I did it for me. In order to be all I could be, rather than just a part. It wasn't easy, and it was very painful… I think that remembering past lives always is, to a point." She raised a hand before Sui-Feng could interrupt. "You may have heard Orihime's story: she was a princess, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow were her guards. She makes it sound almost like a fairy-tale, doesn't she? If you were to just think about that, you might even believe that's all there is to it. But if you look behind the basics and see the details, you'll realize that she was also a girl who lost both her parents too young, who was as good as a prisoner in her own home, never allowed to go out for fear that she might be found and killed… who died before she ever reached her twenties, after having lost the few people that were ever close to her. Who, for whatever the reason, remembered her past during this life and then had to come face to face with each of those people she'd once held dear, and realize none of them remembered her, and what's more, at least two of them were supposed to be her enemies. Do you think that sounds like a fairytale shinigami-san?"

"And what is your story then, Nakama-san?"

"Me? I was a slave, in China, several centuries ago." Tatsuki didn't mince her words, she didn't see the point, and besides, it wasn't just her story. "My mother died giving birth to my little sister, and our father was killed when he failed to pay some people he owed a lot of money to. We had nothing they could take to recover their loses, so they took us instead. I will not bore you with the stories of what I went through for over a decade, though I'm sure you get the idea."

"And you say you chose to remember that?" Sui-Feng couldn't understand. "Why would anyone do that? How can that be worth it?"

"It was worth it to be able to remember my sister." Tatsuki said vehemently. "In this life I have a little brother, but my parents divorced when I was young, and he lives with my father and his new wife. I only see him once or twice a year, and he doesn't really see me as his sister. I have my nakama, so I'm not really alone, but my little sister… she was once my whole world. I lived for her, endured hell for her… and I died for her."

Sui-Feng said nothing, but Tatsuki could see she was truly interested in the story, even if she probably would never admit to it, so she continued.

"She was still so very young, when I learned from a guard I'd befriended, that our Master was planning to give her to one of his Generals as a gift." Tatsuki explained. "The General wasn't a good man, and the mere thought of my little bell forced to suffer like that… I'd planned our escape many times, but never dared go through with it. Too afraid that we might fail. That night I decided I'd do it or die trying. So I got us out, and we ran… I didn't see one of the traps and my leg was very badly hurt. I did my best to hide it from her, not wanting to risk her giving up or something. And then, when I knew I was dying I convinced her of running ahead. We'd be taking a boat down the river to get to the coast. I convinced her I'd double-back for a bit to drive our pursuers away, and made her promise not to look back. I was dead before sunrise. Tried looking for her, even as a spirit, just to make sure she made it okay, but some stupid shinigami refused to listen to me and forced me to cross over."

"You didn't want to cross over?" Sui-Feng blinked. "You know, if you'd stayed for long on the human world, especially with such a strong attachment, you'd have turned into a hollow…"

"I'm not saying I didn't want to ever cross, but I wanted to find her first!" Tatsuki snapped. "I wanted to make sure she was okay… I know now that she survived, that she made it, had a life. Even if she still died before her time. At least she was happy for a while, had someone that truly loved her. My Xiao Ling deserved that much."

Sui-Feng was about to ask her how she new that, when she noticed something else:

"What did you just call her?" The shinigami asked, voice a bit faint.

"Xiao Ling." Tatsuki repeated. "That was her name. Mine was Shu Yung… though usually I just called her my…"

"Little bell…" They both finished at the same time.

"How long have you known?" Because Sui-Feng had no doubt that Tatsuki indeed knew who she was, and it wasn't recent.

"Since the fight against the Bount, last year." Tatsuki answered honestly. "That was right after I got Chitania, my zanpakutou, and with her help remembered my past life."

"You went looking for me…" Sui-Feng remembered. "And I turned you away."

She'd done more than just turn her away, but Tatsuki wasn't going to call her on it.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sui-Feng wanted to know.

"You claimed not to remember your human life, and really, who was I to insist?" Tatsuki asked softly. "You were so young yet when I died, and I knew nothing of what had become of your life. Had you made it down the river? Had you made it out of China? Did you grow up? Did you marry? Have children?" She shook her head. "No, I lost all rights to you a long time ago."

"Why did you never look for me here?" A part of the shinigami captain might want to pretend not to care… but she couldn't, and there were some questions she just needed answered.

"I arrived to Rukongai, Inuzuri to be precise, and I never left it." Tatsuki explained. "I never wanted to be a shinigami. Even when I manifested Chitania." She shook her head. "For the longest time I just hated shinigami…"

"Why?" Sui-Feng didn't understand.

"Because they forced me to cross over when I wasn't ready yet. I tried to explain it to the one who found me. Told him I had to find you. But he didn't care. I never cared for joining the same group as someone who could care so little for the feelings of another."

"We don't exist to care about personal feelings but to protect souls. If all of us tried to please the spirits we're supposed to konso we'd never be done. It's hard enough to keep up since the population grew so much the last couple of centuries. There's simply no time… and our job is hard enough as is."

"I know that now. Back then I didn't care to understand. All I cared about was that it was a shinigami that took away what could have been my only chance to know if you still lived… That's why I'll never regret getting my memories back, even if I have to carry the memories of all the bad. I also carry the memories of you. And what's more, I know now that you lived, you loved… and you're here now. A shinigami… one of the best…"

"How can I be expected to love someone I don't know?" Sui-Feng asked gruffly after what seemed like forever.

Tatsuki could only imagine how much it cost her to admit that much. She had heard a few things about the lieutenants's history in Soul Society. She'd been very close to Yoruichi, her little sister… until the older shinigami ran away with Urahara, Tessai and the Visored. What that must have been like for someone who'd already lost an older sister once, who might have felt like she was being abandoned by family for the second time… But Sui-Feng was still there, she was giving Tatsuki a chance, that was more than the martial artist once thought she'd have…

"You don't." Tatsuki admitted gently. "But you can start by getting to know them: my name is Arisawa Tatsuki, pleasure to meet you."

She waited for some very long seconds, hand extended and then:

"My name is Sui-Feng, and the pleasure is mine… Tatsuki-san…"

**xXx**

Uryuu had no idea why he even was in Seireitei in that moment, except that Urahara Kisuke had called, not Ichigo or Rukia but him directly, asking to see him at his earliest convenient. And to please not be alone. It was that last part that worried Uryuu the most, it was so strange… He'd have preferred having Ichigo with him, just in case, or even Rukia, as she was more used to shinigami matters, but they were both quite busy getting everything ready for their wedding that weekend, so in the end Uryuu asked Keeva to accompany him. Their friendship had grown since the battle on the outskirts of Karakura. On the one hand them being the only two not dating (or almost dating, as was Yuzu's case) someone else; on the other, well, there was no doubt that trusting another as much as they had trusted each other during that fight made for a strong bond.

"Do we even know what we're doing here?" Keeva asked, curious.

"No idea at all." Uryuu answered evenly. "Though I have a feeling, whatever it might be, we're really not going to like it."

It was a feeling Keeva shared. A feeling that only grew when they found Kisuke waiting for them at the entrance to his Division, no fan on his hand, and no smile on his face.

"Ishida-san, Castelo-san." He greeted them both with a nod. "If you'll follow me please."

They followed the blonde shinigami through a courtyard, into one of the buildings and through several halls as he explained:

"As you might be aware, following Mayuri's death, and after having been exonerated from any past crimes, I was given back captaincy of the Twelfth Division. The first order of business was to go through all of Mayuri's experiments to ensure that there was nothing dangerous around. The last thing we needed was a repeat of the mess we had with that reishi-eating slug back in January. I went through everything with a fine toothed comb. Doing my best for Mayuri's victims, though I will admit there were those for whom there was nothing I could do except release them from their suffering and hope their next life would be better than this one."

Uryuu's hands fisted at his sides, he could still remember Kurotsuchi's admittance, seemingly so long ago, about being responsible for his grandfather's death; and not just that, but having experimented on him until the old man's spirit couldn't take it anymore. Uryuu had come so close to killing the monster that day… only his mercy, and the request of a shinigami stayed his hand. He'd asked himself more than once if that had been a mistake. While killing a shinigami captain, especially when they were still seen as ryoka by most in Seireitei, would have put a huge spanner into their plans, and there's no way things would have gone so well (there might not have been an alliance at all!), there were some nights when sleep eluded and he couldn't help but wish he'd finished things back then.

"It took me forever to find the last of his experiments." Kisuke went on. "See, Nemu-san was hiding it. But as I discovered, she wasn't hiding her from me, but from Mayuri."

"Her?" Uryuu asked, tense.

They'd just reached what looked like a small meeting room, where Kisuke signaled for him and Keeva to sit on simple chairs across the table from him.

"Her." Kisuke confirmed. "Are you aware of Nemu's origins?"

Keeva blinked, not understanding what that had to do with anything. Uryuu just shrugged.

"According to Mayuri's notes, she's supposed to be an artificial soul, in an artificial body." Kisuke explained.

"Kind of like Ririn, Nova and the others." Uryuu guessed.

"In some ways, but not entirely." Kisuke shook his head. "See, it is possible to create something like that, but there are limitations. Because an artificial body will never be able to process power the way a real body can, it takes too much, and it'll never be as efficient as a real body. And an artificial soul cannot produce reiatsu, not like a real one does. One can program artificial beings to have a few special abilities, as was the case with the original mod souls like Kon and Kai, or the newer ones like Nova and Ririn. But there are limits. Nemu… while she has no zanpakutou and she never will, she can do kidou. She's actually a master at it. That would be impossible if she were truly as Mayuri always claimed."

"Then how?" While she still had no idea what Nemu had to do with them, Keeva couldn't help her honest curiosity at everything Kisuke had just explained.

"Her body is artificial, no doubt about that, enhanced to the peak performance a human may have." Kisuke explained. "But her soul… it's a real soul."

"Did… did that monster steal a soul from someone and…?" Keeva couldn't even finish her question, too horrified by the mere idea.

Uryuu was abruptly furious, too much to even think of something to say. How had they let that monster do such terrible things for so long?! How had no one stopped him?! Why?!

"Not quite." Kisuke's voice turned lower, more somber as he explained. "It was an unborn soul. See, usually when a baby is stillborn, it's because he has no soul, and without a soul the body cannot live." There had been quite a lot of those just before the end of the war against the Quincy, so many souls lost forever… "When an expectant mother dies, her soul will go to soul society, and if her child had a soul already, it will follow. Babies will come as babies, once they're born, that's it. But if they aren't born… it gets complicated. Most of the time they'll remain in limbo until finding another body and being born properly. But there are exceptions, few, but they exist. The most common, being when the mother holds onto them too tight. Of course, this is only actually possible if the mother has spiritual power, but it can happen."

"So what, she comes to Soul Society as a pregnant spirit?" Keeva blinked, trying to understand.

"Somewhat, except, only as you might or might not be aware, it's not easy for spirits to give birth." Kisuke went on. "Only the most powerful can do it. Matsumoto-fukutaichou is an oddity in that her reiatsu levels are mostly average, yet we all know now that she carried and gave birth to a son, Hitsugaya-taichou in fact. According to Unohana-taichou, hers was a very delicate pregnancy, and the birth completely ruined her womb. She won't be able to have a child again."

"Okay, but as interesting as all this is, what does it have to do with anything?" Keeva demanded. "Why are we even here at all?"

"You're here because I requested Ishida-san come and not do so alone." Kisuke said honestly. "And I requested Ishida-san here, because this matter concerns him. See, as I discovered, Nemu-san's soul isn't artificial at all. Mayuri may have forced it to mature much faster than it should have, but he didn't create it. Nemu's soul was that of an unborn child. And Mayuri had access to it because when he discovered there was a pregnant spirit in Rukongai he tracked her down and decided to experiment on her. Once Nemu-san had enough maturity and understanding of the world and her own existence, her first fully personal decision, the one time she's ever gone against Mayuri's orders and wishes, was when she hid the woman who was, by all intents and purposes, her mother. Mayuri eventually forgot about her, moving on to other experiments. And Nemu kept her hidden, in a half-forgotten lab, until just last week, when she told me the truth, gave me the files, and directed me to the cryo-stasis chamber where she'd been kept." He took a deep breath before finally dropping the bomb. "The woman in question is called…"

"Ishida Kanae." Uryuu finished for him, voice low, cold, and completely devoid of emotion.

Keeva's head spun sharply towards him, mouth dropping open in shock. She knew the story of Ishida Kanae, she'd been there when Ryuuken explained it. She knew that Uryuu's mother had been pregnant, with a baby girl, but it was too much for her, she didn't have enough power to get to full term, but as she refused to give up, she ended dying along with her baby. And then to learn what had become of her when arriving to Soul Society. Not only she hadn't found peace, but she'd become Kurotsuchi Mayuri's experiment. Her baby had been effectively ripped from her, used for the monster's crazy plans… did that mean that Nemu was technically Uryuu's sister? How was Uryuu supposed to deal with that? With the possibility of a sister. And learning his mother had suffered through the same fate as his grandfather… except… wait a second…

"When can we see her?" Keeva blurted out before she could even form the thought in her mind.

This time it was Uryuu turning around abruptly.

"He never said she was dead." Keeva explained her leap in logic (which even she had only been half aware of as she asked the question). "In fact, he said he found her."

"Frozen!" Uryuu snapped.

"This is the 12th, it wouldn't surprise me if freezing were perfectly normal for them." Keeva replied in a nonchalant way.

She was probably being more blasé than entirely necessary, but it was a defensive mechanism.

"I wouldn't say perfectly normal, but yes, she's alive." Kisuke nodded.

Before Uryuu could said anything else Kisuke stood and without a word pressed a hand to the wall behind him. Half of it turned into glass abruptly. One-way glass… into what looked like a private hospital room…

The first thought that went through Keeva's head as she watched the woman laying on that bed, was how much she looked like Uryuu. The exact same hair, though considerably longer. She looked incredibly pale and thin, probably from lack of sun and a decent diet, but the way her chest moved rhythmically proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was, indeed, alive (or as alive as those in Soul Society might be).

Uryuu hadn't even noticed when he stood from his chair and went to stand at the window, watching in shocked silence. Keeva followed him just as silently, waiting… it didn't take long. From one moment to the next Uryuu turned towards the closest person, Keeva, and then he just… crumbled. He curled into her, his head on her shoulder, silent tears falling down his cheeks. Keeva couldn't, for the life of her, think of anything to say, so in the end she said nothing at all, she just placed her hands on Uryuu's back, and held him as he let out all the fears, the frustration, the nervousness he'd felt regarding what might have become of his mother, all the things he'd never acknowledged but had always been there, at the back of his mind, ever since learning what had become of his beloved grandfather.

"When can we see her?" Keeva asked Kisuke quietly as she felt Uryuu beginning to calm down.

The shinigami captain hadn't said a word as Uryuu broke down, he even had gone as far as walking to the far end of the office and turning away, to give them as much privacy as was feasible in their situation.

"Whenever you want." Kisuke nodded. "You must know, she's woken up a few times by now. Barely long enough to have a drink every so often. She hasn't said a word, but I think it might be a defense mechanism." His face turned stern as he added. "You must take it easy with her. She was in stasis for half a decade, and before that, Mayuri had her for two years before Nemu-san hid her. It will probably take a long time for her to be anywhere in the vicinity of alright."

"It's okay." Uryuu's voice was hoarse, but that didn't stop him from using it. "She's here, she's… alive. And she will recover. That's enough for me."

Kisuke nodded, leading the to a small, barely noticeable door.

"Why is she here?" He asked suddenly.

"I decided it was safer than anywhere else." Kisuke shrugged. "At least until she's fully coherent. We can move her to the Fourth later on if you wish."

"The Nagaken Estate?" Uryuu suggested instead.

Kisuke just nodded, he'd been expecting as much.

Uryuu was about to go into the room when he looked back at the former shopkeeper over his shoulder, the smallest of smiles on his face:

"Arigatou, Urahara-san…"

"It's my pleasure Ishida-san." Kisuke said sincerely with a bow. "Take as long as you wish."

If it were up to Uryuu, he'd probably stay there the whole day, but that wasn't feasible. Still, she was there, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her, not again.

It still took some time before something else hit him and he turned wide blue eyes to Keeva:

"Nemu is my sister?!"

Keeva couldn't help herself, she laughed (a bit hysterically, but after the stressing of the previous hour or so she really needed it).

**xXx**

At noon on April 2nd Nagaken-Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia got married (for the second time). The shinto priest of the temple the Kurosakis frequented in their youth performed the ceremony, though only the Kurosakis, Kuchikis, Renji and Nakama were present for that. Then they all traveled to the shouten, where the reception would take place. The underground training area had been tastefully decorated with some help, a buffet table arranged on one side, along with the beautiful layered cake Yuzu had baked. The music came from a sound system, since the last thing they needed was to have unknown people just for some live music.

Before the reception actually began, Ichigo went looking for Ryuuken. Uryuu and Keeva had gone straight to him to explain the situation, Kanae had been moved to her own room in the Nagaken Estate as soon as she was well enough to be moved, and Yailen had volunteered to watch over her. The next step had been to find the right way to explain things to Ryuuken, and all the Nakama knew that the chances of getting Ryuuken into Seireitei were nil (and if they so much as tried to explain, Ryuuken would have gone on a murderous rampage, which really wasn't what they needed). So instead they made a plan. It had taken some serious convincing, but they managed to get Yamamoto to allow Kanae leave to visit the Human World for a few hours, on the condition that she'd only be seen by those in the know about spirits.

Once there, Ichigo got Ryuuken to follow him to a room in the back of the shouten, where Uryuu was waiting with Kanae. The groom knew the exact moment the Master Quincy sensed his wife's presence, Ryuuken froze and turned to look at him:

"Ichigo…" Ryuuken's voice sounded lost, a first for the man.

Ichigo said nothing, just opened the door and gently pushed Ryuuken inside.

"Anata…"

Ryuuken turned very slowly. There was no way he could not know that voice, he knew it almost better than his own and yet… it was impossible.

"Tsuma…" It was odd, for a man to refer to his wife with that very word, but for him, his greatest achievement in his life had been making her his wife…

"I'm here Ryuuken…" Kanae confirmed.

Uryuu left the room very quietly then. There would be time later to explain to Ryuuken the whole story, and to introduce him to his daughter, for the time being, he'd let his parents enjoy their well-deserved reunion.

"Should I be here?" Nemu asked Uryuu quietly, hesitantly.

"I know you don't feel it yet." Uryuu told him kindly. "But you are family Nemu-san. I would very much like it if you would one day truly see me as a brother, see us all as your family. I know it will not be easy but…"

"She told me about you, you know?" Nemu commented, a wistful tone to her voice. "When I was newly… formed. Mayuri-sama left her alone for a while, he had her take care of me. And she'd tell me all sorts of stories, about her husband, the Master Quincy, about her beloved son: Uryuu; her dearest friend: Masaki; and how one day we'd all be together, a proper family… One day someone overheard us, and told Mayuri-sama, that was when he separated us and put her in a cage. I knew he'd do something awful to her, so I took her and hid her as best I knew how." She exhaled. "Many things happened in the following years. And whenever Mayuri-sama hurt me, I'd go to that little abandoned lab and watch her cryo-tube, telling myself that one day all she'd told me about would come to be. It was an impossible dream, but that didn't stop me from dreaming it. And then I saw you on Soukyoku Hill that day…"

"You knew who I was." Uryuu realized.

"I knew." Nemu confirmed. "And I was both delighted and terrified to meet you. I was told you were my brother… but what was a brother? Mayuri-sama gave me his name, called me his daughter… but Kanae-kaa-san called me daughter too, and she'd treated me so very differently."

"That monster wasn't fit to be a captain, much less a father." Uryuu hissed, before thinking of something else. "Why did you even ask me to spare his life that day?"

"I… he'd been my whole world for so long, my whole existence revolved around him, I wouldn't have known what to do without him." Nemu answered helplessly. "I didn't know how to be alone… still don't."

"You're not alone, and you'll never be." Uryuu assured her. "You're one of us now."

"A Nakama?" There was a sense of hope in Nemu's voice as she asked that.

She'd watched them for months, their closeness, the way they cared for each other and protected one another… she'd wanted to be part of something like that.

"Of course." Uryuu nodded immediately. "But not just that. You're also an Ishida."

"An Ishida…" Nemu repeated thoughtfully. "Ishida Nemu…"

The door opened then, revealing Ryuuken and Kanae standing side by side.

"Musume…" Ryuuken called softly.

"Chichihue…" Nemu bowed deeply, eyes on the floor.

Ryuuken didn't allow that, instead he took her in his arms and embraced her… it was probably only the second time anyone had hugged Nemu (the first having been her mother). Uryuu just stood there, looking at his mom, a tear falling down the corner of his eye. There it was, the family he'd always dreamed of, the family he never in his wildest dreams thought he could have…

**xXx**

"You're looking particularly smug Ichigo." Rukia commented with a smirk.

And in truth Ichigo was feeling particularly smug. He'd managed to get one over shishou! But more than that, he'd helped in doing something that made the man happy. After everything the older Quincy had done for Ichigo, and for all of them, it felt good, to be able to repay that kindness to some extent. And Uryuu too was happy. It almost made Ichigo wonder how it'd feel, if he were to ever find his mom… He'd been considering it, going into Soul Society and looking for her in his free time, but there had been so little of that recently. Maybe during the summer break he'd have the chance…

The reception began then. Uryuu, as the best man, said a few words, mostly regarding how he'd known from the start the two of them were just meant to be. He wasn't quite as witty as usual, and everyone knew it must be related to his mother's presence, so no one commented on it. Others took the opportunity to say a few words as well, like Isshin (who had to be cut off and gagged when he got too embarrassing), Homura (who both threatened and thanked Ichigo for being there, for Rukia and for them), even Ukitake (who'd long seen Rukia as family). Byakuya was the last one to take the chance to say a few words:

"Rukia… imouto-chan…"

The tender term alone was enough to bring tears to the corners of Rukia's eyes, her brother had never referred to her with such a nickname… even with how much their relationship might have changed, how much it might have improved… even when the truth had come up that she was, in fact, a Kuchiki… He might have called her his sister to others, but never to her face.

"I know, I haven't always been the best of brothers." Byakuya stated soberly. "But I cared for you as best I knew how." And he'd learned better ways of doing things in the past year. "I know Hisana would be delighted to see how happy you are, to see you've found love, made a life for yourself. I know I am. But never forget Rukia, that while you might be a Nagaken-Kurosaki now, you were a Kuchiki first. You were my sister first, and you always will be."

Rukia just couldn't help herself, she jumped straight out of her seat and rushed to Byakuya, embracing him tightly, he didn't even bother hiding the way he held her back just as tightly. It was okay to show feeling, they were among family and friends, after all.

"Kozo…" Byakuya called next.

Ichigo rolled his eyes but didn't say a thing as he focused on Byakuya.

"It is said that a man has two great loves: his first and his last." The Noble stated. "We all present here know Rukia is your last, and to make this occasion complete, I decided to bring your first."

Ichigo blinked, wondering what exactly Byakuya could possibly mean… when a figure stepped forward, pushing back the hood of the cloak. It must have been a special cloak because Ichigo not only hadn't felt any reiatsu, but he hadn't so much as noticed the person there; and by the shock coming from his nakama, he knew he wasn't alone on that… it was then that he finally registered what his eyes were seeing… then his mind and heart came to an abrupt and absolute halt.

"Kaa-chan!" The twins were the ones to scream.

Ichigo didn't say a word, he couldn't. All he could do was follow his instincts: one moment he was standing behind the head table, the next he was standing before his mother, his beloved mother whom he'd lost so long ago… even with the suddenness of the move he was still infinitely careful as he put his arms around her and embraced her as tightly as he dared.

"I'm here Ichigo… I'm here my dear boy…" Masaki whispered straight into his ear.

Ichigo said nothing, not a word, he just held her. That was enough.

**xXx**

After how intense the 'speeches' part of the reception had gotten, everyone needed a few minutes to recover. They all also studiously kept their eyes away from the corner where the reunion between the Kurosaki family was taking place. And then as they introduced Masaki to the newest members of their family; not just Rukia, but also Byakuya and Renji to certain degrees, and then Homura and Shizuku… Masaki probably hadn't expected to become a grandmother so soon, Ichigo was just eighteen after all, had just graduated high-school and yet she couldn't deny that she loved the idea of her family growing. And it was clear that they all loved each other. She'd always regret having died, having left her loved ones behind, but she'd never regret saving her little boy's life, and to see him grown, marrying the girl he loved, making a family of his own… what else could a mother ever ask for in life (or death)?

Someone had to remind Ichigo and Rukia a few minutes after they'd (mostly) recovered, that they'd yet to have their first dance. Ichigo flushed abruptly, though Rukia dismissed it almost immediately, thinking it was probably related to his mother, or him feeling self-conscious about dancing with her in front of their family and friends. So she just took his hand and lead him to the center of the dance floor as the music began and the two began dancing slowly, a simple waltz. That was what she thought, at least, until she heard Ichigo's voice coming from the speakers…

"Despite it all, when the sun rises over everything

I'll start walking again

The days pile up, becoming memories

Building in my heart"

"Every time tomorrow comes, I see what lies ahead

As the colors dawn

It's fading, but slightly, I realize something

Should I turn around?"

"Each time the things I can't remember grow

Even if I'm standing still

The name that comes after the tears

If I could remember it, that'd be my everything

An unchangeable word from the start"

Rukia could just stare at Ichigo, if they kept dancing it was entirely on instinct because her mind had gone almost completely blank the moment she began hearing her Ichigo, her husband's voice singing that song, a song she'd never heard before, and which seemed to be speaking straight into her heart. It was almost as if the song had been created just for them… for her… Had he written her a song?! Had her Ichigo, the man who had trouble just saying 'I love you' to her written her a song that, while it never said those exact words, was a declaration of it in every possible way?

"Right now more than ever before

I feel like I can hear the voice of my heart

I hide it, I hide it, all behind my tough act

But it's becoming unnatural"

"The things I can't easily say,

The things I can't easily agree to continue

But when I look into your eyes,

If it echoes inside our hearts, that's enough

That unchangeable word from the start"

It wasn't just Rukia, but everyone that was struck speechless as realization hit them. The fact that the insane shinigami daiko, the punk… countless epithets had been used to describe the orange-haired, chocolate-eyed shinketsu shinigami in the past, most of them less than kind. Yet no one could have ever described him as romantic. And it wasn't that any of them had ever doubted that he loved the petite, raven-haired, amethyst-eyes shinigami, it was just that he wasn't the kind to make a grand production of his feelings (daring rescues aside), until that moment, that song…

"If there is distance between our hearts

It must be the fault of our self-consciousness

If we go back to the way it always was

They'll become one again"

"I blame myself for the things I can't remember

Even if I started feeling awkward

The name within that smile

If I could remember it, that'd be my everything

An unchangeable word from the start

My unchangeable word"

"Ichigo…" Rukia murmured quietly, as the song ever so slowly came to an end and they stopped dancing, she knew not what else to say.

"You're my word, Rukia…" Ichigo whispered only to her as he pressed his lips to her hair. "Always have been. Even before I knew it, before I knew you. We were always meant to be… Always and forever…"

"Always and forever…" Rukia echoed.

And their promise was sealed with a kiss.

* * *

So, what did you think?

The lyrics were in English because I didn't see the point in writing them in Japanese, and I wanted you to know what was being sung. I originally was going to have Ichigo recite one of Shakespeare's sonnets to Rukia, but that's been done time and again, I wanted something else, and then this idea came to me... Kawaranai Kotoba was the only song slow enough to have them dance to it, and the lyrics went so beautifully with the scene.

Anyone surprised with the insanity that was this chapter? I mean, I know most of you were expecting Masaki, really. But what about Kanae? And Nemu? That idea was in my head almost from the very beginning, it's one of those than endured through the years and all the changes this fic underwent. Also, I thought that if Ichigo could get his mom back, Uryuu deserved no less.

I briefly considered making this the end of the fic. It was a good way to end it, if a bit overdone. The wedding, the happiness all around... then I remembered there's one thing I've been angling for and hinting at practically since day one, I couldn't just ignore it now. So no, this isn't the end, not yet, there's a bit of an interlude coming next week, and then the last arc, which I hope you'll all enjoy. We're about to reach the final stretch!

See ya next week!


	47. Sands of Time

This is mostly a filler chapter, to be honest. Still, quite a few things happen here. If you're a fan of some of my OCs you'll hopefully like what I've done with them. A bit more worldbuilding for this verse (just some details I thought needed to be clarified). This will also serve as mostly an exit for some of the minor characters, though the final arc is still coming. I'm getting all my ducks in a row... if anyone would like, this is your last chance to guess what's coming!

The final arc begins next week!

* * *

**Chapter 47. Sands of Time **

Time passes. Whether fast or slow, is just a matter of perception. Days turn into weeks, turn into months, and into years…

Following their wedding Ichigo and Rukia spent a week in the Villabu Resort in Miyako Island. This because Ichigo had always been partial to beaches, and Rukia had always wanted to visit one. The suite included a hot-tub, a private pool, terrace, access to the resort's private beach, free breakfast, gardens, a spa, and bicycles in case they wanted to visit other local attractions. It hadn't been at all cheap, but Masaki had been good at investments and taught Isshin well. For them the clinic had been about providing a service, rather than making money.

After that Ichigo and Rukia returned a single day to Karakura before taking the train to UTokyo. With some help of research done by their nakama online while they were on their honeymoon, it hadn't been hard for them to find a modest but nice apartment near campus (both deciding it'd be preferable to the dorms), not just for them, but for Homura and Shizuku. While officially those two might have been Ichigo's siblings, he and Rukia took very seriously their role as parents, and had decided to take the two with them. If anyone found it odd that a newly-wed couple would be living with their two adopted siblings, no one ever commented on it.

As shocking as the revelation of first Kanae, and later on Masaki may have been for the Nakama, it hadn't ended there:

"_Where have you been?" Ichigo couldn't help but ask as soon as he had a chance. _

"_70__th__ District, East Rukongai." Masaki answered calmly. _

_All who'd ever been to the outer districts of Rukongai, blanched instantly. They knew how bad things were in the outlying districts, everything beyond the 50__th__ was terrible, only getting worse as the numbers went up. Rukia and Renji had personal experience, having lived in the 78__th__ of South Rukongai; same as Gin and Rangiku with the 64__th__ of North. _

"_Kaa-san…" Ichigo murmured, horrified, he might have just heard stories, but they were enough. "You have to know, you must know, if I had known…" _

"_Oh… it wasn't so bad." Masaki could guess what had them all so worry. "I got lucky." _

"_Lucky…?" Even Isshin was serious. _

"_I was found by a group of children." Masaki explained. "They told me about the good man who looked after them, protected, clothed and fed them as needed. Took me to him. He's indeed a good man. Has taken in all the orphans of the nearby districts, giving them a home, and a family. I can only imagine how hard it must have been at the beginning. Though by the time I arrived he was well established already. Everyone knows him and even the crime-bosses around respect him and keep their distance from him and his kids." _

"_Who is this good man?" Karin asked, curious, she'd never heard of someone like that, in either of her lives. _

"_I'd like to know too." Ichigo agreed. "To thank him if nothing else." _

"_His name's Oscar." Masaki explained. "De la Rosa Oscar Joaquín." _

_Silence. Every single Nakama knew that name by heart. Even Keeva, who hadn't had a chance yet to join them in one of their 'excursions', knew the name well. _

"_My abuelo…" Chad gasped in disbelief. _

"_Oh…" Masaki clearly wasn't expecting that. "You're Yasutora!" _

"_That I am, Kurosaki-san." Chad nodded. "Sado Yasutora, though my nakama call me Chad." _

"_Oh… Oscar's gonna be overjoyed when he learns I've seen you!" Masaki smiled brightly. "He's told me so much about you, and to think you're Ichigo's friend. This is wonderful!" _

"_Would you tell me more about my abuelo Kurosaki-san?" Chad requested. _

_And of course she did. She took great delight in sharing all kinds of stories, of the things she'd seen, and the things both Oscar and his kids had told her. _

Chad had even been able to visit him, had made a point to do so once a year. He never stayed long, not wanting to be a disruptive presence, but it still did him good. And Oscar was happier too, being able to see his grandson once in a while, learning what had become of his life. Even if the old man might not understand how Chad could be so involved with the Spiritual World while still alive (it had taken him a very long time to get his head around the fact that his son was dating a shinigami), Oscar had always been the kind to respect other's choices, and he was so proud of the man his grandson had become…

Masaki and Kanae obviously couldn't stay in the Human World, they were dead, after all, but that didn't mean they couldn't see their families still. Even Ryuuken had put aside his remaining animosity towards shinigami and accepted the pass Ichigo gave him, which allowed him to use the Nagaken Senkaimon to visit. While Kanae hadn't felt comfortable living in the noble Estate, and instead had chosen to settle in one of the Nagaken properties, one in the 3rd District of East Rukongai. As they were official allies of the Gotei, they were paid the same as any shinigami the bounties for the hollows they purified, and the souls they konsoed; which granted them funds to use while in Soul Society. At Ichigo's insistence the money had gone to Kanae (he and his family were nobles, and the Nagaken were quite rich), and she'd seen fit to use it to take care of a bunch of orphans, mostly of the higher districts; most who eventually became shinigami.

Masaki was already on the way to becoming a shinigami herself. It was how Byakuya's people found her, in fact. Someone had seen her name in the list of new cadets to start a few weeks later, and recognized it as the person the Kuchiki Clan Head was looking for. Masaki had been hopeful, that being a shinigami one day she might be able to go to Karakura and see what had become of her family; even if she couldn't go back to that life, she really wanted to know they were alright. She never expected to reunite with them as she did though: at her son's wedding, her son who was a Noble, who'd already taken his father's place… and he and the twins were well known in Soul Society, along with their friends: the Nakama.

"_Are you disappointed in us?" Yuzu asked hesitantly, rubbing her hands together nervously. _

"_Oh my darling!" Masaki cried out, quickly embracing her youngest. "Of course not! Did I expect to find you leading this kind of life? Fighting wars, staring death in the face more times than I ever will? Of course not! You're my children, what mother would ever wish for their children to be in danger thus? But that doesn't mean I'm disappointed in you. In the end I taught you all I could, and what choices you've made that lead you down this path, you made them following the things your father and I taught you… Ichigo is a protector, he's always been. Karin is a fighter, and you… you my darling are a caregiver. You will always care for those you love and will do anything in your power to help them. So in the end, maybe I'm not that surprised you lead the lives you do. Just promise you'll look after yourselves too. That you'll live and be happy. That's all I want." _

"_Always kaa-chan." Yuzu nodded. _

_The other two could only nod. _

Nemu took a year off (she had a lot of vacation time saved, apparently), during which Uryuu and Ryuuken trained her as a Quincy. The first female Quincy in many generations.

"_Why is it so rare?" She questioned one evening. "Being a girl Quincy, I mean." _

_She was toying with the silver quincy cross hanging from a small chain around her wrist. A gift from Ryuuken… her father, she still had trouble sometimes, referring to him like that, though at the same time she took great delight in it. The cross was an heirloom, it had belonged to Ishida Yumiko, the sister of an ancestor of theirs, who'd died young; the last Quincy woman until Nemu. As for Nemu herself, she couldn't help but play with the cross, even when not using it; not quite used to it yet; though it felt right, more than the empty asauchi Mayuri had gotten her ever had. The best part was that she could use the same purifying arrows her brother did, she'd even made a point to simply not learn to use the executing ones, she had no interest in permanently destroying anyone anyway. _

"_You remember how we told you how hard it is for Quincy to reproduce?" Ryuuken asked her in a soft voice. _

_He was kinder to her than he ever was to Uryuu, but the older brother didn't begrudge either of them that. He knew that his father had been suffering in silence for a long time. Reuniting with Kanae and meeting Nemu had given him a peace he hadn't known in many years. Uryuu had even heard comments from some of his father's colleagues, wondering if he'd met a new lady or something, as he was so changed. It made Uryuu snort, wondering what they might think if they knew how close (and how far) from the truth they were. _

"_Quincy have a lot of reiatsu, so they need to be with someone who has it as well." Nemu nodded. "It's why they'd arrange marriages in the past." _

"_Exactly." Ryuuken nodded. "Also, because we use our powers in a way that is so different from most, that makes compatibility harder. Finally… having children means bringing life into the world. Quincy powers essentially are about destroying… those two things are hardly compatible. That makes it even harder for children to be conceived. It's why I tried so hard to give up being a Quincy, I wanted to believe that if I didn't use those powers, if I didn't destroy, I'd have a better chance at having children with Kanae." He actually smiled; a small smile, but it was there. "It's also why girls were so rare. Because most girls, from birth, have in them the potential to create life; and like I said, that goal was essentially the opposite to a Quincy's power. And yet… here you are. Both of you, and with your purifying arrows… I hope you, and any future generations, might never suffer the uncertainties we did." _

After a year of intense training Nemu was ready. She was still surprised though, when she found her position still waiting for her.

"_But I'm not a shinigami!" She blurted out, shocked. "I'm a Quincy!" _

_The time spent in the human word hadn't just allowed her to learn how to be a Quincy, it had also given her the confidence she'd been lacking. To stand straighter, to speak up, to be herself. She owed a lot of it not just to her family, but to the Nakama… her nakama. _

"_So?" Kisuke shrugged. "We're all on the same side. And you're as capable of the same duties as you were before. Even more so now, if I understand correctly." He snapped his fan closed, going abruptly serious. "It's up to you, if you wish to resign on your commission. But until then, you're still my fukutaichou… you just took a really long vacation. Though, what's a year among us shinigami, really?" He waited but there was no answer, so he decided to press, just a bit. "So, what will it be Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou?" _

"_Ishida." Nemu corrected quietly, then straightened up and called in a stronger voice. "Fukutaichou Ishida Nemu reporting for duty, sir!" _

"_Welcome back, Ishida-fukutaichou." Kisuke nodded with a small smile. _

If Kisuke ever had any trouble with anyone else in the Gotei, even (especially) Yamamoto-soutaichou, he never said; and no one ever said anything to Nemu to that effect. Then again, nothing had outwardly changed, where Nemu was concerned, aside from her surname, or the Quincy cross she carried out her wrist. Most shinigami seemed more interested (and shocked) by Yachiru's changed appearance. Who, after learning that Kenpachi was well aware of the truth, had given up her childish appearance completely, instead going around in her teen-aged form all the time (though after the first week her friends of the SWA made a point of helping her get a new shihakushou, one that fit her changed body better). There were also rumors that she'd beaten up half the division when some of the new recruits dare suggest she wasn't deserving of her rank as fukutaichou, no doubts had been left afterwards; though, it was just a rumor…

After much teasing and insisting and cajoling Renji had eventually agreed to taking the position of Captain of the 9th Division. His greatest hang-up being that he wasn't sure he could order a man whom he so admired, whom he'd always called sempai (that being Hisagi).

"_Your loyalty is admirable." It was Byakuya who confronted him on the matter. "But mistaken in this instance. Hisagi-fukutaichou isn't ready to be a taichou, and he isn't likely to be in many years to come." _

_Renji understood why. Tousen's way of teaching… he'd taught Hisagi to fear his zanpakutou. Which, according to pretty much everyone else, was monumentally stupid, as that was essentially the same as fearing themselves. How could they trust their own power when they feared it? Hisagi would never reach his full potential while he saw things in that light, and it wouldn't be easy for him to change his mindset. And while Aizen might be out of the picture for the time being, he hadn't stopped being a threat. The 9__th__ couldn't wait for Hisagi to be ready. Renji and Ikkaku both had the power, though only Renji really had the mindset for it. _

"_Are you sure I can do this, taichou?" _

_Just a couple of years before Renji would have never asked such a question, would have never allowed himself to be so vulnerable before Byakuya; before a man whom he'd long seen as a rival, as an obstacle to surpass, as the one who'd taken everything (all he'd left, the last of his family, Rukia) from him. But things had changed since then: since Rukia's near-execution, and the Nakama, and everything else… _

"_I know you can Renji." Byakuya nodded. _

"_Then I'll do it." Renji agreed. _

Hisagi himself had no problem with Renji becoming his superior, more than once claiming he always knew Renji would get far one day. He'd also taken to training often with Renji, hoping to be able to learn from him how to accept his zanpakutou, and himself.

The biggest surprise was the one Byakuya got one evening. He'd had a late day at the Division, followed by an even longer and more exhausting meeting with his Clan Elders; whom had lately been trying to force their choices upon him… again.

"_Kuchiki-sama, you have a guest waiting for you in the garden." His steward informed him the moment Byakuya entered the Main House of the Kuchiki Estate. _

"_What?" Byakuya blinked. "Who let him in? And why?" _

"_She." Takahashi corrected. "And I believe Shimizu-san believed the lady to have some kind of connection with you sir, considering what she wears." _

_Byakuya had no idea what his steward could possibly be talking about. He wasn't expecting any visitors, and it had been a long day… a long month. There was all the work to be done in his Division, as he and Juno sought to ensure a smooth change in power. And then there were the Elders, who were once again pressing him to find a wife; and with Rukia publicly married to the Head of another Clan he couldn't even propose her children be his heirs anymore. He'd known the moment would come, but hadn't expected Ichigo to make his heritage known so soon. Then again, he also understood why the young man had done it; if there was one thing the two of them understood, it was doing whatever was necessary to protect their own… _

_In the end Byakuya said nothing else, just made his way towards the gardens. There he found his visitor standing beneath a plum tree, hand extended, almost touching the delicate blossoms. The first thing he noticed about her was her average height, next that she was wearing a plain off-white kimono, long enough it covered even her feet, with small flowers in various shades of purple and a dark violet obi. It was a nice design, but the fact that the garment was made of cotton rather than silk, and looked a little worn on the edges made it obvious that the clothing did not belong to a noble lady. So why then… _

_It was until then that he raised his head to look higher, about at the same time as the woman turned. The first thing that called his attention then was the long scarf she was wearing, which was actually made of silk; and not just any silk, but wind-flower silk… which probably explained why his staff thought to let her pass at all… _

_Byakuya blinked as it hit him. That wasn't just any scarf… it was his scarf! His scarf which, the last time he held it, was to place it around the hair of one who'd died but a handful of minutes later. He'd meant the gesture as both a practicality, and his way of showing he cared, in his own way… but she'd died! She vanished in his arms, almost as if she'd never existed at all! He knew her sister still mourned her and he… he had no idea! He didn't know how he felt, or perhaps it was more that he didn't want to stop and think about it, because whenever he so much as tried… how was it possible that he could mourn the loss of someone he barely knew! The girl had been little more than a stranger, he didn't know her for more than a few weeks and yet… and yet the only person he ever mourned with that kind of intensity had been Hisana! And even with her, from the very beginning his mourning had only been half about her; the other half of it had been the loss of his own ideal about love, and the perfect match. _

"_I hope my presence's not a bother." She murmured quietly. "I may have overstepped, but your staff let me in, said it'd be alright if I waited for you here. And I'd really hoped to be able to see you, talk to you at least for few minutes." She pushed a lock of her behind her ear, nervously. "To tell you something I couldn't, the last time we met." _

"_What…?" Byakuya couldn't believe his voice was failing him and yet… she was dead! She'd died in his arms! And not just died, she'd vanished entirely! "What did you wish to say?" _

"_Thank you…" _

_As she spoke she stepped forward, out of the shade of the tree; there was no moon, but the sky was clear and the stars were shining bright. Enough for Byakuya to take her in fully: her porcelain skin which no longer looked sickly, but instead just delicate; her hair was still ashen, combining all shades from the darkest black to a gray so light it was almost white, except for a single bright red lock which she'd braided and hung in front of her right ear. There was meat in her bones (she was still slim, but no longer looked like skin and bones) and a healthy flush on her cheeks; and her eyes… her light-gray eyes that shone as if they held the very light of the stars. _

"_Seren…" Byakuya breathed out. _

_His emotions hit her almost before his own voice did. He didn't move a muscle, and neither his face nor his reiatsu betray anything at all… but she didn't need any of that to know what others were feeling, she never had… _

"_Oh Byakuya-dono…" She murmured, voice so very, very soft. _

_She crossed the garden in slow, short steps, Byakuya half-absently noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes, only strips of cloth wound around her feet and ankles. Just where had she come from exactly? And how long since she'd arrived to Soul Society? _

_Seren reached him after a few seconds, standing just close enough to touch if he so wished, she raised a hand, placing it so close to his face he could feel the warmth of her skin… though she didn't close the gap, not until he did, taking her hand and placing it against his cheek without even stopping to think about it. _

"_I'm here…" She whispered, so very, very softly. _

"_How…?" Was all the managed to ask. _

"_You." She answered simply. "You saved me Byakuya-dono…" _

They were interrupted eventually as a servant announced dinner had been served, and Byakuya insisted that Seren stay for it. She agreed. They didn't say a word through most of it, or as tea was served, until eventually Byakuya stared at her and asked the questions burning inside him: Why had it taken her so long? Was she alright? How long had she been in Soul Society? Where had she first appeared? Why hadn't she looked him up before? Had something gone wrong? Had he done something wrong? Was there something else he could have done to help her and failed to? What had happened to her after she disappeared?! In the end though, he only voiced one question out-loud:

"_Have you been well?" _

"_In a manner of speaking." She nodded evenly. "Though I suppose I must clarify. I've only truly been myself for the last month or so." _

"_Only been…" He was at a loss as to how to take that. _

"_You're aware of the curse of the Réalta." It wasn't a question she'd explained it to him. _

"_Your own power kills you." He summarized. _

"_Correct." She nodded, a bit stiffly. "There are two lines of belief in this: There are those that think that the Mother from the start gave us powers too great to truly control, because gods are fickle and like to see us humans have trouble. But most think that it was us that made things like this. We were given simple powers, just enough to protect ourselves, but we pushed. We pushed our power and ourselves, past our limits, time and time again… until we became what we are now. So powerful… and so fragile. Réalta Iarann will become stronger… until that strength turns against them. Keeva… if she continues down her current path, the day will come when she'll pass he limits, her power will turn on her, and her body will fail her. She's gotten a taste of it already, injuring herself in a fight. If she continues as she has… one day she will bring herself down, along with her enemy." _

_Just like she had. _

"_But you're not a Iarann." Byakuya reminded her. _

"_No, I'm a Réalta Criostal." Seren nodded. "That means that my power is in the mind." She exhaled. "You know, my mother's family has a history of dementia and schizophrenia, and of medication not working right. Truth is, not a single one of us have ever been crazy… or at least not in the clinical sense. The reality of it is that green and blue are the most common colors in our line, that means empathy and precognition. What do you think happens when a woman loses control of what she sees? When she stops being able to distinguish reality from her visions? When she feels so many emotions, not realizing they're not her own?" _

"_Others come to believe her crazy." _

"_Until eventually she comes to truly be thus. My great-grandmother… she was the best Seer of her generation. She and her family lived in the north of Mexico when she was young, during the time of the Mexican Revolution… she used her powers to keep her family, and when possible her town, safe. She did much, too much… by the time she turned thirty she had trouble staying in the present, and shortly afterwards she had trouble distinguishing between past, present and future. The family understood, of course, and her children all did the best they could to watch over her. She had two sons and a daughter. Funny thing that, her daughter had no children, she was so devoted to caring for her mother, she never had time for herself, and I think she might not have wanted to have them, fearing to ever become her mother, it's also why she limited the use of her powers greatly. Her sons had no active powers, then again, no males ever do; but they carried the gene. I'm descended from the youngest, Deirfiúr from the eldest." _

_Deirfiúr, Byakuya had heard all about her, the cousin that later become a sister, though Seren never said her name. He understood grief well though, and didn't insist. _

"_I always knew I'd lose my mind." Seren continued, more quietly. "Nana Carmen did, and she only played with one color of the rainbow. How could I not? When I'd chosen to become the whole rainbow myself?" She shook her head. "To be honest, I never expected to die, and yet continue existing, somehow." She looked straight at Byakuya. "What you said to me that day… you saved me Byakuya-sama. I will never be able to thank you enough for that." _

"_How long…?" He began, before trailing of, not sure of the best way to phrase it. _

"_I don't know." She admitted. "I don't even know how long it's been since that day. You know, of course, that time isn't measured the same way here in Soul Society. In the Outer Districts of Rukongai they don't seem to care at all for it." _

"_Is that where you were?" _

"_Yes. Not sure which one I first appeared in, or how long it took me to actually… be, again. I have a sense that I just, wandered, without a proper form or consciousness for a while. Like I was in a sort of limbo. There, and not, at the same time. But eventually I was… real, again. I have no memory of those days because, like I said, I wasn't really myself. I've been told that I didn't speak, that it was like I didn't know how to. They took me to a good man, Oscar-san, who watched over me. He's a good man, he cared for me when I couldn't care for myself. And ever so slowly… it was like my mind pieced itself together, a bit at a time. I remembered how to think, how to talk… eventually I remembered my name, and most of my past." _

"_Most?" _

"_Even back in the World of the Living I'd already been in decline. It wasn't just my poor health, no, that was just the most obvious outward sign. I was also slowly losing my mind. I'd forget things: like the date, or the time for an appointment. There at the end I began having trouble recalling my sister… Rachel's, not Keeva's, face…" She exhaled. "Some things came back as I recovered here, some didn't. I remember my mother, what she felt like, what she sounded like, I remember the sadness in her eyes the day we said goodbye, at the airport…" _

_Byakuya himself could remember what the woman had told him, how she'd known that was the last time she'd see her daughter… _

"_I don't remember my father's face. I only remember he was kind. He worked a lot, and couldn't be home too often, but he was kind, accepting of my differences, even if he couldn't always understand them. He was supportive of my trip to Japan, even if he'd no idea why I wanted to move so far away… and all I remember of Rachel are her eyes, hard, indifferent, and that she never understood me." She shook her head. "She wasn't a Réalta… I suppose Mama must have been happy about that." _

"_Your mother knew." Byakuya stated serenely. "She knew you, and accepted you. And while she might have grieved you after your death, she respected your choices." _

_Seren stared at him, shock written all over her face. _

"_I accompanied your cousin to the World of the Living, to deliver the news and present our respects to your mother." Byakuya explained. "We were given special permission by Yamamoto-soutaichou to do this. Though she knew of your passing already, as Castelo-san had told her. She also sent her a sculpture you wanted her to have." _

_Byakuya remembered something else then. Castelo Marie… she hadn't said she knew she'd never see her daughter again, but that she'd never see her again in that life. That difference seemed significant, all of a sudden. She'd also said that there couldn't be goodbyes with family, and that they'd meet again… she'd told them to have faith, because she did… Had she known? Had she known her daughter would find her way to Soul Society somehow? Was such a thing even possible?! _

"_Was your mother a Réalta?" _

_The question took Seren completely by surprise, who'd to stop and ponder on it for a moment. _

"_I think she might have been." She conceded after a while. "She never got involved into things as much as Deirfiúr and I did, she wasn't interested but… but she knew about Réalta and she… she had this way of just… knowing things. I was convinced she must have some degree of precognition most of the time. She'd always say it was just her gift as a mother but…" _

_Yes, but. Byakuya had thought her to be just a human, the time he met her, he'd sensed no reiatsu coming from her. But then again, Castelo Keeva gave away no reiatsu, her power could only be felt through direct touch, because her power lay underneath her skin. And if Réalta Criostal held their power in their minds… _

"_Wait a second, just a moment ago, you said… you said my cousin…" Seren's eyes kept growing wider and wider as she considered the implications. "Yailen's here?!" _

Byakuya convinced her to stay the night in one of the guest-rooms, before taking her to the Nagaken Estate the following morning, where a most heartfelt reunion took place between the two young Réalta. Yailen crying like crazy, holding onto Seren like her life depended on it. Seren wasn't so demonstrative, but the way her knuckles whitened as she embraced her cousin/sister back said enough.

Ichigo offered her a home in the Nagaken Estate, to which Byakuya intervened, saying she had one already in the Kuchiki Estate. No one mentioned the fact that she'd barely stayed there a night, or that they'd never talked about it. Seren just followed his lead and agreed with a smile, promising to drop by for a visit soon. And thus Seren became a permanent guest at the Kuchiki Manor. She knew that made people curious, especially since she was still wearing Byakuya's old scarf on her hair, almost like a narrower version of her old veil; but she didn't allow the attention to bother her. She tried to give it back, but he insisted she keep it as a gift; he'd grown used to going without it, and had even taken to wearing a modified haori with a high collar recently.

Byakuya surprised her a week later with a special pass to the World of the Living. Since Keeva was already well aware of Soul Society and was a Nakama, the two were being allowed to reconnect. As long as they understood that Seren wouldn't be returning to the living. She could not even stay there for long, as they didn't know how her spirit might react. It was so rare for a Réalta to make it to Soul Society… and a Síoraí never had.

"_Sere…" Keeva was crying before she even realized it. "Sere!" _

_She threw herself so hard at Seren they both almost ended sprawled on the ground, and yet the older girl didn't care at all, she held Keeva back just as tightly, tighter than she had Yailen, whispering into her ear all her love, reassurances of her well-being. _

_It had been a while since her death, over a year, in fact. She was glad to see that even if Keeva clearly was still mourning her, she wasn't alone, the Nakama had made sure of that. _

"_I think it's time, my darling." Seren murmured after a while, an arm still around Keeva. _

"_Time?" Keeva stared at her, curious. _

"_Time for you to be yourself, your real self." Seren explained. _

_She raised a hand, pulling off Keeva's white hairband, before running her fingers several time through the still very short hair. It was beginning to grow and show its natural curls, but it was clear Keeva was still hiding. No more. _

_Byakuya and the Nakama bore silent witness as, with every motion of her fingers, the black seemed to slip off Keeva's hair, revealing red, brighter than even Orihime's had once been. _

"_I know in the past people have made you ashamed of your natural hair color." Seren told her gently. "But those people don't matter anymore. These people. the ones in the room with us right now, they're the ones that matter, and they will never look down on you for something as simple as the color of your hair… besides, I've always believed it's a rather lovely shade." _

"_Of course it is." Uryuu was the first to agree. "Like all of her." _

Keeva had gone back to using her hairband, but she hadn't dyed her hair again, and even allowed it to grow a bit, though no more than brushing her neck, she didn't want it to get in the way when she had to fight after all.

Seren wasn't sure when exactly she'd gone from the Kuchiki guest, to Byakuya's friend, to his intended… it was something that just kind of happened. One day, a year almost to the day after their reunion they were standing in the garden, under the blooming plum and cherry trees. She was wearing an ivory silk kimono with a pattern of lavender on the lower half and a dark purple obi; while he wore a midnight blue one, both of them side by side… when she remembered Yailen's words, seemingly so long ago…

"_I saw you." The older girl had declared. "In a beautiful garden, flowers fully in bloom, standing before a very handsome man dressed in midnight blue, his hair is the darkest black, like onyx, his eyes a perfect blend of blue and gray. He's a gentleman, a protector, a warrior… you will learn all this, and more, with time…"_

When the moment came and he offered her his hand, she just smiled and said yes. It would seem she was meant to find love after all… and it was as perfect as she always dreamed.

**xXx**

Ichigo and Rukia finished college, got their Master Degrees, and then returned to Karakura, where Ichigo began working as the school counselor in the very high-school he'd graduated from, while Rukia wrote a column for a magazine and gave classes at the Shin'ou Academy twice a week. It was something the Soutaichou had decided should be offered as an elective, so those shinigami who wanted to do missions in the Human World were better prepared for it. Rukia had learned a lot in her years in Karakura and Tokyo, and understood how shocking even the most simple of things could be for a shinigami, especially someone who'd either been born in the Soul Society, didn't remember their human life, or had simply died so long ago that the world was completely different from what they might remember.

Homura and Shizuku had gone through middle-school and high-school while in Tokyo, and while they hadn't decided if they wanted to actually go to college, they planned to take a few classes and find a job in the meantime.

Ryuuken died unexpectedly a year after Ichigo and Rukia's return to Karakura. It wasn't anything spiritual related. He'd been on a train bound to Shibuya for a medical conference when a big earthquake hit. It was bad enough that several shinigami squads were working overtime, trying to handle all the souls needing konso before they turned into hollows, as well as all the hollows that the sudden surplus of souls in certain parts of Asia were causing. It took hours for a team to be sent to the outskirts of Shibuya, mainly because of all the areas where the 12th Division reported trouble, that wasn't one of them.

It was Nemu who found her father inside a cave, along with all the other spirits of those who'd been on the train, he was blocking the entrance with one of his Quincy techniques, which was why they weren't having trouble. He knew he was dead (not the least because he could see the broken chain in his own chest), but it didn't bother him. He knew his son had his future assured, and being dead meant he'd have the chance to spend more time with his wife and daughter, so what was there to regret?

Uryuu sold the hospital to his father's colleagues (on Ryuuken's advice), investing the money for the future. He was a famous designer, working purely by commission, creating unique pieces, mostly dresses and formal kimono. His very first piece, the one in his portfolio that kept calling attention even years later being the wedding kimono he'd made for Rukia. He still lived in the penthouse he'd once shared with his father, though he wasn't alone… Keeva was with him.

Neither of them knew when it began, or how. They just started sort of drifting together. They'd train together, Uryuu helped her with her studies as Keeva wasn't very good at the sciences. Then the rent went up and it became near impossible for Keeva to keep her apartment. It was supposed to be a temporary measure, her staying with him, but after a few months they were so comfortable that he just told her to finish unpacking and stay.

During the first few years Uryuu had made clothes mostly for his friends, and their friends. But once he was done with his chosen classes and began trying to make a name for himself… he was told he needed to have a portfolio, even if his objective was to create custom-made pieces, his prospective clients needed to know what he could do. And aside from the pictures he had of Rukia in the wedding dress, he never cared for such things. Also, most of the others didn't want pictures of them to be used thus. Keeva agreed (according to her, it wasn't like she'd anything better to do, and she wasn't shy at all so…). She tried on all sorts of clothes made by Uryuu. Mizuiro did the photographing. And it was a hit. The clothes were beautiful, and so was the model; with her short bright red curls and gray eyes, she was considered exotic in Asia. Other designers and companies got in touch, wanting her to model for them, but as she saw it as doing a favor to her boyfriend, rather than a job, she refused.

Mizuiro managed to find the place where he shone, thanks to them. What began as a favor eventually became his chosen profession when he realized that he was good at it. He could take photographs of places, but mostly of people, and they liked them (it didn't hurt that in the process he got to meet all sorts of people, women, and they liked him too…).

Keeva herself, while she would model Uryuu's designs for his portfolio, she actually worked as a police officer. It was what she liked to do, and how she felt she was most useful. Uryuu was very proud of her and told her so repeatedly… especially the day he asked her to marry him…

Keigo had lazed about at home for a few months before his sister ordered him to find a job. He was never any good at the academics, but he was observant when he really applied himself, and he was a decent fighter when no special powers were involved. So in the end he took a job as a guard with a private security company. It was a good job, and it allowed him to get into many places, and report to the other Nakama whenever he saw anything suspicious.

Chizuru worked as an operator at the 119 offices (Japan's version of the 911). It was a good job, with good hours and a decent salary, and whenever she picked up on something suspicious she'd text her nakama about it.

Chad hit the road with his band and they had a few good years, getting to see many cities in Japan, and even a few in China, Taiwan and South Korea during their tour, until eventually some of the other members decided it was time to settle down. So Chad, like all other Nakama, chose to return to Karakura. There he took to working in the local music study, helping new bands who were still waiting for their own big chance. He also played the guitar at a local coffee shop sometimes. He and Isane were still together, though in no hurry to do more than date and visit each other on their days off. They had no plans on starting a family any time soon, probably not before Chad joined her in Soul Society, they weren't in any rush.

Tatsuki went to many different tournaments, becoming known as the strongest woman in Japan, and the second best in Asia (she came close to winning that too, until she realized she was beginning to use reiatsu, and that wouldn't have been fair to her opponent). When her old master retired he offered her his dojo, as he was moving to the country, she accepted. It was convenient, as the dojo had an apartment above, so she got a home as well. Renji visited whenever he could, which regretfully wasn't as often since taking captainship of the 9th, and they even went as far as marrying (with a fake identity Kisuke set up). They were happy. Tatsuki sometimes considered just giving up on a human life at all, and she knew she might end up doing it someday, especially if she ever became pregnant; because while she might be willing to do a long-distance marriage, she knew there was no way a family would work like that. And it wasn't like she didn't know what awaited her on the other side anyway.

After finishing high-school Karin went on to play football professionally, participating in two international championships, before a bad leg injury cut her career short. Her sister was able to heal her in no time, but the injury had been bad, and during a big game… Karin knew she couldn't just go back. Too many questions would have been asked. So she retired and began coaching other teams, eventually drifting back home and doing that for the local amateur team. It was the kind of job where they'd have never been able to afford her, if she'd insisted on being paid what she was worth (even though her career was relatively short, she'd been quite well known, still was), but she wasn't doing the coaching for the money. She had enough of that, thankfully. So she coached young teens and helped Yuzu out when necessary. She and Toushirou were still going strong, even if each of them lived in different worlds.

Yuzu for her part, like with Ichigo, Ryuuken had advised her against becoming a nurse. While Yuzu might have a knack for it, it'd have broken her heart in the long run, seeing so many sick people, especially children, and not being able to interfere (and she really couldn't have, it would have drawn too much attention). So in the end she went to culinary school instead. She was awesome at it, and when Isshin decided it was time to retire (it was beginning to become a bit too obvious that he wasn't aging properly), they closed the clinic and turned that area into a bakery where Yuzu could sell cakes, muffins, cookies and everything else she could think of. It was so good that in a very short time she was getting clients not only from Karakura, but even the nearby towns, and people kept asking if she had delivery service, until Homura and Shizuku offered to handle that part for her, making the Kurosaki Bakery truly a family business.

Despite retiring Isshin didn't leave the Human World entirely, he'd promised Masaki not to for as long as at least one of their children had a life there. He had no doubt the day would come when they chose to move on. Ichigo and Rukia were already married, and while it might not be so obvious yet, they weren't aging properly either, it'd become noticeable eventually, perhaps in a decade more or so. Karin was in a committed relationship, and Isshin knew that while coaching kids and teenagers might be fun for her for the time being, one day it wouldn't be enough. Even Yuzu, while she was the only one with no real ties to the spiritual world (her own relationship with a certain shinigami seemed to have fallen through at some point), Isshin knew that the day both of her siblings chose to leave for Soul Society permanently, she'd follow. As would he.

Orihime and Ulquiorra were doing well in Soul Society, they married shortly after arriving, and a couple of years later Orihime gave birth to a little girl with dark auburn hair and the greenest eyes anyone had seen; she was named Amaya. Nagaken Amaya, the first Nagaken child (even if she came from parents adopted into the clan) to be born in many years (they didn't count Ichigo and the twins as they hadn't been Nagaken at the time of their birth). Grimmjow, Tatsuki and Sui-Feng shared godparent duties… which made things quite interesting at times.

After her conversation with Tatsuki Sui-Feng truly made an effort with them all, not just in connecting with her once princess and sister again, but even with her old lover… there were days when she and Grimmjow would spar together, when he'd help her drill her division, or even on missions… and others when he'd do or say something that had her going after him with near-murderous intent. It was strange, and most of Seireitei didn't really understand it, but most chose to just stay out of it. Yoruichi for her part found it extremely hilarious; and she was happy that Shaolin was finally allowing herself to be happy.

Masaki graduated from the Shin'ou Academy in three years. Not exactly a record, but still quite remarkable. She had several offers from a number of Divisions, especially from the 4th, as it was known that she had experience as a healer, and was a kidou specialist, her zanpakutou Himiko took the form of an asuzayumi, or an ancient miko bow (which caused a bit of a stir, with some wondering if she might be a quincy, even though she bore none of their crosses, and Himiko was a zanpakutou that took the form of a small tanto when sealed). In the end Masaki might have been the daughter of a doctor, and the wife of another, and she might have a nurturing nature, but she wasn't a doctor herself, and had no intention of being one. She chose the 13th Division because she liked Juushirou, and her instincts told her she'd be of most use there. Also, because it was the Division that had the most communication with Seireitei's allies in the Human World (the Nakama and the Visored; the Fullbringers' liaison being of the 10th).

Six years after that, Juushirou called her into his office:

"I'm afraid I've done you a disservice, Masaki-san."

As opening lines went, that was certainly not one Masaki had heard before, or one she ever expected to hear. 'Masaki-san', that was what everyone called her, either to differentiate her from her children (even though most of them answered to the compound name of Nagaken-Kurosaki nowadays), or simply because they saw her as friendly and easily approachable. It wasn't that they didn't know she was technically a noblewoman, if only by marriage, the wife of a previous Nagaken Clan Head; never mind how that ended, ever since the revelation of Ichigo's heritage everyone knew the truth of his parentage, and Isshin's whereabouts. The Gotei did nothing about it, writing it off as a noble-matter, and thus none of their business; the Nagaken only cared about the fact that they had a Clan Head again (and a Lady, with Rukia, and several new and quite powerful members thanks to recent adoptions); the Kuchiki only cared in that, thanks to Rukia having been a Kuchiki they could claim a connection with the most powerful Clan in the Soul Society (and even with their still limited numbers, no one doubted that they were, indeed, the most powerful); and the rest just didn't care at all, or at least they pretended not to.

"Taichou?" Masaki didn't understand what made her captain believed he'd done her a disservice.

"You're an incredibly gifted shinigami, Masaki-san." Juushirou elaborated. "I'm sure we both know you're wasted as a 15th seat, even if that was the best I could offer you at your graduation. I'm aware you got better offers from Retsu-san at the 4th, and Hitsugaya-san at the 10th."

"I am where I want to be taichou." Masaki answered calmly, and she truly believed that.

"True as that may be, it doesn't change this old man's wrongs." Juushirou shook his head. "In an attempt not to commit the same mistakes I may have in the past… I may have still made the very same mistake, just in an entirely different way this time."

"I'm afraid I don't understand, taichou." Masaki murmured.

Her greatest achievement, which she'd had while in her last year at the Academy, was finding a way to mix human medicine and shinigami healing techniques, something no one had been capable of before, and which was believed to be impossible; as human medicines were meant for the body, and they were spirits. But Masaki proved them wrong. It was why Unohana had been so insistent in Masaki joining her squad, going as far as offering her her recently vacated 3rd Seat (the officer in question choosing to retire when realizing he'd never reach a higher position in that squad, and he didn't have the right disposition for any other). But Masaki, as proud as she was of her accomplishment, didn't want to be a healer all the time (and had no interest in scientist work, though Kisuke had offered her a place in his Squad as well).

Juushirou had been the first shinigami to benefit from the results of Masaki's experimenting (and Unohana applying the knowledge gained, to the white-haired captain's specific ailment); and while he'd always have a somewhat delicate constitution, as a result of all the years he'd spent sick, he hadn't had an episode in more than two years (Shunsui and Nanao both were absolutely grateful for that as well).

"Some years ago I met another very gifted young shinigami." Juushirou elaborated. "He'd such potential that almost from the moment I met him I knew he was the kind of man I wanted to take over the 13th one day. I managed to convince him to take the position of my lieutenant, after only five years, even though he believed he might not be ready, that it might be too soon… I believed in him. I believed in a future with him as my successor… a few years later I bore witness to the tragedy that was his death. A tragedy that forever marked both myself, and Rukia-san… You remind me so much of Kaien, Masaki-san…" He closed his eyes tight, briefly. "I know most people are reminded of him most when looking at your son. Their similarities are shocking. Which I suppose should come as no surprise when one takes into account that Isshin-san's mother was a Shiba." He shook his head, that wasn't important. "I was shocked the first time I saw Ichigo-san… but it's you that reminds me most of him. In your skill, your potential, in your kindness, your willingness to be there for everyone… for me. It's those similarities that have kept me from giving you what you truly deserve, Masaki-san." He exhaled. "I thought I was doing right. I've always feared I may have pushed Kaien too hard, too soon. Should have listened to him more, when he was uncertain about taking the position as my fukutaichou… I failed to listen to him back then. But, as has been pointed out to me recently, what I'm doing with you is, in some way, exactly the same thing. Because by not even acknowledging your potential, I'm not even giving you a chance to make an informed choice at all."

"Taichou…" Masaki murmured quietly.

She thought she knew where he was heading with that very convoluted speech, but she couldn't be completely certain… and then the captain pulled his hands up from where he'd been keeping them, hidden beneath his desk; in them he held a white band with a wooden plaque that had the insignia of the 13th Division carved in it… the fukutaichou armband.

"This is what I believe you deserve, Masaki-san." He explained, placing the armband on the table between them. "I think you have the power, the skill and the mentality to be the second in command of this Division. But I'm not going to ask you to take it, because I don't want to make you feel like you have to take it. Like you owe me, or anyone else, anything at all. It is an offering, and it will stay that way. The choice will always be yours."

Masaki thought she understood, she also thought Juushirou was wrong.

"I will be honored, to take this, taichou." Masaki bowed her head, as she took the band. "But I think you're wrong. If Shiba Kaien was anything like Isshin, or like Ichigo, there's no way he'd have ever done anything he didn't want to. And that includes both taking this armband and all it implies, and going into a fight he probably knew he might not be able to walk away from. Our Clans do not breed foolish men. So I will take this armband, and the rank it represents, in the same way I'm sure my predecessor did, and hope to be able to do you, and our Division, proud."

With that said she stood, in a few quick, swift moves arranging the band around her arm, before before bowing deeply and turning to leave the room. She had to finish her current paperwork, vacate her old quarters, see what state her new ones were in…

"Masaki-san…" Juushirou whispered, mostly to himself, as he watched her go.

"You're right, she's a lot like him indeed."

The white-haired captain wasn't even surprised to find Shunsui suddenly there.

"Won't Nanao be looking for you?" Was all he asked.

"She knows where I am." Shunsui nodded. "We were both worried about you."

"I'm alright." Juushirou assured him.

"Yes, you are." Shunsui agreed, stealing a kiss.

It wasn't a too well-known fact, but the usually boisterous, carefree (and at times drunk) captain of the 8th Division could be serious when he thought it necessary. He'd liked Kurosaki-Nagaken Masaki almost from the moment he met her, and it wasn't only for her connection to Ichigo, a man whom he respected, or Isshin, his old friend; not even for what she'd done that had helped heal the man he loved most, and ensuring he and Nanao wouldn't lose him before their time; he respected her because she was a good woman, with a good head on her shoulders, who honestly wanted to help people. And she had, so many times, in many different ways. What she'd just done… it wasn't just accepting the lieutenant position, which would help lighten Juushirou's load, and improve things in the Division and the Gotei in general, but what she'd said to Juushirou. It wasn't anything new, nothing he hadn't heard before, but for the first time the look in his lover's eyes told Shunsui that the words might have truly reached him. Perhaps one day soon he'd finally stop blaming himself for Kaien's death…

**xXx**

"You may kiss the bride."

There was considerable cheering as Uryuu bent his head to kiss his appropriately blushing bride following those words. Unlike Ichigo's and Rukia's wedding (either of them), or Orihime's and Ulquiorra's, both which had been traditional shinto ceremonies, Uryuu and Keeva had a more western-style one. This because, while the Ishidas might have been living in Japan for several generations, they still held onto their German roots in some ways, including their marriages.

Theirs was a small affair, with Ichigo and Seren serving as their wedding witnesses and only their nakama and families in attendance. Masaki, Kanae, Ryuuken and Nemu were all present; the former three in special gigai that changed their appearance slightly, and under assumed identities that allowed them to pass as their children's aunt/uncle from another country. Seren and Yailen were in such gigai as well, though with them it was even easier, as everyone knew that Keeva had family in the US, but had never seen them; it wasn't even a problem for Seren to claim to be her sister (the chances of anyone ever meeting Rachel were practically nil).

The party began winding down around midnight, when someone, probably Keigo, insisted that they open the wedding presents. Keeva agreed with a giggle as she took a sip from her glass.

"Are you drunk?" Ichigo asked, as he'd never heard her giggle before.

"Not at all." Keeva assured him, letting him smell the contents of her glass. "It's sparkling juice. The wine didn't agree with me earlier, and I've never been much of a fan of it anyway, so…"

Most gifts were simple things: trinkets and other small things with sentimental value, though a few stood out: there was Isshin's gift: a week in the same resort in Okinawa where Ichigo and Rukia had spent their honeymoon. Nemu's was particularly shocking, as while at first sight it looked simply like a stamp, the design was very particular in that it had the kanji for Nakama, surrounded by miniature representations of each of them.

"What's this?" Keeva asked, curious.

"It's a special stamp." Nemu explained. "When reiatsu is channeled through it properly it will create a sort-of tattoo on the person to receive it."

"Well, as cool as that image looks, I have a feeling there must be more about this tattoo." Keeva commented with a small grin.

"There is." Nemu nodded, taking a deep breath before explaining. "It's long been acknowledged that when a person dies, the soul must be konsoed in order to move on into Soul Society. That purifies the spirit of its human life, before sending them into the spiritual world, somewhere in Rukongai. Aside from the complications of having no idea where any given spirit might end up, I know there's one other thing that has bothered many of those present here: the possibility of forgetting your human lives. It's why Orihime-san's presence was requested the day Otou-san died. So she might use her powers on him like she did in herself. But what happens when Orihime-san cannot be there? Or when someone else, a shinigami who for some reason doesn't recognize one of you, finds your spirit and gives you konso? Or worse even, if there were to be some kind of emergency and you cannot wait for her to arrive…" She took a deep breath before she lost it, she'd been so worried… about the possibility of losing her family, the family that took her so long to find… "So I created this. The tattoo will not form in your physical body but your spiritual one. When you die, all you need to do is send some reiatsu into it, and it will activate. Also, if you're found by some unknown shinigami and he does konso on you, that will make the tattoo react too. It carries a very special kidou that will protect your memories when you go through the dimensions. Also, while I couldn't devise a way to control where you arrive, it also has a homing beacon through which I will be able to find you. That way we'll be able to send someone to wherever you might appear and get you home as quick as possible and…"

She didn't get the chance to say anything else as Uryuu was suddenly hugging her tight. While he'd never admit to it out-loud, it was indeed something that had worried him in the past. That something might happen, that he, or Keeva, any other of his nakama might die, and they might not be able to find one another. While finding Seren in Soul Society had been a blessing, letting them know that Réalta could go to Soul Society, if they just let go of their human lives before their powers fully destroyed them (something that was reinforced when, at some point, Skye Kotori revealed she herself was a former Réalta). The possibility of getting lost in Rukongai, of forgetting their loved ones before finding them again, had been a daunting one; until his sister solved the problem with her invention.

Before the end of the night all still living among the Nakama had used the stamp on themselves. Thanking Nemu profusely for her gift.

The last gift, surprisingly, was a joint one from Ryuuken and Seren. It was a thin necklace of what looked like silver, delicate looking but strong, and from it hung a small, round medallion, made of onyx, that on one side had the Quincy cross inlaid in bright blue, and on the other the Réalta star in sparkling silver.

"It's beautiful but… why?" Keeva asked, curious.

None of the dead had given them any gifts, as all they could have had to give had already been delivered as part of the inheritance. Even the cross of the Master Quincy. It had been recovered by a shinigami at Ryuuken's request from his body, and he'd handed it personally to his son before crossing over into Soul Society. Seren herself had left almost everything to Keeva (except for the bequests she'd left for Byakuya, and the figurine for her mother) upon her own death. The medallion was unexpected. Especially as it reminded them both of Seren's Réalta pendant (which Byakuya had returned to her days after their reunion, and she'd gone back to wearing around her neck, this time openly, the scarf around her long hair and down her back.

"Consider it an early present of sorts, sis." Seren stated with a small smile, before throwing her arms around her little sister and whispering in her ear. "Congratulations mummy…"

Keeva swayed sharply the moment Seren let go of her, Uryuu reacting instinctively to catch her before she collapsed, right as her legs folded beneath her.

"What…?!" He stopped short of accusing anyone, knowing there was no way Seren would ever so much as think about hurting Keeva

He was at a loss as to what was going on, they all were, until they saw where Keeva's hands had strayed to: her stomach. It was still flat beneath her simple but elegant wedding dress (the one Uryuu had not designed, for once, in order to keep with the tradition of the groom not seeing it) and yet those with the sharpest spiritual senses could suddenly feel it. It had been there at the back of their minds for some of them, they just hadn't known what it was until then…

"You're pregnant…" Uryuu gasped in disbelief.

"I'm pregnant…" Keeva mumbled a moment later in confirmation.

After so long believing, fearing, that the day would never come, that she'd never have a family of her own… she was a wife, and in a few months she'd be a mummy…

The party came to an end almost immediately afterwards, Keeva and Uryuu were still lost in the news of their future parenthood, and they had a flight to catch in the morning to Okinawa. Nemu opened a Senkaimon for those bound to Soul Society, while the rest decided to walk home. It's not like they lived that far away, any of them, and even if it was past midnight, they had none ever been the kind to fear the dark.

Most had split several streets back, leaving just Ichigo, Rukia, Homura, Shizuku, Karin, Yuzu and Isshin, when there was something, like some kind of shift in the night air, Ichigo, Rukia and Karin froze first, the rest stopping a couple of steps later.

"Is everything okay?" Yuzu asked, curious.

*Can't you taste it Yuzu-san?* Muramasa asked quietly inside her Inner World. *The sudden tension in the air?*

She couldn't, not like she suspected her siblings and Rukia could. Then again, they'd always been more powerful than her, it was something she'd come to accept a long time ago.

*Not stronger just… a different kind of strength.* Muramasa qualified.

"You feel it, don't you?" Ichigo asked his wife and sister, though he knew the answer already.

"Ichigo? Rukia? Karin?" Isshin questioned, confused.

"There's a storm coming." Karin murmured, eyes lost in the horizon, as if seeing something no one else could. "It's gonna be big… and it's gonna be bad…"

"We'll be ready for it." Ichigo stated, in a tone that admitted no contradiction.

It was insane to even think about making such assurances and yet, what other option was there?

**xXx**

In another place, another plane of existence, blood was slowly but surely staining the usually pure white sands… the blood wasn't red, but that should have been expected, as the individual slowly but surely bleeding out wasn't human.

"This is how it must be Nel-chan…" He murmured.

"Are you sure about this?" The green-haired statuesque female before her questioned.

"Just look at me," he signaled to his heavily injured body, the useless arm hanging beside him. "I'm no use to you like this. I was never a fighter, not as a human, and not as a hollow, but now… now I'm a liability to you."

"No, you…" She tried to deny it, but deep down she knew he was right.

"I am." He cut her off. "But it's more than that. If it were just a matter of fighting to the bitter end I'd do it. But I do believe I can be of more use this way. If I can make it to the Other Side in time I may be able to give them a warning. Then, maybe they'll be ready before He arrives…"

"You're asking me to kill you."

"I'm asking you to free me. I know it's a lot to ask of you, and if there were anyone else…"

"No, I… I'll do it. You're putting a lot of trust in something we don't even know will work."

"I believe." He said simply, because in the end, what else could he do?

Inhaling deeply, Nel drew her zanpakutou, raising it and pointing it straight at the male before her. Who smiled at her.

"Goodbye Nel-chan…" He whispered softly the instant before the zanpakutou pierced him.

She watched his body slowly turn into reishi particles, raising into the empty sky, closing her eyes as they disappeared completely, two words crossing her lips in the softest whisper:

"Goodbye, Sora-kun…"


	48. Declaration of War

People seem to have liked my filler, I'm glad! I'm also very glad most of you seem to like, or at the very least tolerate, my OCs. I've said it before, and I'll do so again, I had so many plans for some of them, especially when the Thousand Year War Arc began... As has been implied, at least to a point, the Réalta were going to be revealed as being the natural matches for the Quincy. The best option for them to marry, though no such matches had existed since the War, when most of both their races were presumed dead, but while the loss of most Quincies was due to the shinigami (except for those who went with Ywach), the loss of most Réalta was in fact because of Ywach. Because when they tried to not get involved in the war, he enslaved them. It was all going to be revealed with Keeva's story, as it's been implied, her real-name is Caoimhe (which, while written diferently, is pronounced much the same, from what I've learned). She's meant to be the daughter of one of the last pure lines (in comparison to Yailen and Seren, who are descended from impure lines, whose ancestors fled to America during the witch-hunts). It's why Keeva's hair is actually red, truly red, and she'd be hiding it to stay safe, and not just because of snide comments people said. That was where Uryuu's and Keeva's union was going to come in. Uryuu would have joined Ywach, not for any sense of loyalty (or desire for revenge), but because Ywach would find him, and he'd decide it was the best way to keep his nakama safe, to pretend to side with the enemy. Keeva would have been with him and she'd lie and say she was his betrothed (there would have been nothing serious between them yet). In between all the faking they'd have fallen truly in love, eventually facing Ywach with the help of the nakama.

All that was lost when I decided not to do that arc. Mostly because, and I'll be completely honest here, there's a lot about Ywach, the Quincies and the canon Spirit King that I just don't understand, so I cannot even begin to adapt it for this fic. In the end it was easier to just eliminate the whole thing. Which is, regretfully, why Uryuu's and Keeva's pairing seems less important, though it is still important to me. I hope you like them together anyway, I did what I could with what I had (hence the whole fight where they worked together, and when Kanae was revealed).

I did manage to reveal a big scene I'd planned for Seren, and it's right here in this chapter, hope you'll enjoy it.

Gast: You asked me something in your review, and I'd have liked to answer to you directly, except I had no way... truth is they're all dead: Harribel, Stark, and their fraccion. Well, actually I suppose on Harribel and her girls' front you could assume that when she realized they were going to lose, she fled, it's not impossible, Harribel's not stupid. Though she was fighting captains and lieutenants, so, in the end I didn't focus too much on that. Stark, Lilynette (and Aisleen, who was with them) are most definitely dead. It was stated in the fic directly, I believe the line said something about 'Kyouraku dealing the final blow' or something along those lines. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to read, but it's how the story went. Just know one thing: the fic isn't over yet.

Thus begins the final arc, and what a way to start!

* * *

**Chapter 48. Declaration of War **

The day Ichigo died began like any other day. He woke up in bed beside his wife, the two of them curled up together, her back to his chest as was usual. His hand began tracing circles on her stomach even before he was fully aware of it.

"Do you ever think about it?" She asked him quietly.

"About?" He asked, stopping his motions but not letting go of her.

"Having children." She clarified.

"Sometimes." Ichigo nodded, kissing the nape of her neck. "I'm in no hurry though, I'm happy with our lives the way they are. The two of us, Homura, Shizuku, even the twins, oyaji and kaa-san when we get the time to visit her."

"I just… seeing Keeva, and how happy she is…" Rukia wasn't actually sure if she wanted children herself, or if she thought that's what she should want…

"Yeah, she really does seem to illustrate the idea of motherhood making a woman glow, doesn't she?" Ichigo hid his smile in her hair. "And I don't think I've ever seen Uryuu smile so much… it's almost creepy."

"Shush you!" Rukia slapped him in the stomach with the back of her hand, her own chuckle taking any sting out of the words. "And you have no leg to stand on, considering how our nakama kept doing double-takes in the days following our wedding, with the way you wouldn't stop smiling yourself!"

"_There it is." She heard Tatsuki say at one point. _

"_What is?" Rukia asked, all she could see was Ichigo, smiling. _

"_That smile." Tatsuki explained. "He hadn't smiled like that since his mom died… so I suppose it's only right, that her return would make him smile like that again." _

Rukia hadn't realized it, because while Ichigo may have a scowl a lot of the time, he'd smiled like that before but, as she later understood, those smiles had always been brief, and all just for her. With the return of Masaki… it was as if the last burden had fallen off his shoulders finally, like he could smile and have the world see, he was at peace…

"You know, if you want to have children now, we can do that, if you want to wait a few years, or decades, or even until we move onto Soul Society permanently, we can do any of those too." Ichigo told her softly. "We're not limited by time the way humans might be. We have a long time ahead of us to have family, if that's what we want. You don't need to feel pressured Rukia."

"I know." She did relax though, the confirmation helping sooth her.

Ichigo's alarm rang eventually and he got up, he still had a job and needed to get to it. The two showered (separately, as they knew that shared showers had the potential of making them very late), before having breakfast. Only Karin accompanied them in that moment, as Yuzu was busy behind the counter of the bakery, and the kids (while Homura and Shizuku weren't exactly kids anymore, they were still the youngest, and being spirits, even if in gigas, meant they still looked pretty much like teenagers) were out doing some deliveries.

Rukia and Ichigo had some coffee and toast as they talked about the plans for the coming weekend (they'd be spending it in Soul Society), eventually getting distracted with each other.

"Ichi-nii you're gonna be late." Karin interrupted them.

She really couldn't understand it, nine years and those two acted like they were still in their freaking honeymoon!

Ichigo rushed to the kitchen to leave his empty plate and mug, grabbing his things, before deviating from his route to Rukia's side to kiss her, briefly but intensely, before finally leaving the house for his job.

"You guys got it bad…" Karin shook her head.

"And you haven't?" Rukia arched a brow. "I know you didn't sleep here last night. You hardly ever do, nowadays."

Karin huffed but didn't reply, she couldn't help the slight blush. Even if she knew she wasn't doing anything wrong. That she was a grown woman with a right to her own life, it still embarrassed her to talk about it sometimes.

"You know, Ichigo wouldn't mind if you decided to move to Soul Society permanently." Rukia said quietly. "Neither would Yuzu, or your dad."

"I know I just… I don't know if I'm ready yet." Karin admitted in a low tone, playing idly with her coffee mug.

"Ready for what?" Rukia asked, curious.

For all answer Karin pulled at the chain around her neck, revealing at the end of it, hidden inside her t-shirt, a ring… it was a simple ring, white gold with the design of a Chinese dragon and phoenix on the sides of the single heart-cut clear diamond. The whole design was inlaid, making the ring completely flat. Rukia was sure that was done on purpose, so the ring wouldn't get in the way… when Karin finally got around to wearing it…

"Are you unsure?" Rukia asked, confused, she'd never seen any doubt in those two.

"No, not of Toushirou at least." Karin clarified after a moment.

"Then what is it?"

"There have been talks… about Toushirou becoming a noble. With him being a New Soul, born in Soul Society and all that, and his dad being a captain… even if Rangiku-san isn't too strong, and cannot have any more children." She exhaled loudly. "I don't want to be a noble lady Rukia-nee! I never wanted that. From the very beginning. This was supposed to be Ichi-nii's problem, and yours, in this life, not mine."

"Tell me something Karin, in your last life, Isshin-tou-san was reported dead years before you died, wasn't he? You became the Clan Head."

Karin nodded silently, not understanding where her sister-in-law was going with all that, she knew that already.

"Did you do what they want? I'm not talking about becoming Clan Head, we already know you did do that. But did you do things how they wanted, or your own way?"

"My way of course!" Karin scoffed. "Stuffy bastards didn't want me to remain a shinigami, I told them where to stuff it and kept as I was."

"And what's stopping you from doing that again? What's more, if this is a new clan that you're founding, you won't even have Elders to contend with. Your clan, your rules. And I'm sure Toushirou will never force you to anything you don't want to, noble or not."

"No, he wouldn't do that."

Rukia said nothing else, but there was no need to, as slowly and silently Karin unclasped the necklace, slipped the ring off it and, after contemplating it for a few more seconds, slipped it onto the third finger of her left hand.

Rukia was just beginning to smile, opening her mouth to congratulate the younger woman, when suddenly pain hit her. Hard and sharp enough to leave her breathless for just a second and then:

"ICHIGO!"

**xXx**

Several miles away, Ichigo was walking at a fast pace, the last thing he needed was to be late to his class. They were just starting a new school year, and he had 1st year as his first class. With the way the current generations were, if he didn't make them respect him from the start, they would drive him nuts before the end of term. The first couple of years on the job he hadn't been given any classes, he only had to be counselor, but the previous year someone had gotten it into their head that, in order for him to better know when someone might need help he needed to actually get to know all his students, and not only the ones who went looking for him, or whom one of the other teachers might send his way. So he became homeroom teacher of the freshman class. It worked well (or so the others claimed), so they were doing it again. Ichigo knew it'd take a while to earn the respect and trust of his students, but he'd never been one to shy away from any sort of challenge that may be sent his way. He was ready.

In the end, he only thought he was ready for anything. When it happened… he didn't see it coming. The loud sound of the shot made him react instinctively: he let his things fall, dropping on one knee and pivoting on it to turn in the direction the shot had come from, one knee still on the ground and his other leg extended; his whole body tense like a coiled spring; his left hand poised defensively in front of him, his right one reaching for his sword. It was only after a couple of seconds that he realized how ridiculous that was, he didn't carry a sword in his human body, and his reishi sword he could conjure without needing to reach for anything… yet at the same time as that thought crossed his mind, his fingers closed around Zangetsu's hilt.

"Kuso…" He cursed under his breath.

He took a moment to let out the breath he'd been holding, and then sound began filtering in once again: there was screaming, a lot of screaming, some the indistinguishable panicked cries of teens, mostly girls, but some… he could hear his name being called.

*Aibou…* Shiro began in the back of his head.

"We're dead aren't we?" He asked, barely repressing the urge to press the palm of his hand against his face in annoyance.

*Well, strictly speaking…* Shiro hedged, usually he wasn't the kind to be anything but dead honest with his 'brother', but he was actually worried of how Ichigo was gonna react…

*You're dead Ichigo.* Zangetsu didn't mince his words.

Ichigo actually chuckled at the odd personality-switch the two spirits inside him seemed to be having. It was hilarious for some reason…

*I think I might be going into shock.* He admitted inside his own head.

"Well, at least you're taking things with humor."

Ichigo raised his eyes to see Uryuu, and he had to do a double-take.

"Thought you and Keeva had an appointment today, the first ultrasound or something like that?" Ichigo asked, curious.

"You don't realize it, do you?" Uryuu asked, head tilted to a side in contemplation.

"Realize what?" Ichigo asked, really not understanding.

"We all felt you die Ichigo." Uryuu explained.

Ichigo froze, going over the implications of that, when suddenly both men felt it, several reiatsu spiking fast and then… the explosion was strong, loud, they could hear and see the windows of the high-school vibrate, two of them even cracked, and the very earth beneath their feet shook for a few moments.

"That was… one hell of an explosion." Uryuu muttered, still shocked by it all.

Ichigo for his part was more concerned about the reiatsu spikes. His mind was a bit sluggish (probably because he had, in fact, just died!), but he knew those reiatsu, and the direction the explosion had come from.

"Rukia! Karin! Yuzu!" He cried out, going into a mix of shunpo and sonido without a thought.

Uryuu blinked, only a moment later reaching the same conclusion as he. Knowing there was no way he'd ever be able to catch up with Ichigo, he decided to move at an easy pace (Ichigo was a spirit, and thus his running across the air would have been less noticeable than if Uryuu had tried the very same thing), his phone in hand as he called his wife to let her know the situation, or at least as much as he knew thus far: Ichigo was dead, a shot to the head (Uryuu was quite sure his nakama hadn't noticed that), and there had just been an awful explosion from the direction of the Kurosaki home… Uryuu was on his way, and perhaps the rest should do the same, or at least those that could get away from their jobs. The whole thing was nuts even for them, and the day was just starting!

**xXx**

A few hours later Ichigo felt like pulling at his own hair. They were all gathered together in the basement of the Ishida's building (while Uryuu and Keeva lived on the two-floor penthouse, they owned the whole building). He was in his shihakushou and haori, Zangetsu on a nearby table so he wouldn't have trouble sitting. Neither of the spirits inside him had said a word in several hours, not since he'd gotten home… or at least, to what once had been his home, the place looked as if it had been nuked (or alternatively, as if a gas tank had exploded, which was what actually happened), the explosion having taken the whole bakery and more than half the house, even the nearby houses had been damaged. He'd been so shocked by it all it took him several seconds to hear his children calling for him; and then Tatsuki was there.

"_Ichigo…" When he refused to pay attention to her she eventually smacked him in the back of the head. "Ichigo! Damn it listen to me! You need to take the kids and head to Uryuu's. Keeva's got all the security measures activated…" _

"_Security measures…?" Ichigo blinked. _

"_Don't you get it?" Tatsuki snapped. "You get shot, and then the bakery's blown up, this wasn't an accident. Someone's out to get you." _

"_The others…" Ichigo began. _

"_No one else has been attacked." Tatsuki shook her head. "The first thing we all did was do a sweep of our homes, we're in the clear. It was just here, and with you. Like I said, someone's after you. And if that's true… if they're only human, they will consider their job done after that shot at the school but if they're not…" _

_If they weren't and they saw him on the street… it was risky to more than just him. If he took a moment to really think about it, with his luck being what it was, it probably wouldn't be just a human. He also had a feeling it wasn't just about him, if it had been there would have been no need to hit the bakery as well. _

"_The others are coming, we'll find Rukia and your sisters and send them to Uryuu's as well." Tatsuki went on. "But you really need to get out of the street now Ichigo. Before emergency services, and whoever else, gets here." _

_He knew she was right, which was why, as much as he hated it, he nodded and walked away. It was the hardest thing he'd ever done… _

He hated it, having to stay behind the elaborate shields and kekkai built by generations of quincy while his nakama were still out there, but he did it, because it was what was necessary. He knew his wife was still alive (or as alive as any of them were), because he could still sense her through their bond, and he trusted his sisters were strong enough to survive a mere gas explosion.

"Kaa-chan!" Homura shrieked in delight.

Rukia had truly just entered the basement, followed by the rest of their nakama, or at least those currently in the human world (they still counted Orihime as Nakama, even if she was in Soul Society). Karin, Yuzu and Rukia were all in their shihakushou, though Yuzu looked the least singed out of all three of them.

"Congratulations, you're all dead." Keeva deadpanned.

"What?!" Several voices cried out at once.

Uryuu facepalmed. His wife was known for being forceful and honest to a fault, but did she needed to be so… blunt?

"According to the current news, you were shot by a hitman." Uryuu explained looking at Ichigo. "Current theory is that the Yakuza hired him but there was some sort of mistaken identity deal and you and your family ended being killed instead."

"The gas tank at the bakery was booby trapped, it blew." Yuzu explained with a sigh.

She could still remember that terrifying moment when she just knew that something awful was about to happen. Her reiatsu acted instinctively as the fire-alarm got pulled. Her customers reacted automatically, leaving the building. She'd just turned to look for what may be giving her that feeling when she heard Muramasa scream inside her head and then… then everything blew.

"There's a reason we're all in shihakushou Ichi-nii." Karin pointed out. "Our spirits made it out of there, our bodies didn't."

All three of them were dead, and Rukia as well. The media would be going nuts over it, the whole family killed by a hitman in a single day…

"What are the media saying about the rest of the family?" Ichigo asked.

"Homura and Shizuku are considered as missing." Uryuu answered. "It's been reported that they had been making deliveries, and were on their way back to the bakery, but no one knows for sure if they were there at the time of the explosion."

"As for Isshin-san, I suppose he's still in Soul Society." Keeva added. "The authorities are looking for him, but as he's known to leave every other weekend, no one's particularly worried about him just yet."

"What about the hitman?" Rukia wanted to know. "Has he said anything?"

"It would be hard for him to say anything, since he's dead." Uryuu answered solemnly. "That's why all they have are theories as to why your family was targeted."

"Do you really think it's all just a matter of mistaken identity?" Karin didn't believe that for a minute; though that didn't explain what was going on either.

"I think there's something going on, something bigger, we just don't know what yet." Uryuu said in a low, dead-serious tone.

"Remember that storm we said was coming?" Ichigo asked, almost conversationally. "I think this is just the start of it…"

He couldn't have known just how right he was.

**xXx**

The alarm bells began ringing as they were finishing with their breakfast. Seren tilted her head to one side, searching for where the sound was coming from, exactly. While her husband was in his shihakushou already, captain haori hanging from a hook at the entrance, she was wearing a plain pale-lavender yukata, feet bare. The two of them had risen with the sun, as was usual, doing some tai-chi together (that had been her own routine, which he'd adopted easily enough, in place of his old morning training); that was followed by a quick bath for him, while she oversaw breakfast preparations. After he'd left for the office she would bathe and dress herself for the day. As the wife of the Kuchiki Clan Head there were some duties she had, like overseeing matters of the Household, and receiving petitions from the lower members of the House, and the Minor Noble Houses that owed them allegiance. The former was something the housekeeper had handled in the past, though she was an old woman and happy enough to leave the task to Seren; while the latter had been handled by either the Elders or Ginrei in the past, and while the Elders still dealt with the initial petitions, Seren had made sure to learn all she needed to help, both to relieve Ginrei of some of the duty, and to ensure that the Elders wouldn't try and abuse the power they were given (after learning what they'd tried to do in the past she didn't trust them much).

In times past she knew that Byakuya would have been at the Division since dawn, at times even before then, but back then her husband had been all about duty, believing he'd nothing else to live for. Even with Rukia in his life and the two of them truly embracing their connection as siblings, she'd had her own duties, and later on with her move to Karakura and her marriage to Ichigo, there had been little reason for Byakuya to spend much time at the manor. Seren's arrival had changed all that. Even before they were married, he'd always made a point to have at least one meal a day with her, and to spend some time just chatting, getting to know each other. Reinforcing the friendship that had formed while she was still alive.

"Those bells aren't coming from just one place." She determined after a few moments.

"No, they're not." Byakuya agreed, wiping his mouth with a napkin before standing. "I must head to the Division. Will give the guards the order to lock up the manor. You stay safe."

"I will." She assured him, raising her head as he bent to give her a kiss. "You take care."

"I will." He nodded in agreement.

It was more or less their ritual when he left every morning. A short kiss followed by their request that the other take care.

The servant only approached once Byakuya had left, and after giving her customary thanks for the breakfast Seren left at a bit of a quicker pace than usual for her room. She could hear the whispers in the back of her head, her power warning her that the danger was closer than most would be expecting.

She met with Takahashi, Byakuya's steward, as soon as she was dressed.

"My lady?" He bowed his head at her.

"What would you say is the most protected part of the Estate?" She asked him, already making plans in the back of her head.

"That would be the Main House, my lady." The man informed her calmly.

"Very well." Seren had made up her mind. "See to it that all members of the Clan are brought into the Main House, and have the guards form a perimeter around it."

"My lady?" Takahashi didn't understand, even if the alarms were ringing in Seireitei, it had nothing to do with them, right?

"There's a storm coming, and we must be ready, if we're to survive it." She said solemnly.

Takahashi still didn't understand. Even if there was some kind of problem, the Gotei would deal with it, wouldn't they? Ryoka had invaded in the past, but the Nobles had never gotten involved. That was the shinigami's business, not theirs… Still, his Lady had given him an order, and he'd see to it that they were carried out promptly.

It took almost an hour to get everyone into the Main House. The Kuchiki Clan was considerably more numerous than most would expect, and there was also the fact that many didn't like being interrupted from whatever they might do normally.

"Why have you ordered this Serenity-dono?" One of the Elders half-asked, half-demanded.

It was Watanabe, the leader of the faction who was against her marrying Byakuya from the start. While they could all feel her reiatsu and knew that meant there were considerable chances she'd be able to give Byakuya children, and ones with a decent level of power, they didn't like that she had no Clan to her name, that she essentially brought nothing to them other than herself. She knew that, had she only asked, the Nagaken Clan would have taken her in, making things easier for her and Byakuya; but she hadn't wanted that, she wanted to be herself. And Byakuya didn't care for such things either. He trusted that the day would come when his whole clan will see her value. She wanted to believe that as well.

"Do you not hear it Watanabe-san?" She asked softly.

"The bells in Seireitei?" He questioned. "We all hear them. It has nothing to do with us."

"It's an invasion on the place we live, so of course it has to do with us." She replied, her serene mask in place (as it always was when she had to deal with most of the Elders). "But I'm not taking about the bells. I'm talking about the hollows that have breached our walls…"

As if on cue, the cry of a hollow echoed across the estate, making those lingering outside the Main House rush inside in a hurry.

"My lady?" Her attendant: Izumi, murmured, tense. "We should head inside as well."

She nodded silently, following her into the house, promptly, the doors being closed behind them as the guards took their positions.

She knew they weren't the only ones being attacked, knew it with the same certainty she'd known the hollows would breach their walls, a whole hour before they actually did. While she might not be an Oracle, she did have some precognition, she didn't get premonitory dreams of far off in the future, but she did know things sometimes, or got instincts that were much more on point than most people's. And, if she so wished, she could see what was happening in other places (remote viewing, she knew that particular form of vision was called).

She knew that it had all begun with a bunch of traitors, old subordinates of Aizen, laying in wait for so long, to act when they were given the signal. What that signal had been exactly, she'd no idea, but since the end of the Winter War (as many had taken to calling it), there had been a lot of shuffling among the divisions, so it was perhaps no surprise that some of Aizen's subordinates found their way to other Divisions. They'd chosen that very morning to attack their colleagues, causing chaos in Seireitei. That had been the first wave.

The second was when one of them managed to bring down the barrier supposed to protect the Seireitei, allowing the hollows in. A huge garganta opened high in the sky. She knew shinigami had already been dispatched to handle it, but it wasn't surprising that some of them might slip by and get into Seireitei which, already a mess due to all the traitors, there just hadn't been enough shinigami on hand to stop them from making it all the way to the Noble Estates… that was the second wave.

Why they were attacking the nobles, Seren had no idea, though she knew it wasn't an accident. The hollows weren't just going around destroying, they'd formed groups, each of them heading in a specific direction. That was no coincidence, but careful planning… it meant that Aizen had to be involved.

It made the woman curse under her breath in Gaelic. She always knew what she'd done wouldn't keep Aizen away forever, and nine years was a long time, but still. She wished they could have seen it coming, that she could have seen it coming in time to do more. They weren't defenseless, not at all. She could see Orihime, in what the Nakama called her fae form, stand guard before the Nagaken Estate while Ulquiorra went Resurreccion on the foolish hollows that thought they stood a chance against him. She saw Yoruichi and Kisuke, fighting side by side, slaying hollows like it was nothing at all for them, their young son watching from behind a shield. She searched, but couldn't see any hollows going after any of the Lower Nobles, or even after the Himura Clan (the fourth of the Great Noble Clans). What was so different about them?

It hit her just a moment later. The only thing that was different between the Himura and the other Great Noble Clans, was that the Himura had no children, no new soul had been born to that Clan in a century at least. In the Nagakens, there was Amaya, in the Shihouins there was Yuushirou, as well as the children of the branch families; and with them… while she might not have borne any children yet, several of the branch families had either kids or teenagers (in spirit terms at least) among their numbers.

"They're after the young ones…" Seren breathed out in understanding.

She still had no idea as to the 'why', but knowing the 'what' at least helped.

"My lady?" Izumi questioned, worriedly.

She also knew that the guards alone wouldn't be able to handle things for long, and with the chaos being caused by the traitors, and the other attacks happening at the same time, it was unlikely any shinigami would be sent their way in time. Byakuya would have of course, if he'd believed it necessary… but he knew her, better than anyone else did.

"Stay here Izumi please." Seren requested as she turned around and began walking.

"Where are you going, my lady?" Izumi questioned, wincing a bit at her own daring, she knew that were her lady anyone else she'd have been harshly reprimanded for that; but it was precisely because of who her lady was, that she dared speak up.

Izumi knew she wasn't the only one happy that their Lord married a woman like Serenity. While there was no doubt that he'd loved his first wife, and the Lady Hisana had been a good, kind lady, she hadn't fit with their lord the way Serenity did. The Lady Hisana had been beautiful, and gentle, and able to present the image of the perfect lady after some tutoring; but Serenity had all the poise, and gentleness, while at the same time having a core of steel that the previous lady had lacked. She was willing to go toe to toe with any and all Elders, and even nobles from other Houses when she believed it necessary; wouldn't let anyone look down on her, no matter the name, and while she was capable of following all the noble protocols, she also insisted on her personal servants not being so formal to her, and speaking their minds… which was precisely why Izumi spoke up:

"I'm going to do what I must." Seren answered simply. "Protect our own."

As she spoke, the ashen-haired woman slipped her hands inside the sleeves of her kimono. The one she was wearing right then was of a purple so dark it was almost black, with big white roses decorating the lower half of it and an obi of a violet so light it was almost white around her waist. Her sandaled feet made no sound as she walked, and her hair was pulled back in her customary loose ponytail, Byakuya's old scarf wound around it, over the top of her head and then falling down her back with her long hair elegantly, as usual. From hidden scabbards sewn into the inside of her silvery-white tekkou she pulled out a pair small, beautiful daggers, each no bigger than a hand-span, blades made of the same material asauchis were made of, guards of polished white-ash wood, with a Celtic five-pointed star inlaid in silver. They were custom-made weapons, designed, ordered and gifted to her by Byakuya on the day of their wedding.

"_You're a warrior." He explained when giving her the daggers. "Much as I might dislike it sometimes. Much as I may want to protect you always… I know a day may come when I won't be there, and I want to know you'll have the best weapons at your disposal. That you'll be ready to fight, and win, and come back to me." _

"_Always…" She assured him with a loving kiss. _

"Sere… Lady Serenity!" Several servants cried out in shock.

All eyes turned in her direction, but it was too late already, as she chose that exact moment to open the main door of the house and step out. Outside, the battle was raging on. There were more than half a dozen hollows, and while the guards were doing their best, they weren't shinigami…

Seren took a deep breath as she raised her arms at her sides, a dagger on each hand, pointing down, then as she exhaled, she opened her hands… except the daggers did not fall, they remained floating in the air, just beyond her fingertips. She waited a heartbeat, two, for what she knew was coming, then, as a hollow rose from behind some trees, bearing on an injured guard, her left hand shot forward, as if she'd just thrown something, the dagger following the movement of the hand, and beyond, burying itself into the hollow's mask, then through it and the hollow itself. By the time anyone could fully comprehend what had just happened she was already guiding her second dagger in the direction of another hollow.

The Kuchikis could only watch in a mix of shock and wonder as their Lady (the very lady at least half of them had looked down on more than once, whom many of them long believed unsuitable to marry their Clan Head) moved her arms this way and that, movements both graceful and lethal, as hollows fell, one by one.

The guards, seemingly bolstered by the sight of their Clan Head's Wife joining them in battle made short work of the remaining hollows. It looked like it would be over soon… until the dark, oppressive reiatsu made its appearance.

"That's… what's that?!" Several asked behind her, terrified.

"That's an Arrancar." Seren answered evenly, before turning her attention to the head of the guards. "Ishikawa-san, you might want to tell your men to pull back, there's no way they can deal with an Arrancar."

"Such as it may be, it would be dishonorable to leave our Clan defenseless." Ishikawa stated. "And, if Serenity-sama doesn't mind me saying it, I doubt daggers will be enough either."

"No, they won't." Seren agreed, calling the daggers to her and sheathing them. "But these daggers are far from the only weapon in my arsenal, just the easiest one to use."

Ishikawa blinked, was she saying… what was she saying?!

"Tell me, Ishikawa-san, do you know who I am, what I am?" She asked almost conversationally as she crossed the porch to stand at the very top of the stairs leading to the courtyard.

"You're my Lady, the wife of Lord Kuchiki Byakuya-sama, the Head of our Clan." Ishikawa enlisted seriously. "You're Lady Kuchiki Síoraí Serenity."

"Correct, that's the name Byakuya used when he introduced me to our Honorable Clan." Seren nodded her head. "It's not the name I was given upon my birth, but the one that was granted to me when I reached the zenith of my powers. He wanted me to use it, and to keep it even after our marriage so there would never be any doubt of my power. Except, no one here knows the kind of power I possess." She sighed. "Everyone knows I was human until shortly before I came here. That I am no born noble, that is true enough. But I'm not powerless." She could see his worry from the corner of his eye and couldn't help but want to put him at ease. "It'll be alright Ishikawa-san, this isn't the first Arrancar I fight."

"Oh… is the little lady going to fight me?" The Arrancar mocked her in a dark tone.

"You will not hurt my people, I will not allow it." Seren told him, voice harder and stronger than any Kuchiki had ever heard it.

In the years since she'd been in Seireitei, and especially since becoming a Kuchiki, they'd gotten used to her gentle, polite, soft ways. She was kind to everyone, even when disagreeing with one or more of them, she was never anything but polite, never raised her voice, never used crass language (of course, they never understood her when she cursed in Gaelic). For long they'd thought her to be little more than a pretty girl who managed to somehow 'bewitch' their Clan Head. Since, until her he'd refused to so much as contemplate marriage, and what little reiatsu some could feel from her gave them the hope that she might one day bear the next generation of Kuchikis, in the end the Elders didn't do much to try and stop the marriage (not that they would have managed much had they tried, but still). They'd never seen her like she was in that moment. Strong, imposing, to some of the younger generations (especially the women), she looked like the warrior princess from a story, to the older ones… she looked like Byakuya.

Seren said nothing as the Arrancar roared, charging a huge Cero before shooting it straight at them. She just raised both hands, palms pointing forward, before abruptly closing them into fists. It was as if the Cero had just blinked out of existence.

"What…?" Even the Arrancar was at a loss about what had just happened; but a beat later, he was furious. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

"No, you won't." Seren said calmly, as she opened her hands again, slowly, purposefully, eyes never straying from him. "It's over."

The Arrancar never got the chance to attack again, to so much as move. By the time he realized what was going on it was too late already. The Kuchikis and their staff for their part could only bear silent (shocked) witness as the humanoid-looking hollow seemed to break apart into reishi particles that the wind dispersed.

**xXx**

When Byakuya arrived it was to find his wife sitting on the veranda leading to the biggest garden, surrounded by most of the Kuchiki Elders, as well as the patriarchs of the minor branches of the Clan; the truly surprising part was how deferential they were all being, and that his wife wasn't using her 'peacekeeper mask' in that moment.

"Seren?" He asked, brow arched, intrigued.

"Byakuya!" She smiled brightly at him as she rose to her feet and approached him.

They didn't kiss, they never did when the Elders and other disapproving members of the Clan were around, but there was no need. A touch had always been more than enough for them to communicate what they felt.

"The 12th Division reported a horde of hollows and at least one Arrancar had come to the Estate." Byakuya stated seriously.

"Yes, they came, the threat has been dealt with." She said calmly. "The Clan is safe. There's no need to worry anymore."

Byakuya heard clearly all his wife wasn't saying. A proud man he was and had always been, but he knew quite well that while the Kuchiki guards might have been able to deal with hollows with some trouble, there was no way they could have dealt with an Arrancar. Also, her using her powers in such a way explained perfectly why the Clan Elders were suddenly acting like she was a born noble… It almost made him chuckle. He always knew one day his wife would earn the respect of all his Clan, didn't expect it to happen in such a way, but still, he knew. It was just the kind of person she was.

"Anything to report Byakuya-sama?" The Elder of Elders: Kuchiki Katsuo, questioned.

Byakuya explained about the fights that had taken place across Seireitei, mostly things Seren knew already thanks to her gifts. All hollows and arrancars had been defeated. A squad of Onmitsukidou, lead personally by Sui-Feng-fukutaichou, accompanied by Grimmjow, was checking the gates to ensure there would be no further attacks. Most of the traitors were dead, though a few had survived the fights and were being escorted to the 1st Division to be interrogated by Sasakibe-fukutaichou personally…

Seren cocked her head to a side, she had a feeling that there was something… off, with that last statement, but she couldn't put her finger on what, or why, exactly. She opened her mouth to say something to that effect when suddenly her vision went blue for a moment and when her brain processed what her power was showing her all she could do was open her mouth in a scream that couldn't be heard through one's ears, but rang inside the minds of everyone present.

Byakuya's eyes went wide instantly and she extended a hand to his wife, opening his mouth to ask her what was wrong (and he knew, without a doubt, something had to be very, very wrong) when he felt it, a reiatsu spiking, high, higher than Byakuya had ever felt it before, only to vanish abruptly a couple of seconds later. His head snapped in the direction of it automatically, and he knew without need for a map exactly what was in that direction: the 1st Squad…

**xXx**

Sui-Feng and Grimmjow were walking by the Gate leading to West Rukongai, the Onmitsukidou searching nearby alleys as they went, when they heard voices coming from outside:

"I told you I need to get inside! They need to be warned!"

Grimmjow ignored whatever response the Giant must have given him as he sonidoed to the top of the gate and then onto the other side, Sui-Feng joining him a fraction of a second later.

"What's going on here?" Sui-Feng demanded authoritatively.

Grimmjow took a half-step back, letting her take the lead and watching her back as he'd grown used to doing when she was in her official capacity. It was almost funny because in life he always sought to protect her, even after he taught her everything he knew about fighting (both the formal stances and katas Utokui and his father taught him, and the dirty fighting he learned on his own), he always did his best to look after her; and it wasn't that he didn't do the same here, but in Soul Society she was the one in a position of authority, and he'd grown to respect that. And the fact that she could only really be 'Shaolin' in private; for most of the Soul Society she was Sui-Feng-fukutaichou, nothing more.

"Shinigami-san!" The man, with chin-length straight brown hair and gray eyes was wearing a simple white yukata, signaling him as a newcomer. "You need to know, you need to warn everyone, there's an attack coming!"

"The attack already happened." Sui-Feng said dismissively.

"Already… no, that's not possible." The man shook his head.

"Hey!" Grimmjow called suddenly. "I know you!"

All eyes turned to him instantly.

"You know him?" Sui-Feng really wasn't expecting that.

"I do, from Hueco Mundo." Grimmjow's eyes narrowed as he focused on the man. "Though the last time I saw you, you were a hollow, Acidwire…"

"I was." The man ignored the way most of those around stepped back in fright. "I asked Nel-chan to purify me, hoping it'd allow me to get here in time to warn you."

"Well, as you've heard, you're late." Grimmjow scoffed. "We got attacks in half the divisions, and even several Noble homes were hit. Many of the attackers are dead but we got a few, they'll be interrogated soon. So unless you know anything they don't…"

"Wait a second, you didn't kill them all?" Sora cut him off.

"No." Sui-Feng's eyes narrowed.

"He said he had a plan." Sora's tone turned urgent again. "You need to warn them! He knows where it is! He'll get it!"

"Where what is? Who is he anyway?" Sui-Feng demanded, a foreboding feeling hitting her.

"Aizen!" Sora snapped. "He knows where your Commander keeps the Key and he's going after it! He said he'd a plan to infiltrate the 1st Division and…"

Sui-Feng didn't want anymore, in an instant she was back on top of the gate and then shunpoing at top speed across rooftops, Grimmjow at her heels. They were halfway there when they both felt it, a reiatsu signature spiking sharply, before vanishing entirely a moment later.

"Grimm, get Hime-san!" Sui-Feng ordered before pushing herself to go even faster.

Grimmjow didn't question her, just changed direction abruptly, heading for the Nagaken Estate. He wasn't quite expecting to be received with a Cero Oscuras and barely managed to dodge it in time; the speed he was moving at making him skid down the courtyard.

"Goddammit Emobastard, it's me!" He snarled.

"Grimmjow-kun!" Orihime cried out, lowering her hands from the sides of her head, where she'd raised them upon seeing her husband fire a cero. "We're sorry. We were just attacked, they were trying to kill Amaya-chan!"

Grimmjow seriously doubted that Ulquiorra was sorry for attacking him, but didn't comment on it. Instead focusing on his task.

"There have been a lot of attacks Hime." Grimmjow told her. "Shaolin asked me to bring you with me, quickly."

"There's someone really bad off, isn't there?" She'd felt as much.

"You should both go with him." Yailen said as she approached, Amaya's hand in hers.

"Nee-san…" Orihime watched her little girl with doubt.

Amaya was still so young… she and Ulquiorra had been warned, that after her tenth birthday the girl's aging would slow drastically. It was the reason why Rukia had looked about the same age as them upon their first meeting, despite being almost ten times that; why Toushirou-kun still looked to be in his teens himself, or why most of the shinigami just didn't seem to age. For people with a lot of reiatsu, like them, aging happened very, very slowly. But Amaya wasn't ten yet, in fact, she was about to turn seven, little more than an infant, where Soul Society was concerned, and Orihime hated the idea of leaving her behind… but if her powers were really needed… and there was no way Ulquiorra would ever let her go alone. It was a lesson they learned well, after their shared human life. They were better off staying together.

"She will be safe, there'll be no more attacks here." Yailen reassured them.

Orihime nodded, placing a kiss on her daughter's brow before heading for her husband, who scooped her up in his arms before using sonido to take off, along with Grimmjow.

By the time they arrived Sasakibe was dead, and Yamamoto was very badly wounded. Also, what had once been the 1st Division was no more, the place on fire, though that part at least was already under control with help of several shinigami. It took a while but eventually Yamamoto was willing to allow Orihime to treat him. There was nothing she could do for Sasakibe, nothing remained of him at all, and while her powers were incredible and almost god-like, she couldn't make something out of nothing. The shinigami actually seemed to like that (the realization that even with powers as odd as hers, there still were limits, balance was maintained).

"Oh!" Orihime eeped halfway through healing Yamamoto.

"What is it?" All eyes turned to her, narrowing as her own brow furrowed and sweat appeared on her brow, it was so rare to see her actually have to make an effort.

"The… the foreign reiatsu it's… it's hard to fight against it…" She let out a shriek as her shield shattered abruptly, the Rikka returning to her pins.

"What was that?!" Grimmjow growled, not liking the situation.

"I… I… I cannot…" Orihime babbled.

"Take it easy child," Yamamoto said kindly. "I understand."

"What's going on Yama-jii?" Shunsui asked, unusually solemn.

"I'm powerless." Of all the things the old shinigami could have said, that was one thing they weren't expecting.

"You cannot undo it?" Juushirou sought to confirm.

"I…" Orihime took a deep breath, centering herself and doing her best to find the right words. "I can undo what's been done, in terms of damage; I can even go as far as restoring what's been destroyed, as long as there's something, anything left of it." She closed her eyes briefly. "But I cannot replace what isn't there. Soutaichou-san's powers weren't damaged, or destroyed, they were taken, I can do nothing about that."

"Contact the Nakama, we need them here." Yamamoto ordered as Unohana and Shunsui helped him onto his feet.

"How bad is it Yama?" Shunsui asked him, already fearing the worst.

"The attacker, it was Aizen and he has the Ouken."

* * *

So, am I insane or what?

Years ago (when I first became a Bleach fan), a friend and I first began saying something that has stayed with me for all these years: "In Bleach, in order to have a happy ending, you have to be dead." That's proven to be very, very real, as you must have realized already. Keep that in mind for the upcoming chapters too, I have one or two surprises left under my sleeves.

Quite a few people have made their guesses for what's coming next, I promise I'll make special mention of you all at the beginning of it. Till then... see ya next week! The Final Battle is coming!


End file.
